Hong Kong Citizens Show Up In Mass To Protest Photo Ban

January 10, 2012 @ 3:38AM

Hong Kong Citizens Show Up In Mass To Protest Photo Ban

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Since Hong Hong was handed over to the Republic of China from Great Britain in 1997, its citizens have steadfastly been losing the civil liberties they once cherished.

That is why more than a thousands citizens gathered outside a Dolce & Gabbana store on Sunday with cameras to protest against security guards who forbid a man from taking photos from a public sidewalk earlier in the week.

The protesters forced the Italian luxury clothes store to shutdown for a few hours as police were deployed to quell the crowd.

If only we did that in the United States.

The protests was spurred by the fact that store security guards permitted foreigners and mainland Chinese citizens to take pictures, just not local Hong Kong residents.

Despite this obvious discrimination against locals, Dolce & Gabbana officials proclaimed they were merely protecting their intellectual property, even though the photos were taken from a public sidewalk.

According to the Wall Street Journal

Why the company’s security drew the line between local Hong Kongers and mainland tourists is not exactly clear, but some have speculated it has less to do with copyright infringement and more to with placating high-rollers from China.

According to other reports, including this one from the Hong Kong Standard, a “well-known mainlander, possibly a government official” was shopping in the store and complained to D&G of photos taken from the street, fearing that they would be posted online and link his shopping trip to corruption.

While some have called the incident an overreaction, academics say that the large turnout on Sunday underscores the continuing struggle among Hong Kongers to protect against infringements to freedoms and rights they are afforded as a special administrative region of China.

“Since the city’s handover to China in 1997, Hong Kong people have faced a lot of setbacks in their fight for democracy and freedom. As there is no universal suffrage and other political rights, they cling very hard on to what is left for them, such as the fundamental right to enjoy public space,” said Chung Kim-wah, director of Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s Centre for Social Policies Studies.

Comments

nicholas

4 months ago

I've always wondered if there is a market for lens hoods that would make it...... unpleasant....... for someone to place their hands on the front of your lens.

kc2idf

4 months ago

Interesting notion. It would give new meaning to "bayonet mount".

Tom Jannusch

4 months ago

Bravo!

JLTurner

4 months ago

It would be only a matter of using a old flash unit, and running wires from the bulb socket attachment to a hood, and extend them a few inches infront of the hood, snap a photo zzzzzzzap.

Bergman

4 months ago

You'd have to be careful, such an implement could easily be ruled a man-trap. On the other hand, if it only armed when you hit a button, you'd probably be covered. 300,000 volt, anyone?

the Bulldog

4 months ago

hmmm...i can make that!

kc2idf

4 months ago

I remember seeing the huge celebrations back in the 90's when the reunion occurred, and I remember thinking to myself that these celebrants are either Chinese shills or ignorant. Quite frankly, I'm amazed it has taken this long for the people of Hong Kong to notice there is a problem.

Ray Z

4 months ago

The people who could afford to leave Hong Kong, did leave Hong Kong. They bought property in Canada and the USA.

I was just there on that street in November. Kowloon. The Hong Kong people are second class citizens compared to the very wealthy mainland Chinese. Which I find strange, since Hong Kong is in the top five places in the world for free market enterprise.

I thoroughly enjoy Hong Kong, which is more than I can say for Shenzhen or Shanghai.

nicmart

4 months ago

Universal suffrage is no guarantee of freedom. The people of HK had LESS democracy under the Brits, yet it was probably the most intellectually and economically free place on Earth. Freer than the UK was.

JdL

4 months ago

Universal suffrage is no guarantee of freedom.

Very true! There's really no correlation between democracy and freedom, yet many people use the words as if they were interchangeable. A pure democracy with no offsetting bill of rights may be the worse government imaginable, with everybody voting to live for free off the labor of others.

WayUpNorth

4 months ago

Two words: Taser Camera

kc2idf

4 months ago

Why not? You already have a nice, powerful charge pump in the flash. I've actually heard of high schoolers weaponizing their cameras by exposing the charged capacitor.