back to article Italians take the 'p' to fight back against Big Brother

Italians are fighting back against the surveillance society with a grass roots project designed to publicise the location of CCTV cameras – and to "out" those that have been set up contrary to Italian Law. The "Anopticon" project, which was launched earlier this year, is a deliberate parody of the "panopticon" – an ideal …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I for one support this product and/or service

    The only way we have to fight back civilly against civil rights intrusions is grassroots, so any serious grassroots initiative deserves our support.

  2. irish donkey
    Black Helicopters

    Couldn't happen in this country

    The first time you logged the position of a camera you would be arrested for collecting information likely to be of use to a terrorist and shipped off for a rubber glove inspection.

    You certainly wouldn't be stoopid enough to whip a camera out and try and photograph it.

    Thank goodness we live in a free society

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Not unless we get enough people on board.

      If everyone makes a point of taking pictures of CCTV and "sensitive buildings" whether they want the picture or not, soon enough the police will be wasting so much time smashing cameras and treading on innocent people's toes that they'll become a completely ineffectual force and the government will have no choice but to change the law so as to allow some actual frickin freedom.

      "the terrorists want your freedom, well not if we take it first" - your friendly government.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        But

        "they'll become a completely ineffectual force "

        They already are...

  3. criscros
    Thumb Up

    +1

    This is a good thing and I hope it catches on in other countries and for other aspects of life.

    The mottos "I will work harder" and "Napoleon is always right" are all too prevalent today.

  4. Peter Gathercole Silver badge
    Unhappy

    Awwwwww...

    I was looking forward to a story about a telescope that did not use glass lenses until I read the bootnote!

  5. Peter Clarke 1
    Black Helicopters

    Won't work in the UK

    Excuse me, sir, you do know its an offence under Section 44 of the Terrorist Act to take pictures of Anti-terorist equipment. Would you accompany me down to the station.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Grenade

    Hey we should do this in the UK!

    Although we'd have to be careful not to get caught doing it.

  7. My Alter Ego
    Black Helicopters

    How long before ...

    ... someone over here taking information on CCTV cameras in the UK gets charged under Section 44?

    What's the point in the things when you just get watched being mugged, and are refused access to the footage when a parked vehicle is damaged by some anonymous bastard.

    1. Lionel Baden
      Flame

      not only that

      they wont access footage from hit and run drivers either :(

      need a seething mad icon ....

    2. Dale Richards
      FAIL

      Yep

      I'm with you on that one. My car was vandalised three times in three months while parked in a heavily CCTV-protected street. Requests for footage were declined, and the police said they had no leads. You have to wonder exactly what they're watching for.

    3. Dan 10
      Thumb Down

      Worse than that

      I used to live in a city centre apartment in Manchester - the CCTV covering the NCP car park opposite was regularly pointing away from the car park and directly at the flats (with their full length, full width windows, no doubt showing pretty girls getting ready to go out on Saturday nights). The Police regarded me as a nuisance for reporting it.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Black Helicopters

    Terrorist Supporters

    Making the location of CCTV cameras available so easily will make it much, much easier for terrorists to plan routes that evade detection.

    This kind of terrorism enabling action should be beaten down hard and I look to our Labour government to ensure that such anti-state action does not happen in the UK. The mandatory carrying of the RFID ID card would be a most welcome start (the RFID chips in all new license plates is really not going far enough). Making it easier to install CCTV and removing many of the burdens from CCTV operators would also be a boon. A CCTV being able to see into your home protects YOU, unless you have something to hide of course.

    People must understand that the threats we face are real and could destroy our way of life. Only by assisting the state in improving its monitoring and control can we ensure privacy and freedom. So do your bit to protect our free world be reporting any suspicious activity you see, and support our police in dealing with dangerous individuals who threaten the stability of our state (protesters, people taking pictures of sensitive place, those refusing to identify themselves etc).

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Big Brother

      Doubleplus good!

      Remember, Freedom is Slavery!

    2. John G Imrie

      Thank you Chancellor Sutler

      I want this country to realize that we stand on the edge of oblivion. I want everyone to remember *why* they need us

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Flame

      Which Terrorists?

      I know you're being sarcastic, but I thought I'd rant anyway :)

      The terrorists are already running the country. Terrorism is the use of violence and the fear of violence for political ends. Well, that pretty well sums up what's going on here and in the US, doesn't it? We're all supposed to quake in fear of these nasty bombers and their exploding range of clothing so that our political masters can do whatever the hell they like with our money.

