Rather than enumerate all the possible benefits from greater transparency, I want to switch to funny but real-life public service announcement (PSA) by Chris Rock that shows a funny, fiction-based PSA that quickly covers some common-sense rules that we might not otherwise recognize about real life.
Chris Rock- How Not To Get Your Ass Kicked By The Police
(Advice for black people on avoiding police brutality during traffic stops)
Here is the summary:
1. Obey the law
2. Use common sense
3. Stop immediately
4. Turn that sh*t off
5. Be polite
6. Shut the f*ck up
7. Get a white friend
8. Don't ride with a mad woman
What makes this video funny is that, to some degree, all of these rules have a basis in reality. OK, for us white people, this is mostly obvious. But here is a video where Jared Massey forgot Rule #6: Massey is 28 years old, white, polite and has his 1-year-old child and pregnant wife in the SUV with him. Now, to be fair, this is a silly speed trap because the SUV had just entered the slower zone (construction ahead or something like that).
Speeding Ticket Taser (Policeman is Officer John Gardner of the Utah State/highway police, driver is Jared Massey, also of Utah) Date: Sept. 14, 2007
http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695229509,00.html
Now, if you look at what happens at the 2-minute mark:
Massey: Second of all, we are going to go look at where the 40 mph sign is
Gardner: Well… you are going to sign this first
Massey: No, I am not. I am not signing *anything*, officer.
Gardner: OK. Up, out of the car.
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Utah_taser_incident_triggers_debate_and_death_threats
While Massey broke rule #6, Gardner contributed to the problem as well. One lesson from this episode is that Gardner should have explained to Massey that his only two legal options were to either sign the ticket or go to jail and give him 10 or 20 seconds to comprehend his limited choices (and maybe get some helpful advice from his wife). Gardner's behavior was still within the bounds of his training and the rules, but he could have been a little more helpful. Gardner suggests near the end of the vid that Massey "decided to take a ride on the Taser", but now is it Gardner's turn to take a ride on the Internet. That is what having a transparent society is all about. That is why the video cam was running in his squad car dashboard: more transparency, more fairness, more information for all. This is a reality-based PSA to remind us all never to spend our tourist dollars in Utah ever again (by never driving through that state full of Mormons ever again) and to shut up and do what you are told to do when you are in the temporary custody of the police (which is what you are in during a traffic stop). It took both sides to create this PSA for the benefit of the rest of us. It should not be hidden.
http://highwaypatrol.utah.gov/contact_uhp.html
The UHP ruled that Officer Gardner acted "reasonably". If you disagree, you can call them at (801)965-4518 or (435)789-3111 and let them know.
What young people need are many more of these kinds of real-life lessons where they cannot ignore the message just because they are presented as fiction. One thing that helps America to develop wise judges (beyond they typically extensive training in the law) is real-life experience with people who have made mistakes because of ignorance of the law or a lack of understanding of how laws, especially newer laws, redefine where the boundaries are.
Another reality is that the Internet is causing work and home to smear together. First of all, it makes telecommuting easier for knowledge workers. If you note how California penal code 653m currently does not distinguish between harassing phone calls and emails. This may be surprising for long-term users of the Internet since this lack of distinction between a phone call and an email came into effect in 1999. It is still somewhat silly since most people find phone calls to be much more intrusive than emails. The original law was of utility for those who wanted to fight telemarketing calls to the home, it is couched in the more general notion of the privacy of the home. There are notions of removing the distinction between work and home to expand the coverage. Note that this falls under Title 15: "Miscellaneous crimes" / Chapter 2. "Of other and miscellaneous offenses" as part of a witches brew of assorted and obscure and petty offenses. In other words, it falls under no systematic theory of law and is just a one-off. At the start of 2008, it was still active.
If our State lawmakers pass Senate AB 225, then they have removed the distinction and moved towards justifying looking up someone's home phone number if it is listed and you cannot reach them at work when you have a good-faith reason to contact them. If your reasoning is good-faith and the law remains fairly consistent, then you are not stalking the person. There is other language, especially the low-threshold word "annoying". Some might find Nobel laureate Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" annoying. This low threshold might be balanced with notions such as the parties having prior dealings and legitimate unfinished business in some cases.
It is already permissible to fully show a person as long as the setting is clinical, educational or about health and fitness. See the YouTube users thefamilygp (and Dr. Steele's website) , ehlolz, BREASTHEALTH, KOZEL555, medflix .