Legal
U.S. and Worldwide Video Surveillance Statutes
Prevailing perceptions exists that there are vast U.S. federal and state laws and statutes covering the use of video surveillance equipment and the recordings those systems create. In reality, there are actually a limited number of known laws or statutes on video surveillance. A contributing factor to the seemingly few video surveillance usage statutes stems […]
Proving Your Slip And Fall Injury
Slip and fall accidents occur every day. Often, these mishaps result in serious back, neck or knee injuries that severely impact the daily lives of people who experience them. Florida is an extremely tough state when it comes to proving fault in slip and fall cases. In order to do so, there must be proof that a shopkeeper was aware of the dangerous conditions that caused the accident. First stated in Owens v. Publix Supermarkets, Inc. , and later codified in Florida Statute § 768.0755, Florida requires the injured plaintiff to prove that a foreign transitory substance (i.e., a liquid, banana peel, etc.) was on the floor for a length of time sufficient enough for the shopkeeper to become aware of the condition. What does this mean in terms of a real slip and fall case? What this statute does is effectively shift the burden to the plaintiff to somehow prove how long the substance was on the floor. But, how does one prove this? One way is for the injured party to be able to testify that the substance looked dirty, had shopping cart tracks through it, or that the banana peel was brown. There is actually a case where the court went into great detail using the fact that the banana peel that caused the accident was brown as evidence for their case. The banana peel, they alleged, had to have been on the floor for a sufficient amount of time because it was brown. Had it […]
Source injurylaw.labovick.com
Vivotek And ImmerVision Sign New Agreement On Using Panomorph Optics: Settle Lawsuit
MONTREAL – Wednesday, November 6th 2013 [ME NewsWire] (BUSINESS WIRE)– ImmerVision, the inventor of the 360-degree panomorph lens and worldwide expert in immersive optical technology, announced today that it has signed an agreement with Vivotek, a Taiwanese camera manufacturer, to officially settle a recent legal dispute. This signed agreement confirms that Vivotek will adopt the Immervision Enables 360-degree video standard in the development of future 360-degree video products. These new panomorph cameras from Vivotek will be duly certified ImmerVision Enables so customers will benefit from the standard’s leading performance which provides undistorted, blind-spot-free views, heighten situational awareness and the ability to simply pair cameras with a growing list of compatible and certified video management systems. “We understand that ImmerVision Enables panomorph lenses offer superior 360-degree technology compared to other options like fisheye, and so we are pleased to leverage ImmerVision’s leading standard to develop new cutting-edge 360-degree devices,” said Steve Ma, Executive Vice President at Vivotek. “We are very happy to have signed an agreement with Vivotek. The company shows tremendous respect for an organization’s intellectual property,” said Alessandro Gasparini, CCO at ImmerVision. “We look forward to a promising collaboration on more panomorph opportunities.” About ImmerVision Leading innovation in 360-degree panoramic imaging, ImmerVision licenses its patented panomorph optical and software technology to global lens producers, product manufacturers and software developers. Panomorph lenses are the only ones that can be adapted to any camera, any sensor, and any consumer, commercial and government market. ImmerVision Enables is the recognized standard for […]
Source menewswire.blogspot.com
What Happens In Vegas Does NOT Always Stay In Vegas With New Recording Street Lights
Wireless street lights can play music, video, interact with pedestrians and have ‘Homeland Security’ applications like video surveillance monitors Las Vegas r esidents worry that the lights are an invasion of privacy – ‘Who’s protecting our rights? Some cities in the UK and Holland have street lights that reprimand pedestrians for minor offenses like littering By Mail Online Reporter PUBLISHED: 12:31 EST, 10 November 2013 | UPDATED: 13:34 EST, 10 November 2013 Las Vegas is currently installing Intellistreet lights to their well-lit city. But Intellistreets are not just any street-lighting system. The wireless, LED lighting, computer-operated lights are not only capable of illuminating streets, they can also play music, interact with pedestrians and are equipped with video screens, which can display police alerts, weather alerts and traffic information. The high tech lights can also stream live video of activity in the surrounding area. But there’s one major concern.These new street lights, being rolled out with the aid of government funding, are also capable of recording video and audio. Neil Rohleder with the Public Works Department told NBC News 3 in Las Vegas that the main reason for installing the new lighting system is not to record anyone or anything. ‘We want to develop more than just the street lighting component,’ Rohleder said . ‘We want to develop an experience for the people who come downtown.’ But some residents worry that the lights, which are currently being tested in and around Las Vegas City Hall, are an invasion of privacy. […]
Source js.dailymail.co.uk
Digital Ally Files Suit To Halt Threats Of Alleged Patent Infringement By Utility Associates
LENEXA, KS, Oct 28, 2013 (Marketwired via COMTEX) — Digital Ally, Inc. /quotes/zigman/11592504 /quotes/nls/dgly DGLY +6.71% , which develops, manufactures and markets advanced video surveillance products for law enforcement, homeland security and commercial applications, today announced that it has filed a lawsuit to eliminate threats by Utility Associates, Inc. (“Utility”) of alleged patent infringement regarding U.S. Patent No. 6,831,556 (the ‘556 patent). Utility has recently mailed letters to current and prospective purchasers of Digital Ally’s mobile video surveillance systems threatening that the use of such systems purchased from third parties not licensed to the ‘556 patent would create liability for patent infringement. Digital Ally rejects Utility’s assertion and will vigorously defend the right of end-users to purchase such systems from providers other than Utility. On October 25, 2013, Digital Ally filed a Complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas, seeking a declaration that Digital Ally’s advanced mobile video surveillance systems do not infringe any claim of the ‘556 patent. In addition, Digital Ally will be taking steps to invalidate the ‘556 patent through appropriate procedures at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. “Digital Ally welcomes fair competition in the marketplace and will vigorously defend its right to compete, as well as the right of current and prospective customers to purchase its products, without facing threats of alleged patent infringement,” stated a Digital Ally spokesperson. “Digital Ally believes that these rights will be vindicated in the aforementioned proceedings.” About Digital Ally, Inc. Digital Ally, […]
