Reiter's Camera Phone Report

Barbados bans camera phones, cameras from voting locations to prevent fraud

Barbados has banned citizens from taking camera phones and other cameras into voting locations during election day to prevent fraud, the Daily Nation reports.

Apparently, politicians are willing to pay people for their votes, but voters need to show a photograph of their ballot to obtain their money.  So the Barbados Electoral and Boundaries Commission has ruled that voters must place all cameras in a box before voting, and retrieve the cameras after they vote.

Camera phones are, as I’ve written many times before, an important part of the political process.  Citizen journalists are taking photos and videos of candidates around the world.  The U.S. Presidential campaigns are obviously a testament to that.

In the past, some governments, such as South Korea, have even asked citizens to take photos or videos of potential election fraud.

Man in China beaten to death after using camera phone to record protests

A Chinese man was beaten to death after using his camera phone to record protests of residents in a rural village in China who were upset about the government’s decision to establish a garbage dump near a residential area, according to The Guardian.

Wei Wenhua, the general manager of a company owned by the local water resources bureau, was pulled from his car and beaten by chengguan, enforcers who are paid by local governments to deal with crowds, the article says.

For years I have written in this weblog, been quoted in the press and spoken at conferences about my fears that people taking camera phone photos and videos of government activities would be killed, maimed and/or jailed.  It has begun to happen.

Prediction coming true

Because camera phones are becoming so ubiquitous, consumers are increasingly likely to record newsworthy events, often before professional journalists and photographers.  Some people will knowingly risk their lives to take photos and videos of government abuses, military actions, demonstrations and other potentially dangerous situations.

The bad news is what I predicted years ago is happening.  Camera phone users are being hurt or killed.  The good news is consumers with camera phones are making it much more difficult for miscreants to hide what they’re doing.

This always-connected wireless imaging revolution is still in the early stages.  We are just beginning to see, for example, live streaming broadcasting from cellular phones, that I’ve written about in my mobile television weblog and in one of my weekly mobile communications “Thinkernet” columns (see below) for CMP’s “Internet Evolution.”

Journalists, bloggers risk prison sending Myanmar protest photos, videos

Bloggers in Myanmar (Burma) are using cellular phones to transmit photos and videos of anti-government protests occurring in that country and risking years in prison because of the government’s strict policies about Internet usage and information dissemination, according to an article in The Age.

As the article says, “The Government heavily regulates every website that carries Burmese news or information, and bars access to web-based email and general internet use.  Mobiles [sic] phones are expensive and difficult to obtain, further limiting communication.”

Aung Zaw, the editor of Irrawaddy, a news magazine for expatriate Burmese in Thailand, says journalists and bloggers who send information to the magazine risk imprisonment so Irrawaddy has to be extremely careful about not putting them in any danger.

I searched YouTube for “Myanmar” and see there are numerous videos about the protest but I can’t tell whether any were recorded by camera phones (see below).

Revolutionary application

One of the reasons I started this weblog and continue to write it is because camera phones are one of the most revolutionary wireless applications I’ve seen in my 29 years of analyzing mobile communications. 

The ability of ordinary people to shoot photos and videos of politically charged events and post them almost instantaneously highlights one of the most important benefits of camera phones to society.

Second camera phone video appears showing Saddam Hussein's condition after the hanging

A second camera phone video showing Saddam's condition after he was hanged -- including showing a close-up of a bloody neck wound (see left) -- has appeared on the Internet, according an Associated Press (AP) report on CBS News. 

I have watched the video and it's posted on LiveLeak.com. 

Compared to the first camera phone video that shows Saddam's execution, this one, I think, is much more gruesome.  I purposely clipped a still frame for this weblog article that is blurry. 

As I mentioned, the video has a close-up of that neck wound.  If you didn't want to watch the first camera video you definitely will not want to see this second video.

Utilize caution

If you try to see the video by going to LiveLeak.com's home page, when you click on the link to the video you should see a warning about the graphic content and you are asked to click again to view the video.  However, the first link I posted goes directly to the video.

My business is U.S. and overseas wireless data consulting, with an emphasis on camera phones (among other wireless multimedia applications) and it's important for me to understand the dynamics and social ramifications of camera phone videos.  We have all seen grisly special effects in the movies, but this is reality (at least I assume this camera phone video is genuine, but that will be determined).

So, please be very sure you want to see this before you click on the link.

Describing the video

The 27-second video was first posted on an Iraqi news site that supports the former dictator's outlawed Baath Party, the article says.  The video seems to have been taken soon after Saddam was executed and then placed in a white shroud and on a gurney, AP reports.

The video begins panning the body of Saddam that's covered with the shroud.  When the video reaches his head area, the shroud is pulled back to show his head and neck, AP says.

"His head is unnaturally twisted at a 90 degree angle to his right.  It shows a gaping bloody wound, circular in shape, about an inch below his jaw line on the left side of his neck.

