Thursday, August 18, 2005

Loophole lets man skirt Pennsylvania's privacy law

A man from Virginia has been acquitted of charges under Pennsylvania's privacy law after he used a cameraphone to take pictures up a woman's skirt. The judge lamented that the law, as it stands now, doesn't cover this kind of mischief.

Loophole lets man skirt state's privacy law:

"CARLISLE - A Virginia man didn't break the state's privacy law when he used a camera phone to take a photo up a woman's skirt at a midstate shopping mall, a Cumberland County judge ruled yesterday.

It is a case where Pennsylvania law simply hasn't caught up with advances in technology, Judge Edgar B. Bayley concluded. Pennsylvania's privacy statute, last revised in 1998, didn't anticipate camera phones and has no provisions barring their use for what most people would consider the indecent act of 'upskirting' in public places, he said...."

The article does note that recent amendements to the law, which are not yet in force, have been made to address "up-skirting", "down-blousing" and other voyeuristic practices.

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