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May 9, 2002
By Kilroy Chung, Associated Press Writer
SACRAMENTO -- California State Senator Don Horata (D-Alameda) proposed a new law that would ban a large numbers of high-end consumer digital cameras in California.

"We need to start thinking about the children. Before, if someone wanted to take photos exploiting children, they would have to either develop the photos themselves or take it to a lab, but with the widespread proliferation
of digital cameras, child pornographers can process the photos in their own home and peddle the photos over the Internet.

"Simple point-and-shoot cameras should be enough. These advanced cameras must be kept out of the hands of civilians, as they have no purpose other
than to exploit children. Who needs a Canon D30 to go to a birthday party?"

Cameras that will be banned must have a detachable Compact Flash card and at least one of the following: optical zoom of 2x or higher, manual exposure, aperture controls, and white balance. Furthermore, Compact Flash memory
cards with a capacity of 10 megabytes or more will also be banned.

"No honest man needs more than a 10 Megs, and I never intended for simple civilians to have manual exposure controls on my cameras," stated Bill Kruger, the president of Sturm-Kruger Cameras, who supports the ban. However, Kruger's digital camera, the Digi-14, will be specifically exempt from the ban.

Photography enthusiasts have already begun to protest. "This law would make amateur photographers felons and would be a direct attack on the First Amendment," they complained, to which Senator Horata remarked, "They should
just move to Texas."

Amateur photographers have attempted to recruit the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, which denied the request, stating that the wording of the First Amendment is ambiguous and does not actually guarantee the right
to own and use a high-end digital camera.

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Originally posted by MinutiaeMan:
Hell, why not ban the entire Internet while they're at it? The web is constantly used to allow the distribution of child pornography -- clearly, they should shut down the Internet in order to stop the proliferation of these illegal images.

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^^^^^Really^^^^^

Why not ban cameras, email, the Net (as mentioned), and snail mail why you're at it. All of those can too. I have been saving money to buy a digital camera. I take really sucky photos, so I figured I could replace my head with, uh, Patrick Stewart's. That's $250 to spend on Mike and Ikes. Them things are good... anyway, the way kid's dress today I'm suprised they haven't come up with an idea to replace clothes in the US with a standard uniform. It's a wonder...

[ May 21, 2002, 18:52: Message edited by: The Defiant ]