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News & ArtsMonday, August 31, 2009
Media / Celeb Undutchable
Posted by Brendan Kiley on Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 11:29 AM
A Dutch court fired a shot across the bows of paparazzi around the world today:
Reporters Without Borders is outraged by an Amsterdam court’s ruling today that the Associated Press violated the Dutch royal family’s privacy by distributing photos of them in an Argentina ski resort. The court ordered the news agency to pay 1,000 euros for each further publication of the photos up to a ceiling of 50,000 euros.
And Reporters Sans Frontières is pissed:
“We are shocked and disappointed by the court’s decision,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Presidents and monarchs all of the world who like to take great care of their image will now be able to refer to this decision to justify lawsuits against news media that dare to use photos that have not been cleared by their public relations departments.
The court argued that the AP could publish a photo only if it "helps a public debate which is of importance to society.” (A standard as slippery and useless as the Supreme Court's Miller test for obscenity.)
So this lawsuit has retroactively made the photos newsworthy, right?
In other official Dutch strikes against individual liberty—child-protective services decided 13-year-old Laura Dekker could not sail around the world by herself, despite ample experience alone on the ocean:
Aged 10, she moved up to a 7m boat and was honing her skills in the waters of Friesland. It was here that she encountered her first problems with the outside world, with lock-operators not always willing to allow passage to such a young girl in charge of a boat on her own.Unperturbed and supported by her family, she spent the following summer sailing in and around the islands on the Wadden Sea and shortly after she revealed her big dream to take to the high seas and become the youngest person ever to go around the world.
Supportive but sceptical, her father told the aspiring record-breaker that she would have to prove herself first.
Intensive lessons on navigation and safety followed and then her father, Dick Dekker, dropped the news that Miss Dekker would have to sail to England and back on her own first to show him what she was capable of.
"So long on the open sea with wind, rain and waves - that will soon end any ideas of sailing the world," recalls Dick on his daughter's website.
It didn't, and now Dekker, who has a New Zealand passport, might emigrate to the Southern Hemisphere to begin her journey.
Read the rest of the story here.
2
The Netherlands has never been about individual liberty, but rather the common good. I find your projection of the elusive American Ideal onto another country sad but humorous. Is this the best you could do, trying to find fault in the first country in the world to permit gay people the liberty to marry the person they love? American, heal thy self, lol!
3
Seriously, a 13 year old alone on a boat around the world and out of school for two years. If I were the mother, I'd have seen that as grounds to sue for sole custody. There is nothing reasonable about that. If she'd been allowed to go and tragedy had occurred, the entire world would tut-tut about what an irresponsible parent he was, and they'd be right.
4
The Dutch child protective services should at least have a test or something that the girl can pass to prove she's able to sail around the world on her own.
For them to just say "13 year old girls are not allowed to do this - NO MATTER WHAT" is unfair.
For them to just say "13 year old girls are not allowed to do this - NO MATTER WHAT" is unfair.
5
How, exactly, could the child protective services devise a test for her--one that proves she can stay awake and lucid for days at a time while going around the Cape in weather so bad that rescue operations are forbidden, and also make sure that she can care for herself (eat properly, bathe, self-administer first aid, etc.) while navigating the same waters that have killed thousands of people (who, incidentally, were rarely alone in a boat)? All while keeping up with school work at the same time? That would amount to torture!
Thirteen year olds have some rights and responsibilities, but they are not adult enough to make life-or-death decisions. Her father is an idiot. Sailing to England is hardly the same as sailing near the arctic/antarctic.
Thirteen year olds have some rights and responsibilities, but they are not adult enough to make life-or-death decisions. Her father is an idiot. Sailing to England is hardly the same as sailing near the arctic/antarctic.
7
@5,
Well shit, then let's prohibit EVERYONE from sailing around the world solo. It's just too dangerous.
And while we're at it, I have a huge god-damned list of things that are so dangerous, the government should prevent anyone from doing them (e.g., smoking, drinking, doing drugs, driving, swimming, eating about 90% of existing food, etc., etc., etc., ad nauseum).
