Photographers protest UK terror law

Photographby Oil Scarff/Getty Images

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Photographers say they have been unduly targeted by portion of act
• Section 44 of Terrorism Act 2000 allows police to stop and search without suspicion
• Court ruled that stop-and-search powers were breach of human rights
• British government is appealing decision

More than two thousand photographersdescended upon London’s Trafalgar Square this weekend to protest section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which was ruled unlawful by the European Court of Human Rights earlier this month.

As was predicted, UK police were on their best behavior during the protest as participants were able to photograph the square and themselves without incident. However, despite photographers having just one day free from harassment and the European Court of Human Rights’ ruling, Chief Constable Craig Mackey of the Association of Chief Police Officers said officers would continue to use stop and search powers while the court’s decision was appealed.

Be it here, in American or the UK, where there is a protest against the cops and the media cameras are there rolling of course the Cops will be on their best behavior. The can't show their true colors for the world to see.. However what will happen to these photographers in the days to come is the true question. Will the stops increase now, of course they will since big media cameras are not around. More photographers and tourists will be stop and harassed for taking photos.

Britain's terrorism laws were dealt a blow last week when the European Court of Human Rights ruled that stop-and-search powers under Section 44 of the Act were a breach of human rights.
The ruling came after lengthy legal fight by two people who were stopped and searched on their way to a London demonstration.
The court found that the "coercive powers" of the anti-terrorism legislation amounted to a clear interference with the right to respect for private life. The British government is appealing the decision, saying the powers are an important tool in the fight against terrorism.

SNT: Big brother on your boats.... WTF

Fishermen are being coerced into carrying CCTV on their boats

Courtesy of new EU rules, British fishermen are being bullied into having CCTV on their boats.  They will be permitted to take fewer catches if they don't.  It's to save the fish stocks, they say.  The cameras are to monitor stocks, and also to spot fishermen illegally dumping fish.
So the environmental movement is driving the furtherance of our surveillance society.  That's the first time I've made that connection and put it directly - I doubt that it will be the last.
By Alex Deane

The Queen is got her knicker in a bunch

The Queen is have a hissy fit over people taking photographs of her and her sorry family. She wants a complete lock-down on those pesty paparazzi using the zoom lens to catch all the bad stuff her family is doing..

By Carlos Miller
The crackdown against photographers in the United Kingdom reached royal levels last week when police confiscated dozen of cameras from people trying to photograph the queen and her family as they walked down a public street.
It was the first time in decades this occurred.
Norfolk police later admitted it was a misunderstanding, claiming the royal family had nothing to do with the confiscation of cameras.

this is from the Mail Online,

For decades, supporters of the royals have turned out to greet them as they go about their duties.
But those hoping for a memento of the Queen and her family yesterday were stunned after police seized their cameras.
It is the first time that visitors watching the Queen, Prince Charles and Princes William and Harry make their way to church have been prevented from taking photographs.
The incident comes just weeks after the Queen made an appeal for privacy and warned newspapers they face legal action if they publish paparazzi photos of ' private' situations.

So those of us whom might be deciding to visit the land of no rights at all, because you might be a terrorist, be prepare to submit to questioning under Section 44, and other crap that the uk po can think of, to protect the public from your camera or video camera.. However its ok from them to spy on you while you are there, walking down the streets, while you dining and drink in their pubs,, Big Brother/Queen is watching you, but you can't watch them...

But there is concern that the recent legal warnings are merely an attempt to obtain an unofficial privacy-law 'by the backdoor'. Graham-Smith, of anti-monarchist group Republic, said: 'The police are not there to protect the privacy of the royals.

'The Royal Family have to expect that people want to take photos of them in public. We hope that this is not a sign of things to come.' A spokesman for Norfolk Police, said: 'An officer, in error, requested cameras from members of the public. We will be allowing the public to keep their cameras, in accordance with a long-standing agreement.'

A spokesman for the Royal Family declined to comment.

How nice the Coppers are taking heat for the old wind bag. However remember that what ever happens over there finds it way here..

   
Read more at Earth Times.

I have to wonder if one reason why the queen wants this banned--if it has to do with the one Paparazzi who caught William with his willy out at a soccer/football game??
see here

could this be one reason why??? click here to see the royal jewels leaking in public

just maybe this one is why??

Party time: William and Kate leaving the Boujis nightclub. While Boujis has become synonymous with the names of both its fun-loving royal patrons, it is also a magnet for cocaine abuse. Prince William is said to have run up a bar bill of £11,050 ($22,000) at Mahiki the week he separated from Miss Middleton (that’s around half the average national annual salary).

 

Must Read, UK section 44 photography

Police officers in the UK Police Constabularies apparently do not understand English, and continue to use Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 and and Section 76A of the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 to prevent public photography, despite Home Office instructions to the contrary.
The British Journal of Photography is conducting a ‘Not A Crime’ campaign to raise awareness about the increasing restrictions imposed on professional photographers in the UK and overseas. For more information, visit www.not-a-crime.com.
[ Read the article at: BJP ]

(PCSOs) stopped Italian student Simona Bonomo

What does the police in the UK have in common with those here, "A bunch of little dicks wishing they were big ones"

Its funny to me that UK would enact such laws on photography only after 911, which happen on US soil and not in the UK, They didn't make this a issue while they were being bomb by the IRA for 20+ years.. I personally think the old wind bag (queen) is behind this, she no longer whats herself and sorry family bad acts photographed..

Section 44 be used against every citizen in the UK, and those who visit there..

Recent case is of a Italian Student, Click here to visit story. Here is another story as well

I bet this office gets off on harassing young women, (little prick just who do you think you are) Just because this office have a badge doesn't make them above the law.

Also it odd that UK Government have have camera on every block and now trying to place them in homes in the UK, yet they don't want their citizens to have camera's.. Big Brother in the UK watching your every step.

This issue is now find its way here, you know what every happen in England find its way over here in a few years, Read these site for more information

War on Photography

Photography isn't a Crime

Police reminded over photography concerns

Assistant commissioner John Yates issues reminder that no laws prevent people from photographing buildings yet the UK Police are either hard head or brainless,.. or they get their little nuts off by harassing people with cameras.. all under Section 44

see they don't even listen to Scotland Yard at all.

Scotland Yard has told police officers there is "an enormous amount of concern" about the use of anti-terror laws against people taking photographs in the street.
In a circular to all Metropolitan borough commanders, John Yates, the assistant commissioner for specialist operations, advocated a "commonsense" approach and reminded officers there were no laws to stop people photographing buildings.
"Unless there is a very good reason, people taking photographs should not be stopped," wrote Yates, who is Britain's senior counter-terrorism officer.

Even the press over there gets harassed

There has been criticsm of alleged harassment of photographers. Last week the Guardian was stopped by police under section 44, after photographing the Gherkin building in the City to test how the law was being applied.