Party Vibe

there have been legal cases which prove that UK cops have authority over internet if a criminal activity in their force area is being discussed, or a web server in that same force area is being targeted by activity contrary to the Misuse of Computers Act 1990 (hacking, denial of service)

provided they follow similar protocols to real-life policing there is nothing stopping cops monitoring any website and they have the full backing of the law behind them. cops cannot put their personal opinion on the net using an official police circuit, but they can make a message on behalf of the force as a whole to “deter or prevent crime” – hence these posts.

consider a situation where a party crew rather foolishly held a meeting in a local pub, and a local bobby walked in and overheard them talking about it. He may say “this is an illegal activity – I suggest you do not do this. I can’t personally stop you from doing it at this stage, but if you do the police will try to stop the event”

The days of internet content being “above the law” are long gone – that is if they ever really existed! the polite messages are real and we’ve also had one from Wiltshire constabulary on partyvibe a few years back.

the reason they arent common any more is cops now realise (particularly post 9/11, 7/7 and the increasing use of the net to spread hate) that the net community is an angry, male-dominated group where confrontation is often preferred to dialogue.

They realise they will simply be ignored or laughed at, or even get the on-line equivalent of a pelting with bottles and cans, including the risk of trolls/wannabe hackers going to official police sites and attempting to cause trouble there such as making abusive posts or false crime reports.

so cops simply monitor the net at detective level, and use their resources to concentrate on making net users accountable for their activities when they have been deemed criminal. this surveillance costs money so is only done when other sections of society are moaning about their losses.

In the Northwales case there was the injured officer and the financial losses incurred by the National Trust… for other outdoor parties landowners moan about damage to their crops/land, and in indoor parties cops often look for organisers if a building is particularly trashed and will even help building owners launch civil claims.

we therefore should always think before we upload a photo to the net…

theres nothing wrong with photos of ravers who are OK about being photographed (although some are prettier than others!), nor rig pr0n but I’ve seen photos showing blatant drug use, vandalism and other inapppropriate things uploaded to public galleries in a folder which shows which event where this has all happened..

I’ve also got the impression people upload entire chips to the net without processing or editing….

we should not be paranoid about photos or “undercover” photographers at raves (when cops take pics or videos at raves they do so in full uniform and intrusively as possible as its supposed to be part of the “deterrent” effect) but we should always think when we put a picture on the public net..

what would happen if a cop, reporter or anti-rave person saw this picture?

what if someones boss, parents, tutor, social worker/counsellor saw the pic? in many cases particularly with youths “well-meaning” persons pass on info to the authorities out of concern rather than spite.

Could a picture be used to identify core people, in an event that the authorities are taking an interest in?

before digital cameras were invented most of us had paper photo albums.

Would you allow your full photo album to be exhibited in the public library for all to see, and even if you did not mind, would everyone portrayed in your photos be happy with their public portrayal?

OTOH most people would be happy to make extra copies of photos for a friend, which remain in the hands of people who can hopefully be trusted. there are programmes like Picasa which help you share photos amongst friends.

we are all aware of the way “trial by media” can affect the lives of others.

Now, in many cases, there is a situation where we are the media and have the power to create an image where someone may be judged by it.

It is a power we must all use carefully.