Bill in Congress - HR 414

3-19-2009 National:

`Camera Phone Predator Alert Act'

Sponsor: Rep King, Peter T. [NY-3]
Introduced 1/9/2009 Bill HR 414

The intent of the bill is: To require mobile phones containing digital cameras to make a sound when a photograph is taken.


First the provisions I would question:

SEC. 2. FINDING.
Congress finds that children and adolescents have been exploited by photographs taken in dressing rooms and public places with the use of a camera phone.

SEC. 3. AUDIBLE SOUND STANDARD.
(a) Requirement- Beginning 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, any mobile phone containing a digital camera that is manufactured for sale in the United States shall sound a tone or other sound audible within a reasonable radius of the phone whenever a photograph is taken with the camera in such phone. A mobile phone manufactured after such date shall not be equipped with a means of disabling or silencing such tone or sound.

OK, I'll admit such acts do take place, just today is this report out of Florida, but how would any audible sound have PREVENTED the teacher from taking a picture. The audible sound PREVENTS nothing it would merely indicate a picture was taken, somewhere in the vicinity (Bill says "audible within a reasonable radius of the phone") of the camera phone. There would be no way to know specifically who took a picture.

As to the audible sound, it would have to be loud enough to almost break an eardrum. Why, because the person (victim) could be in a very noisy environment, a construction site where spectators are watching a jackhammer going just the other side of the spectator's fence. The locker room is one environment but far from a typical environment, so the sound must be LOUD. It is impossible to legislatively conceive every possible environment.

As to the camera, the bill cites a "camera phone" which is not the only kind of small camera capable of taking such pictures, so in that sense the bill is shortsighted. Further, can you image the cost of such devices, with the audible feature, it would drive that industry to create prohibitively priced products.

Now comes the ridiculous part of this bill, the requirement "A mobile phone manufactured after such date shall not be equipped with a means of disabling or silencing such tone or sound."

OK Mr. Lawmaker, what are you going to do with the lawsuits from broken eardrums caused by that provision coupled with the audible requirement, must less what do you do if you cannot shut it off, smash it? Need I say more? This provision is nothing more than laughable...

Finally, I object to wasting Congressional lawmakers' time with a bill like this. COngress needs to spend time on laws that PREVENT crime, not laws that merely track the offender or his actions AFTER the crime, far too many sex offender laws are tracking and not preventative!


I would OPPOSE this bill 100%. Contact lawmaker, with your views, by clicking on his/her name above, as well as your own folks in Congress.

Thanks,
eAdvocate

Note: To see all bills concerning sex offenders or their familes currently in Congress simply click here. At the present time I do not review sex offender bills concerning Immigration or Appropriations, they get very involved and are time consuming.

Note: Full bill text WILL NOT be included in this blog because as time goes on bills are amended by Congressional Committees and also on the floor of either house, and it is too easy to confuse folks who may not realize that. Further, links to the bill in Congress will be provided so folks can always see the latest version of the bill.