"His left cheek is marked with red blotches, and there is blood on the shroud where it covered his head," the article says.

The AP description is accurate.  Think before you decide to see the video.

Video's audio

According to AP, voices are heard on the video and AP translates them into English from the Arabic.

The article says, "As the shroud is pulled back, one voice says, 'Hurry up, hurry up.  I'm going to count from one to four.  One, two....

"'Hurry up you're going to get us into a catastrophe.'

"Then another voice, apparently the man taking the pictures, says, 'Just one second, just one second, Abu Ali.  I'm about finished.'

"Then a third voice says, 'Abu Ali, you take care of this.'"

New Jersey politician circulates camera phone photo against opponent

Bill Thompson, a New Jersey politician who wants to be elected new chairman of the Bergen County Republican Organization (an awful Web site), is circulating a camera phone photo of the current chairman, Guy Talarico, singing karaoke in a restaurant with the chairman of the Democratic County organization, according to an article in NorthJersey.com.

The Democrat, Joseph Ferriero, says the photo was taken two to three years ago when he saw Talarico walk into Solari’s Restaurant — a popular hangout for local politicos — and suggested the two of them sing a duet of “The Gambler.”

Thompson proclaims the camera phone photo is proof that Talarico isn’t fit to lead the Republican organization.  “You’re supposed to be head of the Republican Party, not drinking buddies of the Democratic chairman,” Thompson says.

Lord, what fools these mortals be

Thompson showed the photo to members of the Republican County Committee that was supposed to vote for a new chairman.  He also posted the photo on a state political Web site with the message, “Is it any wonder why we keep losing?” 

I hate politics and politicians, and Thompson’s contention that a politician is unfit if he sings with someone from another party is just one more of the millions of examples of the lilliputian politico mind.

It is, though, one more example of how camera phone photos are becoming part of politics (for better and worse) — that’s the reason for this post!

ABC News, AOL solicit camera phone videos for opinions about Bush's speech

ABC News and America Online/News are jointly soliciting videos -- from camera phones and web cameras -- from just plain folks giving their views about President George W. Bush's State of the Union Address tonight.

I provided many more details today in the CTIA Wireless Internet Caucus weblog (WIC Weblog) that I write.

Jamais Cascio discusses a future of "personal memory assistants"

Jamais Cascio of "World Changing" examines the era of "personal memory assistants" -- camera phones and related portable and wireless imaging devices -- in an excellent podcast on IT Conversations (see below).

Cascio is very knowledgeable about the latest developments in camera phones and similar devices as ways to capture events as well as our personal interactions.  These are exactly the type of changes I've been discussing for some time.

(Check out a recent BBC News video discussing the effects of citizen journalists, as one aspect of the bigger picture concept of the impact of hundreds of millions of people around the world carrying camera phones and video phones.)

One ramification of worldwide citizen "surveillance" is the difficulty of lying.  One photo or video cane be changed, but when many citizens take photos and videos of an event, it becomes tough to fudge the facts.

Southeast London borough fights graffiti with camera phone photos, Web site

Lewisham, a southeast London borough, is asking residents to send camera phone photos of graffiti in the area to the local government's Web site, BBC News reports today.

The photos are posted on Lewisham's new Web site that is operational today.  When the graffiti is removed, a photo of cleaned area is posted next to the first photo (see left).  Users must download software to their GSM phones in order to post photos, the article says. 

I assume the software includes a form for entering the location of the graffiti.

Local government interaction

The idea behind the project is to enable citizens to quickly interact with the Lewisham Council -- without having to go through a long process of writing letters -- and to see that action is taken.

Nigel Tyrell, the Lewisham head of environment, says people can take a photo on the way to work, send it quickly and then go on their way. 

The system has been tested for six months by the borough's employees, including garbage collectors, street sweepers and even councillors.   

If the project is successful the concept could be applied to other applications and also used by other U.K. areas.   

Thai candidate says voters told to photograph their votes

A Thai political candidate says other candidates are buying voters and asking them to take camera phone photos of their ballots to prove they voted correctly, according to an article in MCOT 1.

The article says, "Mr. Aree Pholrattanasit said that the high-tech method of vote buying had already been piloted during advance election held during the last weekend in the province's Thung Yai district, where young people used the photographic evidence of their ballot choice to receive money from the candidates purchasing their votes.

"Although naming no names, Mr, Aree alleged that the candidate opposing him was involved."

Camera phones and election fraud

This isn't the first instance of using camera phone to document votes.  Last summer I wrote about Hong Kong residents complaining that government officials in Mainland China was asking residents to convince relatives to vote for pro-Beijing candidates and takes photos of their ballot with camera phones.

On February 27, 2004 I wrote about the Korea Election Commission asking voters to use cellular phones to take photos or send SMS to the Commission documenting any potential election abuses.  The Commission even posted a video on its Web site (that I wasn't able to find) illustrating how a camera phone could be used to document election abuses, as I previously wrote.