Texas Declares War On Robots 387
Mr_Blank writes "Organizations like the EFF and ACLU have been raising the alarm over increased government surveillance of U.S. citizens. Legislators haven't been quick to respond to concerns of government spying on citizens. But Texas legislators are apparently quite concerned that private citizens operating hobby drones might spot environmental violations by businesses. Representative Lance Gooden has introduced HB912 which proposes: 'A person commits an offense if the person uses or authorizes the use of an unmanned vehicle or aircraft to capture an image without the express consent of the person who owns or lawfully occupies the real property captured in the image. ('Image' is defined as including any type of recorded telemetry from sensors that measure sound waves, thermal, infrared, ultraviolet, visible light, or other electromagnetic waves, odor, or other conditions.)' Can you foresee any unintended consequences if this proposal becomes law?"
Another reader notes that New Hampshire has introduced a similar bill: "Neal Kurk, a Republican member of New Hampshire's House of Representatives knows that those drones present a growing privacy concern, and in response has introduced a bill that would ban all aerial photography in the state. That is, unless you're working for the government. The bill, HB 619-FN (PDF), is blessedly short, and I suggest reading the whole thing for yourself." Here's part of the bill: "A person is guilty of a class A misdemeanor if such person knowingly creates or assists in creating an image of the exterior of any residential dwelling in this state where such image is created by or with the assistance of a satellite, drone, or any device that is not supported by the ground."
Re:Reductio Ad Hitlerum? (Score:4, Informative)
Nope. SCOTUS has ruled that if you can see it in public then it's OK to photograph. The problem the EFF has with drones is the use of continuous surveillance of an individual constituting a search.
The Paddleborough problem (Score:5, Informative)
I notice the NH wording has no mention of consent. So not only can I not take a picture of your dwelling, you can't either, nor can you ask me to. (hell, if you ask me, and I do it, thats conspiracy!)
We had an issue here in MA a while back where a private BDSM party got raided by police, for this very sort of issue.... paddles and whips were called "insturments of abuse", because there is no provision in the law for consent.
Re:Google Earth (Score:5, Informative)
Re:What They Really Are Trying To Do (Score:2, Informative)
Of course that's not it. This is in response to environmentalists catching polluters. It's in response to things like this
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/12/29/001201/drone-photos-lead-to-indictment-for-texas-polluters
Many people believe that they can do anything they want on their land, and corrupt politicians often support them.
Re:Really? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Really? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Lance Gooden (Score:5, Informative)
It's hard to google up very much info on that [expletive omitted]. He is quite proud of his bona fides of past disservice. [lancegooden.com] He wants to do for corporate criminals what he's done for wealthy voters, protecting them from the vox populi.
Lance was also able to help steer a voter ID bill into law... and was proud to see Texas step up to protect the integrity of our elections.
Yep, they pile it high in Texas.
Re:Really? (Score:4, Informative)
I may agree with you on some things, but I have to say I do not agree with you concerning the pollution. It is one thing if it was a mistake, but you could even see the blood in the river from google maps:
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/neighborhoods/2012/01/dallas-river-turns-red-hog-blood/1042/ [theatlanticcities.com]
That is well beyond any sort of innocent error. I am all for punishing people that seriously violate environmental laws.
Big shocker (Score:4, Informative)
Lance Gooden [wikipedia.org] is a Republican. This is the party that is always talking about Big Government, "freedom from government", etc. Freedom from government unless your rich friends get caught polluting a river by a drone that is.