Steven Tyler Bill

[macuu222]

Exactly Kapohocat. Why did they choose Hawaii to get a bill like this introduced? Why not California? Or New York? Places where they probably spend alot more of their time!

[TomK]

Macuu222- California already has a bill. Did you read the article you posted a link to? The bill is to allow people to sue if their private life is invaded by people taking pictures of them in places where they expect and should get privacy. Do you really think this is something you don't want? How about I come over to your place and publish pictures of you taking a shower in your own property? Will you be OK with that?

Tom
http://apacificview.blogspot.com/

[macuu222]

Well I'm not a celebrity...but I'd be flattered. Yes I did read it. The big difference with this bill is that celebrities can sue "anyone" that takes private pictures of them...not just media outlets that do it for money.

[csgray]

Hawaii is far more dependent on visitor dollars than states like NY or California, which have very diversified economies, and Hawaii is a pretty attractive place for the very wealthy and very famous to have second homes, so it makes sense that the Hawaii lawmakers would jump on this one. Steve Tyler probably pays more GET in a week than an entire cruise ship, and the legislature certainly bends over backwards to for the cruise industry and no one complains.

The people who intrude on the lives of celebrities for profit are almost always freelancers who the shop the pictures to various media outlets, so it makes sense the law would be written that way. Plus if the new law only penalized the media it could be overturned as limiting the freedom of the press, but if anyone who intrudes that way can be sued then the press isn't being singled out. Why should it be OK for a private citizen to take pictures of anyone in the privacy of their own home anyway?

It seems like some of the posters here think that famous people who are stalked in their homes by paparazzi get what they deserve for being in the entertainment industry, but their spouses and children also have to live with the exposure. The son of a friend of mine works as a tech in the movie industry in LA and briefly dated a fairly famous actress before the whole paparazzi thing made him break it off. They couldn't even go for a bike ride without being followed. He still had photographers outside his loft every morning for 6 months after it ended, hoping to catch a shot of his former girlfriend sneaking out. He even had the surreal experience of seeing a photograph of himself in the checkout magazine rack under the headline "special effects wizard works his magic on_____________" 6 months after they had quit dating. A whole industry has grown up around exploiting the rich and famous, and while I have never been either of those things I can sympathize with anyone wanting their privacy in their own homes. How is that so unreasonable?

Carol

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

quote:

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The point a commenter on this article made is that for years no one responds to their requests, like as an example the helicopter issue here on Punaweb, but Steven Tyler snaps his fingers and the legislature jumps

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Kapohocat - the point I wanted to make was that a majority of the posters on the Helicopter thread do understand the need for their privacy, but many posters on this thread don't seem to think privacy is something a celebrity also deserves. Rich, poor, famous, anonymous, we all want to sit in our yards undisturbed. Instead of resenting Steven Tyler for getting a bill to the legislature, look at how he did it. Then draft your own bill and present it to the next session. If his bill gets passed, it actually improves the possibility of a helicopter noise bill becoming law. It's called precedent.

[TomK]

Understood, Macuu, but IMO even if it's not done for money, intruding on someone's privacy is wrong and I'm all for extending protections for anyone's privacy, not just celebrities. If it takes celebrities to actually get this to happen, then I'm all for it, but it's a shame that it has to get this far in the first place.

Tom
http://apacificview.blogspot.com/