press interest

[renderman]

Re: press interest

Touchy issue. Glad to see discussion though.

Dev: I would ask that you get her to tell you about the larger picture shes painting and what over things she plans to research/film/interview to get a sense of what she is planning. Obviously no one will admit they are doing a 'hit piece' but depending on her answers, you may get a better sense if she's actually on the level or filming b-roll for a 'terrorist hacker training camp' thing.

I would point out that it would behoove them to behave to whatever rules we set out, mostly for safety (dont go downrange to film the crowd, etc). I would spend some time ahead of it going over the rules (including on camera) and make safety almost obnoxious in any filming. It's hard to spin the 'evil terrorist' thing when you've always got a guy in the shot with a shirt that says 'Range Safety Officer'. Kinda takes the malevolence out of it.

I agree that if you have any concerns, let them be known and as mentioned in another thread, dont be afraid to step up and let your concern be known. Personally I keep a minimal social media profile for just such a reason, but also I would'nt want to work in a place that would not hire me based on going to a legal, very safe event.

On a personal note, it would be interesting to have her interview myself or one of the other 'non-free' registerants about their views on th matter. My opinions on firearms have been discussed countless times, I have no use for the personally, however I can appreciate the sport and the experience of knowing how to safely handle them, which is my reason to go.

I need to stop posting while sleep deprived, I get long winded.

[pukingmonkey]

Re: press interest

The shoot happens in a public area.

If we have RSOs & security to keep people safe, like you cannot be in someones lane without permission some restrictions can be enforced, but If they are on a public road with long lenses...

Anyway once you grant permission on a release form, you cannot get it back. Think about some of those fools in "Borat."

And this was in the newspaper today, about employers doing social media background checks and 4 things always get reported -- 1) racist remarks, 2) sexually explicit photos or videos, 3) flagrant displays of weapons or 4) illegal activity

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...762727188.html

So I'd be opting out. No name and dark glasses the entire time.

[RCon]

Re: press interest

doesn't the press have a copyright exemption from filming people in public areas where they have no expectation of privacy? Meaning, I'm wondering if they could legally do this anyway if we tell them no, so why not allow it? (if that is the case)

^This.

The shoot happens in a public area. That means they can pretty much just come and film us anyway with very little to nothing we could do about it. The best move here might be to “play ball” with the media, and grant them permission with the reasonable stipulations presented so far in this thread. Else they just might get pissed show up anyway, and film a Hacker Terrorist Training Camp piece. Which to be honest could happen anyway.

But lets just face it even if they blur the faces it'll look that much worse to the public at large.

Just my two cents ,
-rCON

[seeess]

Re: press interest

Since it doesn't seem like we would get a whole lot out of it, or rather it could go quite bad for our "image", and they certainly would get something out of it. Have you considered taking the "scumbag approach" and ask for something (ammo, money, etc)?

</scheming>

They seem pretty upfront about it, if they are telling the truth. IANAL but doesn't the press have a copyright exemption from filming people in public areas where they have no expectation of privacy? Meaning, I'm wondering if they could legally do this anyway if we tell them no, so why not allow it? (if that is the case)

[FirmWarez]

Re: press interest

News agencies have a long history of misinforming people being interviewed by telling them one reason for an interview...

Will their crew be willing to be videoed and answer questions on video for publication online?

Great stuff Cot, particularly the fight fire with fire question at the end there.

I've got tons of mixed feelings on this.

Frankly, I do not have a problem with being photographed, videoed, posted, youtubed. Happens all the time at the other shoots I go to. But those are "among friends"; yes there are pix of me out there with all sorts of NFA goodies for the world to see if they enter the right search terms. I don't mind my shooting buddies taking and posting pix/vids of me; I don't care if the world sees me, because in that instance I'm just another guy with an automatic rifle. Gazillions of pictures of that, to quote John Whoever "So what, big deal?"

I want to keep an open mind, and that Bourdain bloke shows that even the most whiny New Yorker self proclaimed leftist likes shooting an M-60. That said, I lay the odds of someone from Yale who "is a joint-concentrator in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality " and has professional interests and experience in documentaries exposing how evil the US is, how awful the slaughter in Rwanda was, and how wonderful art is (all valid points at times) is going to show a bunch of armed guys with black t-shirts in a good light as pretty slim. (Where's an editor when you need one? That sentence sucks.)

