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Showing Original Post only (View all)Game to destroy CCTV cameras: vandalism or valid protest? [View all]
Activists in Berlin are teaming up to trash surveillance cameras. Points are given, with bonus scores for the most innovative modes of destructionAs a youth in a ski mask marches down a Berlin U-Bahn train, dressed head-to-toe in black, commuters may feel their only protection is the ceiling-mounted CCTV camera nearby. But he is not interested in stealing wallets or iPhones he is after the camera itself. This is Camover, a new game being played across Berlin, which sees participants trashing cameras in protest against the rise in close-circuit television across Germany.
The game is real-life Grand Theft Auto for those tired of being watched by the authorities in Berlin; points are awarded for the number of cameras destroyed and bonus scores are given for particularly imaginative modes of destruction. Axes, ropes and pitchforks are all encouraged.
The rules of Camover are simple: mobilise a crew and think of a name that starts with "command", "brigade" or "cell", followed by the moniker of a historical figure (Van der Lubbe, a Dutch bricklayer convicted of setting fire to the Reichstag in 1933, is one name being used). Then destroy as many CCTV cameras as you can. Concealing your identity, while not essential, is recommended. Finally, video your trail of destruction and post it on the game's website although even keeping track of the homepage can be a challenge in itself, as it is continually being shut down.
The use of surveillance cameras has become a thorny political issue in Germany. Inadequate CCTV footage was highlighted in the investigation of a bomb scare in Bonn last December ("Germans consider Brit-style CCTV," shouted Der Spiegel). This, along with the brutal killing of a man in Berlin's busy Alexanderplatz square in October 2012 spurred the interior minister, Hans-Peter Friedrich, to call for "efficient video surveillance and video recording in public areas".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/shortcuts/2013/jan/25/game-destroy-cctv-cameras-berlin
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The STASI of East Germany loved any form of surveillance they could dream up.
JDPriestly
Jan 2013
#61
I don't know, but your posts in this thread are making me want to get a closer look to find out
Bjorn Against
Jan 2013
#47
Hitler? Seriously? Do you really think Hitler would oppose government surveillance?
Bjorn Against
Jan 2013
#45
cameras though will show the cops or Paul Blart Zimmermans, were wrong ala Rodney King
graham4anything
Jan 2013
#14
Johannes Meserle has been out of prison for quite a while for shooting a handcuffed man in the back
Fumesucker
Jan 2013
#15
Because of a gun and a bullet. We need MORE security and new laws to ban all guns from street
graham4anything
Jan 2013
#58
in the NY/NJ area there are tolls all over. EZ pass.They already have these things
graham4anything
Jan 2013
#62
You want more checkpoints and metal detectors? I don't want to live in your America
Bjorn Against
Jan 2013
#69
gun control don't work because of legal guns. All major mass shootings are legal guns.
graham4anything
Jan 2013
#70
As I said I support gun control, what I do not support is the mass surveillance you are proposing
Bjorn Against
Jan 2013
#71
It works in Israel, another democracy that has problems.And it works at airports now.
graham4anything
Jan 2013
#72
If it is working so well in Israel then I wonder why I hear so much about violence over there
Bjorn Against
Jan 2013
#73
I really don't think my friend would agree with you that more security would have saved his cousins
Bjorn Against
Jan 2013
#84
Why stop with public places? Far too many violent crimes take place inside private homes.
kestrel91316
Jan 2013
#161
Your post about how cameras makes us safe probably sounds better in the original German. n/t
Ian David
Jan 2013
#35
They can also be used for other purposes -- to snoop on people for personal reasons.
JDPriestly
Jan 2013
#168
You didn't make the suggestion to me, but I'll be more than happy to take you up on it.
Raksha
Jan 2013
#118
Do you really believe that by advancing the police state with cameras on all innocent people &
DogPawsBiscuitsNGrav
Jan 2013
#81
Those cameras you are salivating over WILL be used to limit your right to
kestrel91316
Jan 2013
#157
One can travel worldwide. The cameras make it safer, and as for freedom
graham4anything
Jan 2013
#160
If you're talking Republican government yes they love cameras. If you're talking Republican
DogPawsBiscuitsNGrav
Jan 2013
#86
LOL, yes, firing a gun at a drone is legal. Where the hell did you read that? n-t
Logical
Jan 2013
#44
You've spent a lot of time defending your position and the watcher's position
DainBramaged
Jan 2013
#77
of course, he himself was a spy, which was convient for Drake to forget
graham4anything
Jan 2013
#79
+1 It's like concealed carry: the presumption that public places are to have the traits that certain
patrice
Jan 2013
#133
Does anyone see how similar this attitude is to being the Big Brother that it purports to resist? nt
patrice
Jan 2013
#144
It may be valid protest if the probability of being attacked in that particular place is less coerci
patrice
Jan 2013
#145
"The cameras can provide facial recognition at distances of up to 600 feet..."
Fire Walk With Me
Jan 2013
#41
cameras aren't looking for muggers. they are looking for terrorists and are needed
graham4anything
Jan 2013
#88
Vandalism. Only plays into the hands of those arguing for more surveillance. nt
EastKYLiberal
Jan 2013
#80
If you encourage hm to blather on about the goodness of full-time invasion of privacy
DainBramaged
Jan 2013
#129
The problem is that cameras that catch terrists can also be used to catch political opponents.
bemildred
Jan 2013
#98
There are FAR more political opponents than terrorists, so we all get ONE guess
kestrel91316
Jan 2013
#164
Tear every god damned one of them down and praise the heros who do it, because its no game
1-Old-Man
Jan 2013
#106
It's possible this is more about bragging rights than it is about a remedy for the problem of
patrice
Jan 2013
#128
It's civil disobedience. Of course it's illegal, and property destruction. Do it anyways.
backscatter712
Jan 2013
#130
Right, so you're fine with the feds having your entire life on video...
backscatter712
Jan 2013
#149