Witetap Laws Suppressing Video of Bad Cops?

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drwayne

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Back in April, we wrote about the case of a motorcyclist in Maryland who was wearing a helmet-mounted camera while riding his motorcycle (admittedly, above the speed limit). As he stopped at a traffic light, an off-duty police-officer in plain clothes and an unmarked car jumped out of his car with his gun drawn. All of this was caught on video. No matter what you think of the cop's reaction, what happened later is ridiculous: after the biker, Anthony John Graber III, posted the video from his helmet cam to YouTube, he was arrested for illegal wiretapping, based on Maryland's two-party consent rule for recording. As we explained at the time, wiretapping laws that require all parties to consent were not, at all, designed for this type of situation.

Rest of the story at TechDirt

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/201006 ... 9675.shtml
 
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drwayne

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I wonder if folks gave concent for all those dashboard recordings that are so popular on TV. ;)
 
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docm

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Two party consent laws fail on appeal when the recording is in a public space where there is no expectation of privacy.

Not only that but there is a practical aspect: cars will be moving to HD cams and LCD displays instead if rear view mirrors , and even front-view cams for heads up display night vision (both already available in some cars).

What with the increasing use of "flight" data recorders - black boxes - in cars and trucks sooner or later what they 'see' will be added to that recording, and their addition to motorcycles isn't out lf the question either given their high accident rate.

End of the state consent law applying to the public space of roads since these additions are likely to be required by NHTSA.

And for the record: I have a very tiny HD digital "camcorder" with a wide angle lens mounted on my dash that can record about 16 hours on its micro-SD card. I wipe it every few days. Thing is only about 2.5x1x1 inches.
 
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drwayne

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I have wondered about how data from such a camera could be used as evidence.

I can't believe that they are still going after this guy though - it is, well, shocking.
 
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