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Pastimes : Digital Photography -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Crocodile who wrote (7770)	5/22/2004 8:33:15 AM
From: Done, gone.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21631

What I especially don't like is that I think cameras have the potential to do much good, so banning their use seems counter-productive -- not to mention representing yet another erosion of personal freedom and expression under the guise of national security. You're not the only one who thinks so, as you can see from this excerpt: _________________ "This is obviously cause for concern," said railroad enthusiast Douglas John Bowen, president of the New Jersey Association of Railroad Passengers. Lyndon Henry works as a transportation planner and data analyst for the Capitol Metro mass transit system in Austin, Texas, and as a consultant to www.lightrailnow.org. He said NJ Transit's policy is a "huge concern" to people working in the public transit profession "since much of our work depends upon the use of photos to inform the public about rail transit issues." "NJ Transit seems to be taking a pretty extreme attitude," Henry said. Bowen and Henry said forcing people to get a permit to take photographs creates so much bureaucracy it makes it nearly impossible for people either visiting or using NJ Transit services to take spur-of-the-moment photographs. "You don't have to be a civil libertarian on the fringe to be concerned about stuff like this," Bowen said. Henry, in an e-mail, wrote, "The ban on photography, using the pretext of the war on terrorism, invokes serious civil liberties and free speech concern. Furthermore, it threatens the traditional ongoing historic documentation of rail transit operations." Krages, who authored a pamphlet on photography rights, said NJ Transit's policy is just the latest attempt to restrict photography, citing incidents at industrial plants, bridges and sea vessels across the nation since the terror attacks. Such restrictions, he said, "aren't really rooted in real-life events." Krages said he knew of no terrorist event or crime that has relied upon photographs to be carried out. He likened amateur photographers to a "neighborhood watch" that works with police to prevent crime. "From my perspective, I don't think public photography presents any type of risk and can actually be beneficial in improving security," Krages said. NJ Transit should welcome photographers, Bowen said. "They're going to be the ones to see something suspicious," he said. nj.com