Life as a Spectator Sport

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Friday, June 04, 2004

Update on banned devices

Turns out that the DoD has not specifically outlawed digital cameras or camera cellphones, though they may be making an end run around an outright ban. Xeni, at Boing Boing reports:
While Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld may not have signed a ban on new consumer digital-imaging technologies, he did express clear concern about the unforeseen impact of such technologies during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on May 7.

"People are running around with digital cameras and taking these unbelievable photographs and passing them off, against the law, to the media, to our surprise, when they had not even arrived in the Pentagon," Rumsfeld said.

According to [DoD spokesperson Lt. Col. Ken] McClellan, some Defense Department lawyers may be reviewing how the spread of consumer digital-imaging technology among military contractors and enlisted personnel affects the military's obligation to abide by a Geneva Convention article against holding prisoners up to public ridicule. "Lawyers may have looked at that and said, 'It's probably a good idea to get these things out of the prisons.' There's no Pentagon-induced rule in the theater at this time ... but there may or may not be some discussion taking place as to how the [Pentagon's April 14 directive on commercial wireless technology] might be supplemented in Iraq to prevent things we saw at Abu Ghraib."
Even if our service folk are still allowed to have digital cameras and camcorders, it appears that they aren't permitted to have certain kinds of information. Also from Boing Boing, when our soldiers try to access a site about a man who draws faces in the foam on top of cappucino (really subversive stuff, right?) they get this message:
Problem Report. Request Cannot be processed.Problem Cause -- A communication error occurred: "Operation timed out." Note: If the request was denied due to the Content Filterconfiguration. The content category reported is Gen. News. Possible Solution If you feel this site was blocked in error, please contact the HelpDesk at DSN 371-2098 or send an email to. IMD Help Desk.

WARNING! All web activity is logged and monitored by IMD. Unauthorized use of government information systems may lead to disciplinary action or prosecution.
I suppose I can understand why the government doesn't want them reading TheMemoryHole, but, as Xeni asks, exactly what kind of "General News" are they not supposed to know?
posted by Liz @ 10:32 AM     |


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