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Looks like the French are clamping down on freedom
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What are people so afraid of?
http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/03...eban/index.php
France bans citizen journalists from reporting violence
By Peter Sayer, IDG News Service
The French Constitutional Council has approved a law that criminalizes the filming or broadcasting of acts of violence by people other than professional journalists. The law could lead to the imprisonment of eyewitnesses who film acts of police violence, or operators of Web sites publishing the images, one French civil liberties group warned on Tuesday.
The council chose an unfortunate anniversary to publish its decision approving the law, which came exactly 16 years after Los Angeles police officers beating Rodney King were filmed by amateur videographer George Holliday on the night of March 3, 1991. The officers’ acquittal at the end on April 29, 1992 sparked riots in Los Angeles.
If Holliday were to film a similar scene of violence in France today, he could end up in prison as a result of the new law, said Pascal Cohet, a spokesman for French online civil liberties group Odebi. And anyone publishing such images could face up to five years in prison and a fine of €75,000 (US$98,537), potentially a harsher sentence than that for committing the violent act.
Senators and members of the National Assembly had asked the council to rule on the constitutionality of six articles of the Law relating to the prevention of delinquency. The articles dealt with information sharing by social workers, and reduced sentences for minors. The council recommended one minor change, to reconcile conflicting amendments voted in parliament. The law, proposed by Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy, is intended to clamp down on a wide range of public order offenses. During parliamentary debate of the law, government representatives said the offense of filming or distributing films of acts of violence targets the practice of “happy slapping,” in which a violent attack is filmed by an accomplice, typically with a camera phone, for the amusement of the attacker’s friends.
The broad drafting of the law so as to criminalize the activities of citizen journalists unrelated to the perpetrators of violent acts is no accident, but rather a deliberate decision by the authorities, said Cohet. He is concerned that the law, and others still being debated, will lead to the creation of a parallel judicial system controlling the publication of information on the Internet.
The government has also proposed a certification system for Web sites, blog hosters, mobile-phone operators and Internet service providers, identifying them as government-approved sources of information if they adhere to certain rules. The journalists’ organization Reporters Without Borders, which campaigns for a free press, has warned that such a system could lead to excessive self censorship as organizations worried about losing their certification suppress certain stories.
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Addicted to MacNN
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What would prompt them to do this?
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Mac Elite
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Socialism?
We wouldn't want to tarnish the utopia that is socialism, now would we.
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All men are created equal, but what they do after that point puts them on a sliding scale.
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Posting Junkie
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Originally Posted by KarlG 
During parliamentary debate of the law, government representatives said the offense of filming or distributing films of acts of violence targets the practice of “happy slapping,” in which a violent attack is filmed by an accomplice, typically with a camera phone, for the amusement of the attacker’s friends.
You know... zat show zee Americains have?
You know, zee... Jackass.
Zis law will stop zee jackasses.
Oui, oui, oui!
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Mac Elite
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Jack@ss is a ripoff of the Canadian Dudesons.
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All men are created equal, but what they do after that point puts them on a sliding scale.
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Posting Junkie
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See? We speet on your Americain imatation!
Everything c'est bonne, c'est Fronch!
Ptui! Ptui!
Excuse moi, while I go do zee date-rape.
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Originally Posted by Sky Captain
Socialism?
We wouldn't want to tarnish the utopia that is socialism, now would we.
Specifically.
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Clinically Insane
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Originally Posted by Dakar²
What would prompt them to do this?
Supposedly, they were trying to criminalize a phenomenon known as "happy slapping" where a bunch of people attack someone, videotape the assault, and upload it to the Internet.
Just another case of a good idea implemented extremely poorly. Happy slapping is already illegal as assault and battery; it doesn't need a separate crime.
And frankly, if people are going to be stupid enough to tape themselves committing a crime and uploading the videos to the public Internet as a form of bragging, then for crying out loud, don't get in the way. Happy slapping may be the most easily-prosecutable form of assault and battery there is, precisely because of its highly public nature. Forcing it underground will only cost more money in the long run by making it harder to investigate. Let the idiots make their public confessions.
(Last edited by Millennium; Mar 7, 2007 at 04:07 PM.
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You are in Soviet Russia. It is dark. Grue is likely to be eaten by YOU!
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Originally Posted by Millennium
Happy slapping is already illegal as assault and battery; it doesn't need a separate crime.
That pretty much sums it all up. Thanks.
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Clinically Insane
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Originally Posted by Millennium
Supposedly, they were trying to criminalize a phenomenon known as "happy slapping" where a bunch of people attack someone, videotape the assault, and upload it to the Internet.
Just another case of a good idea implemented extremely poorly. Happy slapping is already illegal as assault and battery; it doesn't need a separate crime.
...is the correct answer.
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Been inclined to wander... off the beaten track.
That's where there's thunder... and the wind shouts back.
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Posting Junkie
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wait ... it's not an attempt to not "tarnish the utopia that is socialism"?
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Posting Junkie
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Originally Posted by Sky Captain
Jack@ss is a ripoff of the Canadian Dudesons.
Finland, Canada, same thing.
****in' foreigners. 
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Addicted to MacNN
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My life is over! I got an infraction point for posting this article without adding anything substantial to the discussion! I guess my question of "What are people so afraid of" wasn't substantial enough. What should I do? I've never had an infraction before! This bothers me immensely. 
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Senior User
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Location: Kuna, ID USA
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Originally Posted by KarlG
My life is over! I got an infraction point for posting this article without adding anything substantial to the discussion! I guess my question of "What are people so afraid of" wasn't substantial enough. What should I do? I've never had an infraction before! This bothers me immensely.
I'm guessing the safe bet would be not to post pics of your infraction or blog about it. 
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Clinically Insane
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Originally Posted by Wiskedjak
wait ... it's not an attempt to not "tarnish the utopia that is socialism"?
Nope. It's an attempt to sort the happy slapping problem, screwed up by socialists.
The socialist utopia doesn't need people trying to tarnish it - it manages just fine by itself.
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Been inclined to wander... off the beaten track.
That's where there's thunder... and the wind shouts back.
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Senior User
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Originally Posted by analogika
Finland, Canada, same thing.
****in' foreigners.
Hey...I'm an American and I know where "The Dudesons" are from.
Not a foreign thing...it's just that enough 'merikan's don't watch Spike 
Great show BTW!
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