Re: [FRIAM] Fwd: AMC movie theater calls “federal agents” to arrest a Google Glass user :: The Gadgeteer
Could be fishy, certainly sounds unlikely, but with all the interest lately in government gone mad: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2014/01/20/amc-movie-theater-calls-fbi-to-arrest-a-google-glass-user/ -- Owen I believe that such an incident is possible, especially when you consider there are thousands of theaters in this great country... Meanwhile, it also sounds like the ravings of an Open Carry Gun Nut who innocently swaggered into a Bank, Liquor Store or a Pharmacy and took offense that *anyone* would think she was packing with intent to use. Sure, there will be early adopters and all the surprises that come with colliding with the existing order. This story is *mostly* about the way LEO and Trade Associations can take themselves way too seriously and in particular feel free to err toward false positives without any responsibility for the consequences. Every time I see flashing lights in my rear-view, I have to remind myself that the poor joker with the shiny boots, shiny badge, shiny gun and shiny attitude knows that this might be his lucky stop where he gets to apprehend public enemy #1 or get shot in the face trying... So I *check my own attitude* and let him play Yer in a Heap O' Trouble Boi! in his mirror shades. It seems like a really bad idea... that all that swagger and bluff and attempted intimidation is likely to cause *more* trouble rather than less. I'm sure it cuts down on the petty lip they get from jerks and people who are just having a bad day but I somehow doubt that it reduces the chance of getting shot in the face. If anything, it seems like it *increases* the chances. On the other hand, maybe this is the only way the job can be done... or the only personality type willing to stick their face in a stranger's window and bark at them when all they may have done was had the temerity to drive with a broken tail light, drive 65 in a 55, or cut a light a little short. I think Google Glass is lame (as it stands) but it seems like an interesting social phenomena... I think I've mentioned on this list before, Pat Cadigan's cyberpunkesque Novel Synners, where such technology is ubiquitous in a day-after-tomorrow scenario where there are people who make their living as roughly Live Action Stringers, running their Glass-Like tech 24/7 and trying to *always* be at the right place at the right time*. I think she wrote this in the early 1990s and here we are nearly living it (albeit with cameras in smart phones instead). Carry on! - Steve FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
Re: [FRIAM] Fwd: AMC movie theater calls “federal agents” to arrest a Google Glass user :: The Gadgeteer
IMHO (and I’m sure Steve was not trying to equate them), there is a huge difference in the importance of what “real” police officers do and whoever is enforcing arcane laws about copyrighted material. I’ve only been out of the USA for a bit over five years now, and I find that my “new normal” is to see piracy as just a mundane part of life. Here in Ecuador, and I think through much of the less affluent world, piracy of software, music, and video is rampant. Though such piracy is technically illegal (I’m ambivalent about its morality), there appears to be zero enforcement here. There are hundreds of stores in Quito alone that openly sell nothing but pirated music CDs and movie DVDs for about a dollar each, and as long as they pay their 12% to the SRI (Ecuadorian tax agency), they seem to be left alone. Many titles appear within days of a movie’s initial release in theaters, well before its official release on DVD (the quality of copies is notably better after there is an official DVD to copy :-) Such re-filming must be common somewhere (I don’t know how much takes place here, or if pirated DVDs are just burned from sources filmed elsewhere). For those who are still part of the more affluent world, you may have never encountered pirated CDs and DVDs. It is very common, while watching such a DVD, to see someone stand up and walk in front of the camera that is filming the screen. Sometimes, that is more entertaining than the movie itself :-) Gary On Jan 23, 2014, at 10:42 AM, Steve Smith sasm...@swcp.com wrote: Could be fishy, certainly sounds unlikely, but with all the interest lately in government gone mad: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2014/01/20/amc-movie-theater-calls-fbi-to-arrest-a-google-glass-user/ -- Owen Meanwhile, it also sounds like the ravings of an Open Carry Gun Nut who innocently swaggered into a Bank, Liquor Store or a Pharmacy and took offense that *anyone* would think she was packing with intent to use. Sure, there will be early adopters and all the surprises that come with colliding with the existing order. This story is *mostly* about the way LEO and Trade Associations can take themselves way too seriously and in particular feel free to err toward false positives without any responsibility for the consequences. Every time I see flashing lights in my rear-view, I have to remind myself that the poor joker with the shiny boots, shiny badge, shiny gun and shiny attitude knows