Source www.marketwatch.com
Cambridge MA Blocks Surveillance Cameras
How one Mass city watches the watchers, and how others should follow suit On February 2, 2009, the Cambridge City Council voted in unanimous opposition to the installation of eight Department of Homeland Security cameras at major intersections on the basis that “the potential threats to invasion of privacy and individual civil liberties outweigh the current benefits” of accepting the DHS funds. While six such cameras were installed all the same, the council and a vocal citizenry has since successfully opposed their activation. At a follow-up meeting earlier this month, all nine Cambridge councilors reaffirmed their position: the cameras must remain off until police prove beyond doubt that their department has the capacity to balance investigative methods with civil liberties. Such aggressive civilian oversight of law enforcement should serve as a model not only for the Boston region, but for the whole country. Since 9-11, police chiefs, sheriffs, and commissioners have had an open invitation to request any range of surveillance and tactical gear from federal coffers, often without accountability checks to ensure that deployment squares with the Bill of Rights. Between DHS, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Defense, local overseers can secure every conceivable toy that they could ever covet without spending a dime of their own. From drones, to armored vehicles, to Long Range Acoustic Devices, which are essentially giant human dog whistles, it’s a veritable buffet via federal grants. Since these checks are written by the feds, such arrangements are often executed without […]
Source digboston.com
Biometric Exit Improvement Act: Wrong Solution To Broken Visa And Immigration System
Email Print PDF Several Members of Congress recently released the Biometric Exit Improvement Act in an effort to enhance the U.S.’s security and immigration system. However, the law triples down on a costly policy that adds little real security. Instead of feel-good but ineffective strategies, Congress should reconsider the biometric exit requirement and push the Administration to faithfully execute the U.S.’s existing immigration laws. Biometric Exit Has Consistently Not Been Implemented The requirement for an integrated entry-exit system has been in place since the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. In the following years, several other bills were passed that called for an entry-exit system, with increasing requirements for biometric technology, leading to the creation in 2003 of US-VISIT, a program focused on developing a biometric entry-exit system. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 explicitly required and called for the acceleration of US-VISIT’s efforts to create an automated biometric entry and exit data system. While the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) made progress on the entry portion of US-VISIT, the exit system largely went nowhere. Congress repeated its demand for a biometric exit system in 2007, setting a deadline of 2009. That deadline came and went with only two small pilot programs. Since then, DHS has continued its slow move to meet this requirement in what the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has called “a long-standing challenge for DHS.” [1] The Biometric Exit Improvement Act would be at least the third law to call […]
Source www.heritage.org
Stop, Frisk, and Record
From New York City to Rialto, CA: Police Body Cameras Issues include whether a mandatory worn-video appliance would compromise police duties and effectiveness; would politicize basic law enforcement; would provide social activists with a diversionary platform; would open the door to extensive past and present complaints leading to backlogs of lawsuits; would end up benefitting […]
Texas Passes Tough Laws Regulating UAV Use
The state of Texas has made it a crime to take photographs of someone’s property without their consent using a UAV. That new law went into effect September 1, 2013. The law stemmed from an incident in which someone flying an RC airplane captured images of a creek apparently filled with pig’s blood. The photos, […]
State Denies Public Access To Another Iowa Juvenile Home Security Video
The Iowa Department of Human Services is refusing to release another security camera video that allegedly shows a youth being mistreated at the state-run Iowa Juvenile Home. During the past year, The Des Moines Register has requested three separate videos that allegedly show state workers at the Toledo home physically abusing or improperly restraining youths. […]
IACP Sets Policy Standards For ALPR/ANPR
s reported by NDI Recognition Systems, an IACP report on license plate recognition offers agencies information to help set policies and operational standards. Automated license plate recognition (ALPR) technology has been adopted by approximately 23 percent of U.S. law enforcement agencies, according to a report released by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). […]
Police State USA
For the first time ever, Congress has decided has crafted a piece of legislation that determines whether or not a person is a journalist, in a bill designed to give federal protection to journalists and bloggers from being forced to disclose the identities of their confidential sources. This would mean that before the government could ask a news organization or a journalist to identify their sources, it must first go to a federal judge, who would supervise any subpoenas or court orders for the information. But the legislation comes with a catch. In order for a person to be protected under the bill, one must first meet the criteria for being termed a “journalist” — and even then, journalists will not be protected in all situations. Though freedom of speech, which includes the printed word, is protected under the First Amendment, media shield laws are supposed to go above and beyond in terms of protecting a journalist from being forced to disclose confidential information and sources. The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the bill, the Free Flow of Information Act of 2013 , on Thursday in a 13-5 vote . Though most states have their own media shield laws, they vary in terms of protections for reporters. If the legislation passes, this would be the first federal media shield law. At the urging of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the committee defined what they considered “journalism” as well as who qualified to be labeled as a “journalist.” Feinstein said legal protection […]
ACLU Push Will Put Privacy In Public Eye
MONTPELIER
Ohio: Should Facial Recognition Be Limited?
