Oh those whacky Brits...

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Yea, let's go out and buy a palatial home with a gorgeous facade and perfectly manicured shrubberies and lawns, then get our panties in knots when someone wants to look at it without our permission...

Yeah, that makes sense (?)

Hell, here in the "free" USA you're probably subjected to a hundred different kinds of camera surveillance methods just going to the coffee shop.

- - - - -

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/04/03/google.anger/index.html

- - - - -

Gang of villagers chase away Google car

(CNN) -- Google's ambitious plan to offer a 3-D street level view of communities across three continents hit a snag when angry residents of a UK village blocked the search engine's camera car from photographing their homes.
Broughton, can be seen from the air on Google Earth, but not from the ground.

Broughton, can be seen from the air on Google Earth, but not from the ground.

Fearing the appearance of their well appointed properties on the Web site would attract criminals scouting for burglary targets, villagers in Broughton, north of London, summoned the police after spotting the car.

"I was upstairs when I spotted the camera car driving down the lane," resident Paul Jacobs told The Times of London.

"My immediate reaction was anger: How dare anyone take a photograph of my home without my consent? I ran outside to flag the car down and told the driver he was not only invading our privacy but also facilitating crime.

"This is an affluent area. We've already had three burglaries locally in the past six weeks. If our houses are plastered all over Google it's an invitation for more criminals to strike. I was determined to make a stand, so I called the police."

Google's Street View project to map 360-degree images of roads and homes across the world has generated numerous complaints over privacy, despite automated software that blurs faces and car licence plates.

A Google spokesman, quoted by the UK Press Association, said: "Embarking on new projects, we sometimes encounter unexpected challenges, and Street View has been no exception.

"We know that some people are uncomfortable with images of their houses or cars being included in the product, which is why we provide an easy way to request removal of imagery. Most imagery requests are processed within hours."

The spokesman added: "We take privacy very seriously, and we were careful to ensure that all images in our Street View service abide by UK law."

[Jim Richards]

Perhaaps they are members of the Knights of Ni. They are on a quest to find The Great and Almighty Shrubbery, and consider this journey the meaning of their lives.

[dependencies]

Your quite right,
but in the UK we are subjected to just so much CCTV, I think this group of villagers (from a fairly affluent neighborhood) just saw red when Google rolled into town.

The media tell us daily that recession brings theft and burglary but make no distinction between the fact that Google
will happily give the armchair criminal access to a very useful tool indeed, and the official crime figures.

So while I can see how you might think it an over reaction to gather together some neighbours and pelt the google man with stones, this is probably the reason.



+ we don't have easy access to firearms thank christ or we'd all be shooting up immigration service centres in Binghampton

[Aerkuld]

I suspect their plan may have misfired. Now they have drawn way more attention to their sleepy little affluent village than any google image ever would. Well done chaps.

[HardDrive]

Originally Posted by dependencies

+ we don't have easy access to firearms thank christ or we'd all be shooting up immigration service centres in Binghampton

What a stupid, stupid comment. Perhaps if you had firearms, you wouldn't have affluent people terrified to have a simple photo taken of their homes. People live in fear of property crime, and are defenseless against criminals, and worse yet, if you happen to defend yourself against a criminal, YOU are the one going to jail.

You brits are full of crap on gun control. Yeah, those CCTV sure are you keeping safe....NOT.

Pompous dullards.

Now go away, or I shall taunt you a second time.

[Hawktel]

Well. If your good turn to prevent crime is stopping the Google truck...

You are a idiot.

[dependencies]

You mustn't be scared to face facts hard drive,

Its simply a fact that allowing anyone on your streets to walk about armed, well,

Results are plain to see
Immigration centre,
Retirement home,
High school.

Where next week?

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by dependencies

You mustn't be scared to face facts hard drive,

Its simply a fact that allowing anyone on your streets to walk about armed, well,

Results are plain to see
Immigration centre,
Retirement home,
High school.

Where next week?

I'm gonna guess it won't be a gun store, a firing range or any other place where the murderer is likely to face armed resistance by law-abiding citizens.

[dependencies]

At the risk of getting into the usual gun/no gun argument here,
I'm going to say.... school next,


I'll revisit here in shortly when it happens

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by dependencies

At the risk of getting into the usual gun/no gun argument here,
I'm going to say.... school next,


I'll revisit here in shortly when it happens

That's always a safe bet. Police response has never once prevented one of these things from escalating and only criminals have guns in schools. Don't you love the news reports that keep showing flashing red lights and cops in their ninja gear......doing nothing?

[HardDrive]

Shootings make for good headlines. A violent distraction that blends in well with the violence of popular culture.

But if one looks at the number of people killed by automobile crashes, cancer, heart disease......gun violence is quite negligible.

There IS gun violence in this country, but I think you should really take some time, and deeply explore who it is that is being killed. While shootings at schools and churches make good fodder for the weak minded, a cold look will show that drugs and gangs are deeply intertwined with gun violence. Yes, people die by the bullet in the USA. But WHO? Is it all school children and immigrants in civic centers? The answer is no. Do your bloody homework.

