New York bans filming

belarm

Infowars has an article about a New York City initiative to require a permit and one million dollars in liability insurance for a group of two or more people to film for more than half an hour...in public places. There are other provisions, and some thoughts from the ACLU, in the article.

They're not even trying any more. They promise to selectively enforce the law (generally considered a bad thing):

[T]he Mayor’s Office of Film has said that the new rules are not aimed at families on vacation or amateur filmmakers or photographers

This raises an obvious question: Who is it aimed at? Perhaps those attempting to bring public officials to task? As "they" so frequently imply, if you've done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide.

Omnutia

How likely do you think this is to pass? If politicians can get away with it in America then they're bound to try it in Albion.
I find it strange to limit recording what you can see anyway. This seems to me like it would be aimed at people taking undesirable pictures of police and government officials. Though with the sheer number of camera phones I don't see this being possible as the moment someone get they're camera taken off them someone in the crowd is likely to start recording.

[Side note: the Vanilla spell checker is really nice. Swiftfox has crapped out again]

HMTKSteve

This is probably designed to allow law enforcement to act when they see a suspicious character filming a location when they believe that character might be a terrorist.

Andrew

This is probably designed to allow law enforcement to act when they see a suspicious character filming a location when they believe that character might be a terrorist.

I doubt it. It sounds more like a way to control filming of government activities in public places, like video taping an arrest or a protest. If you have ever seen those videos online of that type of stuff, the cops always try to get the people to turn off the cameras. With this, they would have the power of the law to do it.

cosmicenema

Could it just be that NYC wants more money when the movie industry wants to film there? This seems like a real easy way to tax the movie industry for one of the most commonly filmed cities in the world. It could also be to protect the citizens of NYC (the minimum insurance coverage) from filming activities and accidents. Perhaps "group of two or more people" is a little strict.

I think this may be a case of the internet-conspiracy-production-machine running amok. Maybe not. No one wants to film anything in my city.

Andrew

Could it just be that NYC wants more money when the movie industry wants to film there?

Actually, that makes more sense.

HMTKSteve

I doubt it. It sounds more like a way to control filming of government activities in public places, like video taping an arrest or a protest. If you have ever seen those videos online of that type of stuff, the cops always try to get the people to turn off the cameras. With this, they would have the power of the law to do it.

Not quite, because I read it as applying to a film "crew" of two or more people. If you film a protest by yourself you are one person and thus not affected by this law.

Pilitus

Could it just be that NYC wants more money when the movie industry wants to film there?
That seems like a really stupid idea. Aside from Law & Order I'm not sure how many film companies choose to film in NYC as opposed to filming in Toronto, or another city in Canada. I know that a number of TV shows film in Canada to save on costs, and I wonder if this won't be another thing that pushes people towards a canuck location.

cosmicenema

Could it just be that NYC wants more money when the movie industry wants to film there?

Actually, that makes more sense.

I tend to follow the money trail over the 'oppressive regimes' trail. Not to derail the thread but the best conspiracy theories always have a solid money trail.

Rym

I'm not sure how many film companies choose to film in NYC


You'd be surprised.  Emily has fairly often told of seeing such and such movie being shot there.  Having lived down here a while, I notice buildings and places in movies that I've seen in real life.  Despite all of the hassle, New York appears to be a relatively popular fliming location.

cosmicenema

wiki/List_of_television_shows_filmed_in_New_York_City
wiki/List_of_movies_set_in_New_York_City

Andrew

Not quite, because I read it as applying to a film "crew" of two or more people. If you film a protest by yourself you are one person and thus not affected by this law.

I'm on running on three hours of sleep, cut me some slack -_-