FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - PV Alert: Can I Take Photos at the Checkpoint and Airport?
Old Apr 7, 2009, 10:35 pm
  #91  
polonius
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Doha, Qatar
Programs: Air Canada Aeroplan, Lufthansa Miles & More, Flying Blue, Hyatt Gold Passport
Posts: 1,894
the slippery language is a cause for concern. IANAL, but I negotiate contracts for a living, and I know wiggle language when I read it. Several want to discuss by telephone, because they do not want to commit to anything in writing. "We ask that you do not take pictures of monitors." What does that mean? It means that their lawyers have advised them that they not on legally solid ground if they try to outright forbid photographing monitors, but since they are only "asking", then there is nothing illegal about it. Of course, if it came down to a court case, a jury would probably find that being surrounded by agents and law enforcement who would then "ask" you to stop did not honestly leave you with the option of continuing.
Similarly, photographing will "be a cause for concern," "there is a good chance you will be stopped," etc. are all wiggle language that tries to discourage it without crossing the line into an illegal attempt to forbid you from doing so. Then there is the "there are signs posted at our airport" wiggle. Who posted them? Nobody knows, so the writer used the passive voice to note that the signs exist -- he's not breaking the law by attempting to illegally discourage activities protected by the first amendment, he's just observing that some signs (which he had nothing to do with) exist.

Anyway, thanks for the structured effort to get this out in the open, but it seems to me that it is going to take someone taking pictures, getting arrested and filing and winning a lawsuit before this ends.
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