[3GScottishUser]

From stuff.co.nz (17/04/2005):

RIYADH: Anyone using camera phones to distribute pornography may face up to 1000 lashes, a 12-year jail term and a 100,000 riyal ($26,670 ($NZ37,000) fine under a proposed Saudi law, newspapers reported on Saturday.


The proposed law comes after a Saudi court in January sentenced three men to jail and up to 1,200 lashes each for orchestrating and filming the rape of a teenage girl using telephones equipped with cameras and distributing the footage via the telephones.

The conservative Muslim kingdom's consultative 150-member Shura council was expected to endorse the new law soon, local newspapers said.

The state telecommunications regulator earlier this year warned against using third generation (3G) mobile phones for "immoral" purposes.

3G mobile phones can access the Internet, which is strictly controlled in Saudi Arabia, and receive high-quality video clips from adult sites.

A ban was recently overturned on the import and sale of mobile camera phones. Religious leaders said they are used to invade privacy, particularly of women.

The use of camera phones has triggered scuffles at weddings and girls schools after handsets were used to film and distribute pictures of unveiled women, newspapers have reported. Under Saudi Arabia's strict Islamic rules, women must cover their heads in public.

AdvertisementAdvertisementSaudi Arabia's rapidly growing telecoms sector is gradually being opened up to competition, ending the monopoly of state-owned Saudi Telecommunications Co.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3251229a4560,00.html

[Ben]

Lashes? Thank god we live in the civilised world!

Surely a law against the distribution of this material on mobile phones is only treating the symptoms of the problem. Also, rape and pornography are very different things... other countries confuse me soo much!

" Religious leaders said they are used to invade privacy, particularly of women"

Riiiight.... yes, seeing a womans face is wrong - they should be kept veiled up 100% of the time!

It sounds like, from a western perspective, cameraphones are doing more good than harm :)

[miffed]

Lashes? Thank god we live in the civilised world!



Yeah , lol at these uncivilised countries that actually punish their criminals rather than rehabing them :rolleyes: (oops , lets not get political !)

On a similar note , these phones have the potential to be an real invasion of privacy , I work in a gym , and a couple of times I have been a little concerned of where people appear to be ponting their phones , and thats just in the gym , there is huge potential for abuse in a changing room situation too

I spot these things as I am very "phone aware" , but I think the average person still doesn't immedietly associate a phone with a camera , Thus they do not realise they are , or could be being photographed

Already a lot of Gyms and the like are Banning cameraphones , which , to be honest , REALLY offends me ! I have no intention of photographing the women in my gym without their permission , or even with it for that matter !
I think the best way to deal with this kind of thing is to increase cameraphone "awareness" , a few ad's on TV perhaps to get the message out
...And then perverts with cameraphones could be treated in exactly the same manner as perverts with conventional cameras (however that may be)