Criminal justice experts who have been tapped to advise Attorney General Mike DeWine are already asking questions about potential restrictions to Ohio?s new facial recognition system. Ahead of their first meeting Tuesday, The Enquirer surveyed members of DeWine?s new advisory group ? judges, police, a prosecutor, a public defender and a coroner. None of the […]
Manila Now Requires CCTVs In All Business Establishments
MANILA, Philippines — The San Juan City government is now requiring business establishments primarily handling financial transactions to equip themselves with security cameras and other surveillance systems before the end of the year. City ordinance 7, series of 2013, mandates business establishments, specifically banks, pawnshops, money changers, convenience stores, gasoline stations, money transfer centers, bills payment centers and supermarkets, to operate video surveillance and monitoring systems not just inside their stores, but also in the vicinity of their operation. The ordinance, enacted by the San Juan City Council and approved by Mayor Guia Gomez earlier this year, notes that “incidents of robberies and burglaries have recently been hogging the news and have even resulted to the loss of innocent lives.” The ordinance also said that these crimes could somehow be prevented by surveillance and monitoring systems installed in businesses, which would make it easy for the police to monitor events and investigate crimes. The ordinance compels these business establishments to install not only plain security or closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, but also equipment which would allow the storage of camera footage, transmission of footage to remote video monitoring stations, and the triggering of alarms for violations of security rules. “The daily video recordings must be stored and preserved for a minimum period of at least 30 days for review purposes and reference unless its preservation is required by a court order, by the police, or the city mayor,” the ordinance read. Authorized local authorities and the police should also […]
Source m.inquirer.net
Ludington City Council OK With Bathroom Cameras
A recent City Council meeting of Ludington, Michigan, a town on the edge of Lake Michigan, heard during public comment from citizen Tom Rotta of hidden surveillance cameras in city park restrooms and how, with great detail to the Council, those cameras were able to video record the activities of the public in the stalls […]
Security Cameras Go Up In Clarenville
Clarenville, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada: The Town of Clarenville has installed surveillance cameras to stop illegal dumping and vandalism of public places, and Bonavista is considering doing the same. Clarenville recently bought two security cameras for what chief administrative officer Bob Hiscock estimates to be about $300 each, and they plan to buy a third. […]
FTC settles with Trendnet after 'hundreds' of home security cameras were
Home security camera maker Trendnet has reached a settlement with the FTC over charges that it failed to protect customer privacy after a massive security vulnerability was discovered and exploited last year. The breach allowed hackers to watch and monitor total strangers by tapping into live video feeds from thousands of the company’s internet-connected cameras. After a blog published a step-by-step walkthrough revealing how to remotely access the cameras, a huge list of working video feeds made its way onto Pastebin, where it saw over 87,000 hits. The FTC is none too pleased with the gaping security hole, nor the fact that Trendnet "exposed the private lives of hundreds of consumers to public viewing on the Internet." Hundreds of cameras were compromised In its complaint, the commission says Trendnet "failed to use reasonable security to design and test its software," also alleging that the company, as far back as 2010, "transmitted user login credentials in clear, readable text over the internet." The resulting settlement requires Trendnet to keep a close eye on its privacy policies; moving forward, it is barred from "misrepresenting the security of its cameras or the security, privacy, confidentiality, or integrity of the information that its cameras or other devices transmit." But the camera marketer must also take steps to prevent this catastrophe from repeating itself. Trendnet will need to establish a "comprehensive information security program" designed to spot and resolve potential intrusion risks before they can be exploited. And it will do so under a watchful […]
Source www.theverge.com
Neighborhood's Surveillance Cameras Controversy
A St. Petersburg, Florida, residential community is getting a lesson in proper disclosure and where you can hang signs in their city. The Lakeswood Estates Civic Association purchased its own surveillance cameras, hid them in trees pointed at key intersections, and posted signs telling would-be criminals they were being watched. “We don’t want to catch […]
Video Surveillance, Facial Recognition Technology, and the Law
Omnipresent video surveillance and facial recognition technology have staked a new frontier in the American legal system, as local communities, state officials, and even the U.S. Supreme Court consider questions about surveillance, technology, and privacy. Ohio law enforcement has been using facial recognition technology to match driver?s license photos and surveillance footage for months, without […]