Why is this important for the online community? Because, of course, it would sharply curtail the ability to photograph/ film for use on blogs, web sites, video/film sites.
Period for public comment ends FRIDAY, AUGUST 3. Please speak up NOW! The proposed "permitting requirements" for photography/film/video represents yet another assault by Michael Bloomberg on civil and constitutional rights--and another example of using "permitting" to silence speech and limit rights, carrying on the Giuliani "tradition" (denying rights, then using city funds to fight objections in court; Giuliani claimed that the visual arts were not speech, and not subject to first amendment protections--he argued this all the way to the Supreme Court and lost; Bloomberg might NOT lose, given the current members of the court). Nip it in the bud now. These onerous permitting requirements will be used selectively against those who are ethnically/racially profiled (this has already and routinely occurs), those targeted for any reason by the NYPD and anyone disliked by Bloomberg or any other future administration, including those using visual images to politically protest political/economic policies and practices in NYC. This is especially outrageous considering the Bloomberg administration's policies of overt and covert photo/film surveillance of legally protected speech/protest, creating a database of protesters (including, at one point, police protesting during labor negotiations) and the plan to photograph every license plate in NYC under the proposed "congestion pricing" if forced through. The city, notoriously, altered videotape of Republican National Convention protest arrests and offered them in evidence at trials against protesters; only independently shot footage refuted these edited tapes and resulted in many cases being thrown out of court (the city later claimed the tapes were altered "accidentally", but the deletions/alterations at no time favored defendants). Demanding $1 million in insurance and before the fact permitting permissions (with the right of denial belonging to the city), would have effectively prevented the ability of citizen protesters to defend themselves and photographers/videographers to independently document abuses. Please consider not only signing the petition, but sending messages to both Michael Bloomberg and his Commissioner for Film/Theatre/Broadcasting, Katherine Oliver (see below). Democracy Now! covered this issue this morning and may be watched, listened to or the transcript read, after 3 pm EST today (August 2) <http://www.democracynow.org/>. Thank you. trina Michael Bloomberg maybe not so different after all New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg has recently made quite the fuss about how he is a true independent, who doesn't fit into the general Democrat-Republican mold. As a result, there has been quite a bit of talk about him running for president - kind of a Crassus of our modern times: A man who uses his considerable wealth to obtain political power. But maybe Mr Bloomberg isn't quite so different after all. Take the new rules for public photography currently being considered by the Mayor's Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting, which would open the door to the kind of discriminatory enforcement the current occupant of the White House has been so actively promoting. It's not hard to see how such a development would be an enormous loss (and a violation of the US' First Amendment [don't count on the new Supreme Court to agree with that, though!]) for one of the photography capitals of the world. If you want to do something about it, you can either leave a message for Katherine Oliver, the commissioner in charge, or probably better, get in touch with Mr Bloomberg directly. Posted by Joerg Colberg at June 30, 2007 09:52 AM http://www.jmcolberg.com/weblog/archives/002761.html#002761 [Best of all: contact both, plus City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.] The proposed regulations would not only jeopardize the activities of artists, but of hobbyists and tourists, as well as commercial practitioners. Furthermore, we believe these new restrictions will have far reaching impact on the tourism industry and cultural economy of New York... This E-Petition was initiated on Wednesday, July 25, 2007. It will be printed and hand-delivered to the Mayor's Office of Film, Theater & Broadcasting on Friday, August 3, the last day of the public comment period. Please sign by Friday and make sure to tell others! http://www.pictureny.org/petition/index.php Back Story: http://www.jmcolberg.com/weblog/archives/002761.html#002761 Send a message to Michael Bloomberg: Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg City Hall New York, NY 10007 FAX (212) 788-8123 E-MAIL: http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html Send a message to Katherine Oliver, Commissioner Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre & Broadcasting http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mailfilmcom.html _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.isoc-ny.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