that this might be his lucky stop where he gets to apprehend public enemy #1 or get shot in the face trying... So I *check my own attitude* and let him play Yer in a Heap O' Trouble Boi! in his mirror shades. It seems like a really bad idea... that all that swagger and bluff and attempted intimidation is likely to cause *more* trouble rather than less. I'm sure it cuts down on the petty lip they get from jerks and people who are just having a bad day but I somehow doubt that it reduces the chance of getting shot in the face. If anything, it seems like it *increases* the chances. On the other hand, maybe this is the only way the job can be done... or the only personality type willing to stick their face in a stranger's window and bark at them when all they may have done was had the temerity to drive with a broken tail light, drive 65 in a 55, or cut a light a little short. I think Google Glass is lame (as it stands) but it seems like an interesting social phenomena... I think I've mentioned on this list before, Pat Cadigan's cyberpunkesque Novel Synners, where such technology is ubiquitous in a day-after-tomorrow scenario where there are people who make their living as roughly Live Action Stringers, running their Glass-Like tech 24/7 and trying to *always* be at the right place at the right time*. I think she wrote this in the early 1990s and here we are nearly living it (albeit with cameras in smart phones instead). Carry on! - Steve FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
Re: [FRIAM] Fwd: AMC movie theater calls “federal agents” to arrest a Google Glass user :: The Gadgeteer
Gary - IMHO (and I’m sure Steve was not trying to equate them), there is a huge difference in the importance of what “real” police officers do and whoever is enforcing arcane laws about copyrighted material. The only thing in common, IM(NSH)O is that they were both (all) trained in roughly the same tradition and their badge (and gun and backup) can yield a similar sense of entitlement to personal power over anyone they encounter, legitimately or otherwise. Certainly, it diverges when you look at their job. Mr. Google Glass was surely NOT to likely by any measure to whip out a weapon to defend his right to open carry Glass (though I'm sure there will be some of *that* ilk who add Glass to their repertoire of invasive-to-others tech fetish personal rights are mine toolbelt). I *do* respect the fact that mr/ms. Average LEO is at more than trivial risk of a life-threatening confrontation... and therefore am *more* understanding that she is likely to spontaneously treat me to all of her practiced skills of establishing and maintaining command presence (aka intimidation?) that she was selected and trained for. Mr. Copyright Law Enforcement, not so much. But there *is* a connection between the the two in the sense of conflating the idea of keeping *everyone* you encounter *submissive* and doing your job effectively and safely. I’ve only been out of the USA for a bit over five years now, and I find that my “new normal” is to see piracy as just a mundane part of life. Here in Ecuador, and I think through much of the less affluent world, piracy of software, music, and video is rampant. Though such piracy is technically illegal (I’m ambivalent about its morality), there appears to be zero enforcement here. There are hundreds of stores in Quito alone that openly sell nothing but pirated music CDs and movie DVDs for about a dollar each, and as long as they pay their 12% to the SRI (Ecuadorian tax agency), they seem to be left alone. Many titles appear within days of a movie’s initial release in theaters, well before its official release on DVD (the quality of copies is notably better after there is an official DVD to copy :-) You only need one good errant copy to feed the universe... trying to limit/interfere with illegal copy is more of a gesture... and again, conflating raising the stakes with *everyone* within reach with actually solving the problem is rampant here. Such re-filming must be common somewhere (I don’t know how much takes place here, or if pirated DVDs are just burned from sources filmed elsewhere). For those who are still part of the more affluent world, you may have never encountered pirated CDs and DVDs. It is very common, while watching such a DVD, to see someone stand up and walk in front of the camera that is filming the screen. Sometimes, that is more entertaining than the movie itself :-) Moviegoing has always had an aspect of performance art glad to see it is alive and well in the pirate market. *I* am perfectly willing to pay my fair share of the first-world's expenses to maintain the expense of *producing* the stuff we call entertainment, and let the third-world ride our coat-tails on that. Same with drugs... I don't mind the sliding scale of paying for the development of advanced drugs that the third-world then can have access to for something closer to the cost of production and distribution. I really appreciate having an expatriate such as yourself on this list... most of the rest of us rarely come close to the kinds of things you must encounter monthly if not daily. - Steve FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
