Evil Genius

I know it's been a while since I've replied here, but I came across this story at the Telegraph a couple days ago. Slashdot picked up on it recently, which reminded me to post here.

The Telegraph wrote:Shoreditch TV is an experiment in beaming live footage from the street into people's homes and promises to be every bit as fascinating as the courtship rituals of Celebrity Big Brother contestants Chantelle and Preston.

Viewers can watch the dog walkers on the street below, monitor the appearance of new graffiti and keep an eye on the local pub.

This summer 22,000 Londoners will be tuning in and homes across Britain are getting their own version next year. But despite being a curtain-twitcher's paradise, the channel is about "fighting crime from the sofa", not entertainment.

Now many of you may not be aware of this, but London has over 400,000 CCTV cameras.

What do you think of this type of massive surveillance? The UK has around 4m cameras. That's quite a few, and they cover pretty much any major part of the nation. If you're having a problem grasping this, imagine if all of a sudden NYC, Chicago and LA had cameras everywhere, watching every move. I, for one, am not a fan of 'I have nothing to hide' syndrome. I also sure as hell don't want Joe Shmoo watching my moves from their couch. Part of the marketing for the proposed show is "fighting crime from the sofa". Maybe I look shady to someone. They call the cops, and they come and have a chat with me. I'd rather not have that type of scenario. I do have larger bit of interest in all of this. I, hopefully, will move to London someday and I try to keep up with the goings-on over there.

The UK isn't called the nanny state for nothing.

psi29a wrote:The UK isn't called the nanny state for nothing.

LOL hey it mentions singapore there.
=P

yea and i hear UK buses now have surveillance too.
and singapore is thinking about having them on our buses too.

Great, more reality television and now you can have legitimate voyeurs that won't get arrested who are watching your every move.

Personally, I don't think I like this. It feels like an invasion of privacy. I know that everyone's a bit panicky since the terrorists attacks, but bringing the public to fulfil other people's obligation is a bit extreme. And I think this program may draw prejudice from some viewers. Say, if an Arab was walking down the train station late at night, some people may call the cops on him because of his skin colour. I'm not sure I like this system. Ignorance is bliss for me.

Eldo wrote:I know that everyone's a bit panicky since the terrorists attacks, but bringing the public to fulfil other people's obligation is a bit extreme. And I think this program may draw prejudice from some viewers. Say, if an Arab was walking down the train station late at night, some people may call the cops on him because of his skin colour. I'm not sure I like this system. Ignorance is bliss for me.

That's exactly what this is. The paranoia there is much, much lesser than here after the attacks. Of course, the loss of life for their attacks was much less and the subway isn't exactly a symbol of England as a whole. The marketing folks here are definately targeting the paranoids, and they'll get them. They'll also get Joe Shmoo, and that'll be the guy to call the cops on the Arab.

Also, people are paid to find this kind of thing. That's why CCTV is around in London. If Joe on his couch sees what is a legitimate attack forming - where the hell are the officials? Cops et al. that should be responding? Bit scary to think that this is (almost) like outsourcing your security.

i didnt think of it that way.
but yea now that you phrased it like that, looks like the authorities think that the public can do a better job at surveying than their own salaried security personel. and its free too.

Is there going to be ads during the surveilance? Because we all know what those pesky terrorists could do when the ads for McDonalds and Wal-Mart and other hypnotic brainwashing ads come on. They could set up a bomb in 45 seconds! zomg panic ph43r

Or is this shit going to be 24/7, like the Truman Show, and they're going to have guys running in front of the camera around promoting the products?

ya, this is definitely an invasion of privacy, now itll be like the truman show, except itll bring on paranoia instead of the aww thats nice feeling

Eldo wrote:Or is this shit going to be 24/7, like the Truman Show, and they're going to have guys running in front of the camera around promoting the products?

I like that idea, kinda funny.

In reality, though, I think this whole idea is terrible. I personally hate when national security and safety infringe upon our lives. I may not be breaking laws and may have nothing to hide, but I still don't want the government breathing down my neck.

I think, from what I've read, that it'll be more like The Truman Show. I've been looking for more information, but can't find any. I'm betting we'll hear all about it once it actually hits the air.

It does give new meaning to reality TV, and I hate the current run of reality TV.

I can't remember reality TV I liked. Maybe like the first couple seasons of Survivor but now I'm pretty bored with it. American Idol needs to die. Every time that show airs, I find out just how stupid America has gotten.

shows like american idol r only good on the first ep, cos thats when all the terrible ppl sing

All reality TV sucks, and all reality TV will always suck. Its pointless, and full of stupid people making themselves look as stupid as they are. Besides most of it is scripted nowadays anyways.