Slashdot Mirror
Suicide Caught on Surveillance Tape Appears Online
Jason writes "Reuters reports (and News.com mirrors) that the video of a man who shot himself after his girlfriend broke up with him has appeared online under the heading of 'Introducing: The Self-Cleansing Housing Projects.' It goes on to say that the police officers receive no training to deal with privacy issues."
One wouldn't think this would need training, it should be common sense that something like that video shouldn't be shared.
Its sick that that would be able to get online, the family must feel terrible, watch some news station go and have a field day with it
"headline news at 5:30, we'll show you the website to download the movie police dont want you to see
Its even worse when some news station (xof) goes and exploits things like this
Oh, it get's better:
"It goes on, comes off, goes on. It's a joke," said Lane's mother. "That's why something has to come out of this hearing. I want my son's tape off that Web completely."
She's sad, distraught, angry , and confused. I'd hate to be the one that has to explain to her that you can never get anything "off that Web completely" once it's on.
everything in moderation
Maybe it's not sensitivity training that the cops need, maybe it's that they shouldn't have access to surveilance tapes. Or maybe the suicide was supposed to be public. In a public place your image is not your property, but this still definitely qualifies as an invasion of privacy.
Generally, though, it's not aout whether the cop should be more sensitive about what he puts on the web, it's that he shouldn't be allowed to put anything from a surveilance camera on the web, or he should be able to put all of it on the web. Either the unfortunate Mr. Lane committed suicide in public, or he didn't. We still haven't figured out here [the US: I'm not talking about slashdot or places like the UK where these cameras are more ubiquitous and widely accepted] which we value more: privacy or freedom of information.
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The big deal isn't so much that someone killed themselves and has it on tape, this happens all the time. It's the fact that police officers recieve no privacy training, meaning your shit, much of which they have access, or can get access to, is no longer safe once they have it.
The "Insert Quote Here" line is almost as predictable as inserting an actual quote.
After seeing that video where a russian soldier gets beheaded, I have vowed not to watching videos like this anymore. If anything else, it desensitizes us about humanity. Sure lot of bad things happen in the world but that doesn't mean we need to watch it night and day. Some people seemed to be obsessed with watching these stuff almost to the level that they are addicted to it. Now that is pornographic.
Activists United
Part of me can't believe this is happening but the other, more cynical part of me thinks that this is just a sign of things to come as our population grows and our technological prowess pervades most corners of society. Cameras are so small and so inexpensive now...we're moving past the science fiction of last century.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that we should look at this not as some sort of horrific "thing" but more as a new by-product of our decreasing privacy. Time to break out the psychology books...
...then again, what was that sci-fi book with the apartments with clear walls?
Two points:
1) Acts performed in public are by definition not private. He did this in the lobby of public housing, therefore there is no right to privacy. We can debate the ethics of distributing the video, but the fact remains that this was a public performance.
2) Dead people have little, if any right to privacy. Even the Social Security Administration publicly releases your SSN after you die.
IANAL
Some poor miserable person, in agony (or, a stupid fool we are better off without) has died. What in the hell are we doing "rubbernecking" on the information superhighway at this crash?
This is neither news for nerds (news for morbid voyeurs?) nor is the fact that a death has been photographed "stuff (snuff) that matters".
Let's put this thread (and the subject) to rest.
I'm somewhat qualified to comment on this situation as my brother did the same thing. He took his own life shortly after spending part of his day playing pool with me. I believe that he had chosen to kill himself way before and spent the day with me for my benefit. It's how I will remember him. I thank him for that. It will have been two years now come this June.
His choice of location would not have afforded a videotape and I am glad for that as well. Not a day goes by that I don't miss him. I don't think being reminded of it online ala "The Star Wars Kid" is appropriate. I really feel for the family. It's not easy at ALL to go through that with someone so close to you. I would imagine all the people joking and laughing here have never experienced the situation.
