Kuwait bans hobby-used DSLR cameras

[DAIRD]

According to Kuwait Times, hobbyists may not use their DSLR-cameras in public. Details here:

http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MzAwMTg4ODg1

[DAIRD]

I should have known better...

[B757300]

I usually avoid politics on any non-politics forum because I don't need the crap that follows. Just look what the A.net Off Topic forum became. The few times I have commented on politics, everyone knows I am a conservative Republican, but ATFS_Crash, I find you annoying to know end. You remind me of those who used to blame Bush for everything from hurricanes to 9/11, to cancer. Obama is wrong on just about everything, but he is NOT responsible for every bad or stupid thing that happens in this world. You are not doing any good by trying to start sh*t on every thread or making countless posts which are intended to only incite a flame war.

********

Now, on to the actual topic at hand, obviously someone in Kuwait has their head up their a*s. But, coming out of a Muslim country, it does not surprise me. Most do not have a real concept of freedom. And before anyone goes off on accusing me of being a bigot, just look at most Islamic countries. Do you really see any, other than perhaps Turkey which keeps government and religion separate, that has anything close to a free society such as in the US or Europe?

Sadly, there have been people in the US who would love to do the same thing, at least in regards to aviation. Look at the hysteria over aviation photography in the US after 9/11. In some places, it is prohibited. My local airport prohibits photography on airport property, and will get in your face if they catch you, especially with something like a DSLR.

[Curtis Malone]

Now, on to the actual topic at hand, obviously someone in Kuwait has their head up their a*s. But, coming out of a Muslim country, it does not surprise me. Most do not have a real concept of freedom. And before anyone goes off on accusing me of being a bigot, just look at most Islamic countries. Do you really see any, other than perhaps Turkey which keeps government and religion separate, that has anything close to a free society such as in the US or Europe?

Well, no, but Evan has these two friends, one named Nurhabib and the other Murathajab and they both wear Hilfiger and are otherwise totally upstanding. Isn't that enough?

[Crunk415balla]

Sounds fascist to me.

Perhaps this is a consequence of a US president that goes around submissively bowing and kissing hands of Arab royalty.

In diplomacy, bitch-slapping foreign leaders works a lot better.

[leon]

I am not entirely sure about this Kuwait business, but rhetoric about bans on photography around airport perimeters probably has less to do with photography and more to do with people skulking around airport perimeters.

People complain about that wikileaks video that shows the US gunship taking out terrorists, only to discover that a couple of photographers were intermingled with the terrorists. Other than the obvious suicide wish these photogs had, it is pretty bad form to be carrying a camera with a lens that makes the entire device look like a RPG launcher.

So, I suppose if one wants to take a picture of aircraft near an airport, throw a Canon Powershot in your pocket and snap a couple of pics through the window of the airport terminal. That's pretty harmless. Or, go to an aviation museum; they have lots of aircraft there. If you throw a 4 foot lens on your DSLR and skulk around the airport perimeter in cammo, you are probably asking to be stopped.

Leon

[Clive]

Seems the original story wasn't quite what it seemed then...