If you are a drug dealer/user/gang-banger in the United States, then yes, you should expect hot lead. Remove those jerks from the statistics, and things become far more gray my friend.

Originally Posted by dependencies

You mustn't be scared to face facts hard drive,

Its simply a fact that allowing anyone on your streets to walk about armed, well,

Results are plain to see
Immigration centre,
Retirement home,
High school.

Where next week?

[nostatic]

Originally Posted by dependencies

At the risk of getting into the usual gun/no gun argument here,
I'm going to say.... school next,


I'll revisit here in shortly when it happens

classy...

[Tobra]

Todd, you are being a bit generous, even though this is obviously a sarcastic comment

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Maybe if the neighbors actually stood up to the criminals in the same way they stood up to a bunch of innocent Google photographers, they wouldn't have a problem, no? Of course being able to stand up to criminals implies access to some form of protection too, which I think was the point about bringing citizen access to firearms into this...

[scottbombedout]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

What a stupid, stupid comment. Perhaps if you had firearms, you wouldn't have affluent people terrified to have a simple photo taken of their homes. People live in fear of property crime, and are defenseless against criminals, and worse yet, if you happen to defend yourself against a criminal, YOU are the one going to jail.

You brits are full of crap on gun control. Yeah, those CCTV sure are you keeping safe....NOT.

Pompous dullards.

Now go away, or I shall taunt you a second time.

That isnt a stupid comment too?
Last thing we need is the right to have firearms in the UK. A proliferation of guns and every idiot has one? Great.

Ok its totally different in the US. If I didnt have a gun over there I wouldnt feel safe and would want one.

But why do some people in the US find it so hard to believe that guns might not be the answer everywhere in the world?

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by scottbombedout

A proliferation of guns and every idiot has one? Great.

Ok its totally different in the US. If I didnt have a gun over there I wouldnt feel safe and would want one.

But why do some people in the US find it so hard to believe that guns might not be the answer everywhere in the world?

Your first line here is the problem, for which the last line is not a solution anywhere in the world.

Guns are a cultural thing. Banning them hasn't made a dent in crime in the UK and proliferating them hasn't increased crime in the US. You guys are content to live under constant surveillance in a place where only criminals have guns and you let the police come clean up the mess. That doesn't affect anyone else, and it works for you guys. So fine.

Here we still have a few talisms of freedom left and are not willing to give them up. Shouldn't deter you from coming to visit here anymore than the situation in the UK would deter me from spending a vacation there.

[HardDrive]

Originally Posted by scottbombedout

But why do some people in the US find it so hard to believe that guns might not be the answer everywhere in the world?

Each culture makes their own calculations in terms of how much they rely on the police for security. If citizens of the UK feel they are better off with a gun ban, great.

It seems that anti-gun sentiment only bubbles up when there is some spectacular shooting event. The media runs the story into the ground because it makes good chum for the public. But even in the most horrific shooting situations, there are way, way more people killed in drunken driving accidents, something on the order of 43 a day! Why doesn't THAT make the press? Because those deaths, while completely preventable, have just become the 'cost of doing business' in a country where most own cars, and most drink.

This country also has a taste for drugs. Not just a taste, a ravenous appetite. Yet no one wants to confront THAT. On no, lets focus on the gun problem. Lets treat the symptom, and protect our silly Puritan ideas about ourselves as a people. Drugs? Well, that must be something that happens down there where those poor people live. BS, it ain't just inner city folks and the trailer trash doing drugs. Plenty of drugs in suburbia. Plenty of drugs in the apartments above Central Park. Mexico has literally almost failed as country because of US drug use.

Its an easy dodge to focus on the 'gun' problem.

If drugs were legal tomorrow, what would the level of gun violence be 1 year from now? 5 years from now?

I believe there would be steady and dramatic decline in gun violence.

[Tanick]

Last thing we need is the right to have firearms in the UK. A proliferation of guns and every idiot has one?

Actually, we do have a right to have firearms. Your local Chief Constable has to find a reason not to give you a gun license if you have a use for one, not the other way round. Unless you have a criminal record or mental problems they can't stop you having at least a shotgun. About 500,000 peoples shoot regularly in the UK. You'd be very surprised who has guns in their house.

[Schumi]

I don't get people. Could I walk down that street and see the house, from the middle of the street, with my own eyes?

Yes.

Then could I take a picture with my camera, from that same spot, and post it on the internet?

Yes, I damn well should be able to.


Then why can a car with a camera on it do the same thing? There is no difference. I can see your property from public- therefore whatever I can see is public knowledge. Get the $#%@ over it people.

[Burnin' oil]

I have a problem with Google posting street and aerial shots of my place. It is an invasion of my privacy to disclose this information to the entire world. I see a clear difference between what Google does and the casual passer-by oogling my estate.