As with many of the stories you see online you don't know all the facts. However it seems to me to be a situation of double stupidity. Not only do you have a heartless bastard posting the video online...he is also a racist. I can only hope that life's karma catches up with him. Maybe one day I'll have mod points and meet him in real life.
-M
I wouldn't watch the video of the soldier getting beheaded becouse that is a man of honnor being attacked.
I did want to see the guy shooting himself. Morbid curreosity.
I also made sure I ate nothing first.
I don't think it would desensitive me (unless I saw it a lot).
First it's "Hah suiside. One less loser"
Next it's morbid curreosity.
Then it's "wow look how cold he is like he's lost his soul or something" a bit of understanding. Getting in a persons head is something I do. Imperfictly of course my thoughts come first so by bisses cancle out...
Then... BLAM...
For a split second you might even feel something cold running down your neck. It's just your mind playing tricks on you and other tricks as well.
Being in a persons head kinda makes you unready for tragic things like that.
Then your not laughing anymore.
However the people who are part of that website making the commenst they do are already desensitised and they've never seen this before.
I don't actually exist.
In George Carlin's latest act, he talks about how someone should make an 'All-Suicide Channel' because that's the ultimate reality TV. And people would line up to watch. That's essentially what's beginning to happen here. It wouldn't be the first time Carlin predicted a trend. A few years back, he predicted that some nut would go apeshit and shoot up a church. Not more than six months later, it happened for the first time. One last thing - you people that thinks a man killing himself is funny, go back to Fark, where you belong.
"I can still see the vid and I'm laughing harder the first time than I did the first or second."
--LordKaT
Millions of people watched the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of animals and humans on a massive scale live as entertainment for centuries. Barbaric as that may have been, this is only disturbing insomuch as it reveals an aspect of human nature(a curiosity about death) which frightens and disturbs us but which is none the less still very real.
- "Hear that?! The percolations are imminent! Cease your ingress!"
If you actually click the link you will see that the video is broken anyway.
I just posted it because Google IS censoring this page.
I saw the preview of this story so I went to google and searched for "'Introducing: The Self-Cleansing Housing Projects.'". And the page came up. If you think I'm a sick fuck for wanting to see what the fuss is about then go ahead and feel that way. Personally I think censorship of any kind is more offensive than anything you'll find on rotten.com or what have you.
Anyway I tried the search a few minutes later and the page was gone. Stuff doesn't usually just disappear out of google like that.
I like google, I depend on it, and I expect google to find what I'm looking for if it exists on the web at all. While I don't usually search for this sort of thing, it definitely irritates me that google is now deciding what I should and shouldn't see.
And yes I do think it's socially and morally repugnant to post stuff like this on the web. But it's a far lesser offense than censoring it.
Otherwise it is really, really disturbing that people actually want to watch this.
Ah yes, tell that to the moron in the Honda Civic that almost slammed into me last week. The reason? He was so obsessed with looking at the accident that had happened in the other lane he almost missed his turn.
Humans are unfortunately obsessed with seeing other human's suffering. That's why show's like Cops and Trauma: Life in the ER are so popular. It does not surprise me in the least that people would want to see it. Sad, but true.
No, but Google does have a bias in favor of more popular sites, particularly news sites. If you require two words in the name of the site in your search, the site still comes up. There's a big difference between "censored" and "knocked off the first position" at Google...
Simply put. Sites with higher pagerank, including this one, have started using that phrase and not given a link back to the originating site...
As it has been stated, this isn't about privacy at all, but about character. Police officers are people too, and in any group of people, there will be those with little character. Unfortunately, a cop with 5h1t for character has the ability to hurt people in a especially profound way. Though the person who killed himself can't be done any harm at this point his family and friends can. If an officer posted this and they find out who he/she is, that person doesn't need privacy training, he needs to be fired. Yeah, it happened in a public place and yadda yadda yadda, but for an officer to release this kind of footage is simply distasteful and seems to be unbecoming for a public servent. If you've seen a person lose their life before your eyes, you know that there is nothing entertaining about it. You'd think someone in that line of work would respect that.
