Bill Introduced To Ban Silent Camera Phones
January 29, 2009
Silent photographs from your camera phone may soon be a thing of the past. A bill has been introduced to the House of Representatives by Congressman Pete King (R-N.Y.) that would ban camera phones that include a silent photograph mode.
Beginning 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, any mobile phone containing a digital camera that is manufactured for sale in the United States shall sound a tone or other sound audible within a reasonable radius of the phone whenever a photograph is taken with the camera in such phone. A mobile phone manufactured after such date shall not be equipped with a means of disabling or silencing such tone or sound.The reasoning behind the Camera Phone Predator Alert Act is stated clearly.
Congress finds that children and adolescents have been exploited by photographs taken in dressing rooms and public places with the use of a camera phone.The document is extremely short, what you see is pretty much the extent of it. The bill in it's current form won't affect any phones that are already out on the market. While this may sound ridiculous to some readers, this is already the law in Japan and Apple has already taken away the ability to silence the camera on Japanese iPhones. The only question I have is, what do they consider a reasonable radius for the sound to be heard? It would be awful to have a siren blaring every single time you would take a photograph with your phone. [via CNET]