      "They're trying to destroy our way of life"? Our way of life has already been destroyed.

      Support terror: vote Labour.

    4. Graham Marsden
      WTF?

      Please tell me...

      ... you meant to use the "Troll" icon on that post...

  9. kia kanpa
    Go

    We *should* do it in the UK

    http://wespeakforfreedom.com/anti-surveillance/cctv-map/ -> if you're interested

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Black Helicopters

    RE: Terrorist Supporters

    You missed out

    Vote Fascist for a Third Glorious Decade of Total Law Enforcement

    Be a Government Informer. Betray Your Family & Friends. Fabulous Prizes to be Won

    AC cos the black helicopters are hovering

    1. lpopman
      Heart

      titular homily

      "Voter! Come out from the shadows!"

      "Oh, it's you, VoterColonel."

      Just gotta love Red Dwarf :D

  11. Ian Ferguson
    Coat

    But, but, but

    Who watches the people watching the Watchmen?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Coat

      didn't anyone tell you

      that qui_custodiet_ipsos_custodes( ) is a recursive function?

  12. Ned Fowden
    Alert

    too late

    we're already too far down the road to worry about the erosion of our civil liberties, they're already gone.

    if you expect the government to do anything about it, then you're seriously deluded.

    I don't see the point in havig a distinction between political parties now, they're pretty much all the same ... the only real difference being the minority parties who simply see to focus upon one topic.

    the UK's version of democracy does not work, has not worked for about 90 years now.

    revolution is needed, but we're all too scared of the terrorist threat, or bird/swine flu or [insert current pandemic/fad threat here] to actually mobilise and do anything about it.

    not until the people speak with unified voices will we ever be heard again

    1. Nebulo

      I wish ...

      I could disagree with one word of that.

    2. Stephen Jenner
      Megaphone

      revolution is needed...

      You said it yourself , while we still can we should vote for one of the minority parties; preferably UKIP.

      Revolution would be put down very quickly, but just at the moment, the weak spot for the totalitarian police state that is rapidly being built, is that votes STILL count... for now anyway!

      I take your point about being fixed on one issue, but that is not true, it is what the media would like you to think. The media makes a point of ensuring that everybody knows that the BNP is racist, they also like to persuade people that they are somehow "right wing", the truth is that they are "old Labour" with a shovel full of racism thrown in, their target audience is the white working class.

      On the other hand is the UKIP... they're the ones who are obsessed with the EU aren't they, they've got a toff who fiddles his expenses running them... haven't they?

      Well no actually... They are a right-wing leaning party of (small c) conservatives, classical liberals and libertarians... very few of them read the Daily Mail. The EU thing is the first step because it is, but it is in no way an obsession. It requires a one line act of Parliament to deal with... the repeal of the 1972 European Communities Act. Then we get on with the business of destroying the police state.

      If anything, their obsession, is removing power from the state and ensuring that it is placed in the hands of Joe Bloggs, with the tools of direct democracy attached, to ensure that no assumptions by the political elite can ever be made again.

  13. Simon Orr

    Not used

    I was assaulted in front of a CCTV camera operated by my office - I reported the assault to the police and asked security to hang on to the tapes.

    3 months later I get a letter from the police telling me that there's no CCTV footage available - Which is utter crap as I've watched it myself.

    So - Why do we have them again?

    1. John Dougald McCallum

      Office CCTV

      'cos the Insurance Co's insist on them and your boss is to shit scared to tell them to fuck off?

  14. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Thumb Up

    A section 44 trial should be quite interesting.

    How many crimes are actually *solved* by their use.

    Why are they where they are.

    But as for the website idea. With small GPS these days discreetly checking out one of these noseys (as in nosy parker) should be pretty easy.

    Bring it on.

  15. Steve Roper
    Go

    It's not enough

    to simply post the location of CCTV cameras, such a system would also need to display the direction of the cameras as well. For example, a camera pointing south might be marked by a red circle with a line pointing southwards from it, or just an isosceles triangle with the base facing the direction of the camera. Even better would be FoV cones showing the area covered by the camera - but I realise that without access to the footage such a feature would be largely a matter of guesswork. But with such a thing, you could work out interesting statistical stuff, like what percentage of the country is covered by CCTV cameras...

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