Google did not and cannot censor the page, because Google does not control the publishing of the repugnant page.
Like a library's card catalog, Google is a guide to find information you want. Google has not removed the information you sought, but removed their pointer to that information. That's not the same as burning books or suppressing publication.
Freedom of press does not grant a favorable Google PageRank.
It's worth taking two seconds out to think that, like most people, she doesn't undertand exactly what the Internet is or how it works. Based on a quick reading of that article, I'd guess that's she's never been online; hell, it's possible that she's never used a computer. All she knows is that her son's death is joke fodder for a bunch of strangers.
Seriously, man... take two seconds to reconsider your m1573r l337 attitude and grow up.
Movies in theatres don't get censored that much for violent scenes as they do for showing nudity. Even the nudity or sex that is present in the American media is mostly connected with violence, or someone being hurt implicitly by being cheated on by their partner/spouse. The message it seems to be that killing, hurting, destroying is "o.k.", while something as natural and normal as a show of affection are "bad".
Perhaps it's not just Hollywood that acts that way. If someone on campus or in High School will start a fight everone will gather and cheer or just want to watch two dumbasses beath each other up. If I would just hug or kiss my girlfriend on campus, there will definetly be the "get a room you two" looks and comments. Even the types of drugs that are "sponsored" by the govt. say a lot. For example everyone's favorite drug, alcohol, is legal and some states even have exclusive licenses to sell it. Why isn't it the same for marijuana? Both substances can be just as dangerous. Yet alcohol intoxication often leads to aggressive and violent behavior, while marijuana has the opposite effect.
Now if someone actually read down to this point. I should emphasize that it is possibly because of this aggresivness that this country has the best economy and one the best run governments. People just have a better work ethic and are also more honest, or at least appreciate honesty more.
Well that was my 2 cents. Probably off-topic.
It's interesting how differently people react to seeing this kind of stuff. I used to work at LinkExchange as a banner/site checker. My job was to seek out objectionable material on sites before letting them in the network. During the year I did it, I saw a lot of nasty stuff. Gory photos from crime scenes, child pornography, rape clips, etc... in my judgement most of it was real.
:) Cheers.
I never got desensitized. Every time I came across a site that looked like it might contain such content, I'd break into a cold sweat. I'd search cautiously and if I found something I'd quickly squint my eyes and navigate to the "ban" button. And my day would thus be ruined. The image would stick in my head for hours (if not days) and make me sick to my stomach. To this day I get the same reaction to such content. I am still very sensitive to the sight of real violence. I avoid it whenever I can.
On the flip side, I have no problem at all with movie violence. I can watch loads of sensationalized gore. I can enjoy movies like Evil Dead 2 and Seven without batting an eyelash. In fact I even made a reasonably violent indie film of my own.
I am sometimes deeply affected by realistic, emotionally charged film violence, like that in Schindler's List -- though not to the degree that snuff affects me.
I have occasionally had friends email me pictures or movies to "check out! funny!" and then watched a guy have his leg broken in half. Ha ha.
I don't really understand how so many people can watch real violence/suffering and find it entertaining, even in a morbidly curious way. However, I admit that many fine people I know can watch it and not lose their humanity. I'm sure there are people here who can't understand how I can watch movie violence and maintain my humanity.
I don't have a point. Just reporting
Yes, she used the term wrong. She lives in a housing project, maybe she hasn't the same time and resources to sit in front of a computer for hours like us. Be thankful you were born rich enough to get "online" at will and stop laughing at people less fortunate than yourself. Mod: This post was not funny.
You've got it backward, buck-o. When you apply censorship, you're making the decision for "the rest of us".
You know what? It *was* funny. I laughed.
You, I, him will all die. That's 100% guaranteed. Whether it's hit by a bus, eaten by cancer, or jumping off a bridge we're *all* dead men walking.
Many people deal with that by joking about it. What you think is disturbing and inappropriate, I think is a handy counter for being one of the few, if only animals aware of our own mortality.
Remember kids, it's all fun and games until someone commits wholesale galactic genocide.