I hate to stereotype -- it's irrational. Like many here I live in the engineering world, where, as with science, decisions should be made based in fact, and there is no fact that says this is ill intended. On the other hand us "hackers" share a love of security, and best security practices dictate that unattended baggage, guys in hoodies, and strangers bumming cigarettes are threats until proven otherwise.

Best case outcome: this person really does want to discuss our love of constitutional (and other) rights. She meets some cool, intelligent, articulate folks, maybe even shoots some guns, and comes away with an understand that we are (mostly) smart guys and gals with a passion for living life and doing, who believe in freedom, and want all people to have access to the fruits of said freedom, reinforced with the strength of technology.

Worst case outcome: we already know that one.

Deviant, any chance of actually meeting with this person before hand?

[TheCotMan]

Re: press interest

News agencies have a long history of misinforming people being interviewed by telling them one reason for an interview, when the reality is they plan to use the footage for another story, claim or message.

Don't be surprised if the footage they shoots ends up as part of a story unrelated to what they claim this story will be about.

If the press will be at the shoot, there is an even stronger reason for people that do not want to be on film to somehow express this visually, so that when this crew decides to pan the crowd of people on the line, in each lane, that those that do not want to be included are not included. This may be enough for you to consider re-ordering numbers on lanes such that people that do not want to be on film are at one end or the other, and there is a clearly marked line to show where NOT to film as suggested by astcell in a post to another thread. (It is much easier to respect people's wishes when it is possible to identify those that do not want to be captured on film, visually, before you turn to film where they might be.)

Will their crew be willing to be videoed and answer questions on video for publication online?

[Deviant Ollam]

So, someone representing PBS has contacted me about the DEFCON Shoot and their interest in speaking with some people there since they want to focus their piece on hackers and our interest in constitutional rights.

While i am not wild about media being present at an event where many of us take the "i don't want to be on camera" policy even more strongly than at DEFCON itself, part of me respects the fact that these folk are behaving exactly as we so often ask the press to behave... they are up-front about who they are and they are asking if there is any way they can do their thing in a manner that doesn't disturb us.

My thoughts on the matter would be that i could set up an additional table on the far right side of the shooting lanes. This would be more or less a "free" lane (technically pair of lanes) for anyone at the Shoot to use, with the understanding that they may appear on film if they are standing there. The reporters could roll B-Roll there if they wanted, then conduct interviews in the background somewhere during times that are quiet enough.

But those are simply my thoughts. I'd like to hear what you all want, since i have always wanted this to be your event with me simply helping to wrangle the logistics.

From their email to me..

Hollywood films, best-selling novels, and hit TV series are packed with hackers. But these caricatures don’t engage the moral complexities of the electronic frontier. This is a frontier struggle where the fight is as much about the future of our democracy as it is the immediate blows at hand. What are the legal, material, and moral issues that hackers raise for our society, and how should we respond?...

I have very little experience with firearms myself, although I did shoot a pistol for the first time last year...

I'd love to be able to come to your shoot with my Director of Photography, Paul Sanderson, and do some filming. We would of course be happy to abstain from filming anyone at the event who is not comfortable appearing on camera. Would you be open to our participating in this way

the person who contacted me is...

Rebecca Wexler
Fellow at the Yale Law School Information Society Project. She holds an M.Phil in history of science from Cambridge University (Gates-Cambridge Fellow) and a B.A. from Harvard College (summa cum laude). She has worked with filmmakers Richard Leacock, Alex Gibney, Ross McElwee, Robb Moss, Helen Whitney, and Michael Epstein on documentaries distributed by PBS/American Experience, PBS/WETA,HBO, VH1, and Verve. She has produced and directed documentaries for the Yale Art Gallery, La Maison Européenne de la Photographie, and the Long Wharf Theatre. She currently teaches a Yale Law School practicum on visual advocacy and the intersection of law and film.

her executive producer at PBS for this segment would be...

Ofra Bikel is one of America's leading documentary filmmakers. She has produced 25 programs for Frontline, and collectively these films have received broadcast journalism's most prestigious honors, including the duPont-Columbia Award, the Robert F. Kennedy Award, the Sidney Hillman Foundation Award, the NACDL Champion Of Justice Award, Grand Prize and Best of Category accolades at the Banff International Television Festival, and six national Emmys. In 2007, Bikel received the John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism, honoring her 30 years of outstanding journalism and filmmaking.