How Apple iPhone Infrared Camera Sensor Patent may herald end to filming at Live Concerts

The public be damned

W.H. Vanderbilt, Reply to Reporter, 1883

Computer crash is my trotted out excuse for two days of absence of daily posts on my blog, which I made sure to point out to my fans on my Facebook Page. Thanks for the concern shown!!

So here I go jumping on yet another technology hot button topic with regards to Apple’s recent patent filing that enables people who don’t want to be photographed to remotely disable the Apple iPhone Camera via infrared sensors as stated in the article “Apple Patent Aims to Shut Down iPhone Camera Recording in Venues”, published June 17 2011, Mashable via Yahoo! News.

But first, the news!!

Buju Banton sentenced to 10 years - Not an Easy Road Wakeup call

Mark Myrie, otherwise known by his stage name Buju Banton, has been sentenced to ten (10) years in the FCI prison facility in Miami as stated in the article “UPDATE: Buju gets 10 years”, published 23 June 2011, The Jamaica Observer.

Ten (10) years was the sentence handed down by US Magistrate Jim Moody Sam M. Gibbons in the courtroom in Tampa, Florida. A heavy cross to bear as Buju Banton states in the article “Buju says he has courage to deal with despair”, published 23 June 2011, The Jamaica Observer.

But one which he should have been aware of before he turned to dealing in and smuggling cocaine as stated in the article “No an easy road - Buju Banton held for cocaine possession in the United States”, published Sunday, December 13, 2009, by Livern Barrett, The Jamaica Gleaner.

I have no sympathy for Buju Banton.

He and his fellow Reggae and Dancehall artiste knew the consequences of Hate Speech, the common consensus in the Court of Public opinion as to why this evil has befallen him. Plus, he is wealthy enough to afford trial lawyers to defend himself, which many Jamaicans cannot even resort to when wronged by government or wealthy people.

This should be a wakeup call to the Reggae and Dancehall community: hate lyrics will make you a “target” of the authorities of these foreign countries, especially their Gay and Lesbian Lobby as my blog article entitled “Jamaican Music Industry 2 Years post-Ban - How Artiste and Booking Agents Launder Money” opines.

Dancehall under attack - Sexually explicit and violent songs

Many of these Reggae and Dancehall Artiste, aside from singing songs that are sexually explicit and violent songs under the guise of Freedom of Expression as per Section 3 aka the Offences Against the Person Act of the Jamaican Constitution are also tax dodgers both locally and abroad as explained in my blog article entitled “Pass the Charter of Rights and Freedoms or Jamaican Music will be banned”.

It seems that increased fines and taxation against Radio Stations that play sexually explicit and violent lyrical content and Reggae and Dancehall Artiste who continue to spew hate music as stated in my blog article entitled “Increase Fines and Taxation for the Music Industry” is not having an effect.

Worse in a country, Jamaica, that is signatory to the UNCHR (Unite Nation Charter on Human Rights) but is yet to pass the required sections of the Charter that give legitimacy to Homosexual and Heterosexual relations, sexual relations which I abhor, but rights for which support on the basis of principle.

My only grouse with homosexuals is their view that homosexuality and lesbianism is “normal” and “natural” when in fact God’s creation, according to my deceased Seventh Day Adventist girlfriend, Audia Granston, comes in a rainbow of diversity, which may include means of reproduction that may appear homosexual, as it may involve animals of the same sex.

But, as Audia used to argue with me, quote “It is God’s and Nature’s way” for creatures to reproduce, be it sexually or asexually!

As such, ascribing “sexuality” or even “sexual orientation” to creatures that have no higher brain function than us humans who are vertebrates, have a highly developed brain and walk on two (2) feet is silly and cannot be used to justify homosexuality among humans on the basis of it being “normal”!

Irregardless of this argument, homosexuals do have rights, as often their Right to Privacy is constantly being broken.

Privacy of Celebrities - People are always spying on you

But like Miley Cyrus, Buju Banton also had, in a sense his Right to Privacy breached: being filmed during the drug Sting operation that was used as evidence against him in the trial.

I know this all too well, as I suspect now, with evidence strongly mounting in my favour, that the ideas I expressed in April of 2009 to a bunch of Shurpower Engineers was captured on a hidden camera, possibly in the vehicle.

Paparazzi, I brush off this buzzing insect, as the few ideas that they got from me, I have thousands more. Like Thomas Alva Edison, my mind is a wellspring of creative ideas: I have more ideas than have even hands or time to write them out!

