Friday, August 26, 2011

It May Be Art---It May Be An Invasion Of Privacy

As you ride the Luas on that boring commute to work, you spot a handsome man. You take his picture.

It's a work of art, isn't it? The human form, to be admired? The cut of a suit, the flow of fabric, surely it's merely an expression of your creativity when you capture such images.

When you then post your photo to Luascrush.com, is it still art? Or have you invaded this lad's privacy?

For the moment, the fun-loving characters who gave us the new website are dealing with legal issues that will answer that question. They've taken down the snaps posted by anonymous photographers until the solicitors can determine if it's legal to post pictures of people without their consent.

Johann Taljaard, site operator, will argue that his website is like a newspaper, which can publish pictures without tracking down each person involved to obtain their consent.

A bit of a stretch, isn't it?

There'll be no soft-core porn, according to Mr. Taljaard. He and his crack staff review each submitted image to be sure each one is titty-free. But if you've explored his inspiration at TubeCrush.net, you'd realize that pictures of female body parts isn't what it's all about.

Even so, Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner has suggested that Mr. Taljaard acquaint himself with the Data Protection Acts which may apply to his venture. Billy Hawkes will be doing the same. It's unclear, in his opinion, if the posting of images constitutes data processing or is exempt from the law because it's art, journalism or literature.

Journalism? It's not exactly brilliant reportage over at TubeCrush. 

Straight Irish men might not take kindly to having their candid photo posted above a comment from another man that refers to anything about hotness, sexiness, or the like. They won't see it as art, or journalism, or literature.

This is Ireland, after all, not England. The gay subculture is still not entirely acceptable to people steeped from birth in hardcore, conservative Catholicism.

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