[extropy-chat] Freedom and Practicality

[BillK]

On 5/29/06, Eugen Leitl wrote:
<snip>
>
> But the powerful figures are not, and this is why brinworld
> is an asymmetry enabler, not an equalizer. If you're pushing
> Brin now as something workable, you're helping the enemy.
>

The UK loves surveillance cameras. But, the authorities that installed
cameras (because they got money from the government towards the cost)
are finding that you need to employ and fund people to watch the
cameras. And there need to be resources funded to respond to ongoing
incidents on camera. And you need to keep a library of old recordings
and fund people to search through the library as incidents are
investigated. So, your running costs increase as you install more
cameras.

One solution is to automate the camera watching. The new traffic
cameras that read number plates and report unregistered or stolen
vehicles (or any vehicle that MI5 might be interested in) is one such
solution.

But as UK youth seems to be increasingly involved in random violence
and petty crime, the police are discovering that to optimise their
resources, they have to restrict the incidents that they respond to.
(e.g. If nobody has been killed, then just file a report). So various
kinds of semi-official security personnel are appearing, in theory, to
help the official police.

Similarly, the local authorities don't want to pay for very many
people to watch the surveillance screens. And those they do pay, don't
get paid very much, so are not particularly enthusiastic or diligent
at the job.

The latest idea is to get local residents to watch their local cameras
and report any dodgy goings-on that they see.

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4752167.stm>
The £12m Digital Bridge television service, launched in one of
London's most deprived boroughs on Monday, pledges to "put every
member of the community in the front row of the fight against crime".
The system is being rolled out to 22,000 residents across Shoreditch
this summer who will be able to monitor 11 CCTV cameras from the
comfort of their living rooms.
--------------------

So the costs of monitoring ever increasing numbers of surveillance
cameras and responding to the volume of incidents is forcing a ripple
downwards to get the general public more involved.

Don't give up all hope yet, Eugen.  :)

BillK