Miley Cyrus know this all too well also, having vented her disgust with the paparazzi in her song Fly on the Wall, at the very end of which she unknowingly is being filmed via an installed camera.

In real life, being filmed by her friends (friends! Really Miley Cyrus) when she was completely “stoned” [American colloquial] while using Salvia as noted in my blog article entitled “Salvia, THC and Shared Dreaming - Altered States meets Inception”, which by the way, is legal in California, was the highlight of her paparazzi film career!

So I guess Buju Banton, Miley Cyrus and myself have something in common and thus would fall into the majority of people in the world who thus will welcome what I have to argue in the following short stanzas.

Apple patent to disable iPhone Cameras - No bootleg filming at Concerts 

In the Mashable article entitled “Apple Patent Aims to Shut Down iPhone Camera Recording in Venues”, published June 17 2011, Mashable via Yahoo! News, it speaks of an Apple Patent filed in January of 2010 that disables the Apple iPhone via the use of an Infrared Sensor on the Apple iPhone. 

Ironically, this is one of my many ideas expressed in my conversation back in April 2009, when I was on my way with a bunch of Shurpower Engineers to a cell site in order to set the generators on autostart!!

This is quite interesting, as this appears to be the latest weapon in the arsenal of the public in a continuing battle in the saga as it relates to people being filmed on camera without their knowledge via smartphones and their Right to Privacy.

Often teenagers or college students can relate if not realize that this is a common problem.

Stories of fellow classmates caught doing things on camera, which is then uploaded to YouTube and causes them much trauma, resulting in many resorting to suicide, after becoming the target of hateful speech, due to being harassed by peers. 

A gross violation of their Right to Privacy, with deadly consequences!!

Apple, this, is playing the responsible adult. Rather than create a sound on the camera that sounds off when the camera feature is in use or video is being filmed as is the case on most feature phones, Apple now is giving the power to you, the victim.

This patent is blessedly simple. An infrared sensor will be installed in the same location as the camera flash.

When you are being filmed (or suspect you are being filmed), you can disable the cameras in the field of view via an infrared signal that is coded to be interpreted by the Infrared Sensor on the camera. This either shuts down its function or scrambles the recorded images, audio or film on the Apple iPhone doing the filming.

Blessedly simple!

Paparazzi and Film recorders beware – Apple Patent may become an international Standard

Handy for those pesky Paparazzi, I am sure Miley Cyrus would agree and is basically as stated in the alternate view on this Apple patent in an earlier article from CNET News entitled “Apple patent suggests infrared sensors for iPhone”, published Tuesday June 2 2011, CNET News.

Ditto too for concert organizers and even movie studios who suspect that their films are being recorded by hidden Apple iPhone Cameras (who does that anyway?) before wide releases, as such activity robs promotes of valuable revenue from streaming video rights, both live and recorded.

This as the Apple iPhone can be used as a streaming Video Camera. But it is really people who suspect that they are being filmed in private by conventional cameras for which this Apple patent holds much hope.

Regular Analog Cameras, now the big Summer of 2011 trend among Millennials [ages 18 to 28] which is set to take off as stated in my blog article entitled “Analog Photography a hit with Millennials - Digital Cameras in Katy Perry's Teenage Dream” and Digital Cameras, such as SLR’s and those found on smartphones, may begin to adopt Apple’s approach.

If this Apple patented feature makes it onto the Apple iPhone 5, about which the rumour appear to have no end as stated in the article “Drawings show big changes for iPhone 5”, published June 21 2011, CNET News, then it would effectively give Concert Organizers and Media Personalities and Hollywood Stars a very large fly swatter (read fly = Apple iPhone paparazzi)

Apple’s technology, in the sincerest form of flattery, may be duplicated by Analog and Digital Camera makers as US and hopefully International standard requirement for all smartphones and Analog Cameras.

After all, Press Freedom and Freedom of Speech, ultimately are superseded by the Right to Privacy, as we are not movie stars like Miley Cyrus and do not want to be forced to take our lives due to being overexposed (analog camera pun very much intended!)

Hopefully this device that beams out Infrared to disable all Apple iPhones in visible range come in a small portable version, preferably in hot pink, as I suspect a lot of women will be buying.

This as it would combat the growing problem of people being filmed and having the information being used against them. We the Public may not stars like Miley Cyrus, but we do share her sentiment as it relates to what we would love The Adjustment Bureau (2011) to do about the Fly On The Wall filming us at our moments of indiscretion.