I actually agree that letting her sail around the world solo is likely a bad idea. But she might actually be fully capable of doing so. Just throwing an overall blanket on prohibiting people of certain ages from doing things just doesn't fly. The magical transformation that everyone goes through at age 18 (or whatever is considered "adult" in the Netherlands) is arbitrary. Some people are mature much earlier and some people are still delinquents when they're in the nursing home.
Instead of "just saying no" to her, perhaps they could figure out if she's capable or not, regardless of age.
Well shit, then let's prohibit EVERYONE from sailing around the world solo. It's just too dangerous.
And while we're at it, I have a huge god-damned list of things that are so dangerous, the government should prevent anyone from doing them (e.g., smoking, drinking, doing drugs, driving, swimming, eating about 90% of existing food, etc., etc., etc., ad nauseum).
I actually agree that letting her sail around the world solo is likely a bad idea. But she might actually be fully capable of doing so. Just throwing an overall blanket on prohibiting people of certain ages from doing things just doesn't fly. The magical transformation that everyone goes through at age 18 (or whatever is considered "adult" in the Netherlands) is arbitrary. Some people are mature much earlier and some people are still delinquents when they're in the nursing home.
Instead of "just saying no" to her, perhaps they could figure out if she's capable or not, regardless of age.
9
@7, She's a kid. She may be the best sailor in the world, but that doesn't mean that she should be allowed to go kill herself. It is the job of the parents to keep their kids safe (and in school through a certain age, which I imagine is a big part of why she won't be able to go)--and if they can't do it, then the state steps in to determine what is reasonable.
It is so obviously not reasonable to let a CHILD sail around the world ALONE. It's not like CPS are being big, fat meanies and not letting her do what she wants (but moooooom, everyone else gets to gooooo!!). They're trying to keep her from killing herself.
And of course prohibiting people of certain ages from doing things flies--that's how it works. 12-year-olds can't drive. 8-year-olds can't sign contracts. 20-year-olds can't drink in the U.S. It may be completely arbitrary, and I'll certainly agree that some people mature faster than others, but it's the way it goes. Eventually, you are allowed to drive and sign contracts and drink yourself shit-faced... and make your own decisions, just like everyone else.
Once she's an adult, fine. If that's what she still wants to do after her brain develops fully enough to understand the risks that she is taking, I still think it's an exercise in egotism and a stupid, risky thing to do, but she can do what she wants. Seventh graders are simply not there yet.
It is so obviously not reasonable to let a CHILD sail around the world ALONE. It's not like CPS are being big, fat meanies and not letting her do what she wants (but moooooom, everyone else gets to gooooo!!). They're trying to keep her from killing herself.
And of course prohibiting people of certain ages from doing things flies--that's how it works. 12-year-olds can't drive. 8-year-olds can't sign contracts. 20-year-olds can't drink in the U.S. It may be completely arbitrary, and I'll certainly agree that some people mature faster than others, but it's the way it goes. Eventually, you are allowed to drive and sign contracts and drink yourself shit-faced... and make your own decisions, just like everyone else.
Once she's an adult, fine. If that's what she still wants to do after her brain develops fully enough to understand the risks that she is taking, I still think it's an exercise in egotism and a stupid, risky thing to do, but she can do what she wants. Seventh graders are simply not there yet.
10
Or maybe her dad should just go with her, to make sure she's ok. That way at least they can take shifts sleeping when there's inclement weather...
11
She should sail around the world supervised, and if that works out, maybe she can do it solo. At least that way there will be a lower risk of her dying.
12
In the United States, freedom of speech is the *first* right enumerated in the Bill of Rights, whereas in the Netherlands freedom of speech is only the *seventh* right enumerated in its constitutional rights. In the Netherlands, the first right is equality before the law and nondiscrimination; I think this says a lot about where Americans place their priorities and where Dutch place their priorities.
Like every single other democratic state, the Netherlands has a much weaker freedom of speech compared to the United States but still manages to function openly and democratically...
Like every single other democratic state, the Netherlands has a much weaker freedom of speech compared to the United States but still manages to function openly and democratically...
13
From the article, it seems that she DOES know what she's getting into. She thinks she can do it, and her parents, who have already sailed around the world themselves, also think she can do it.
It doesn't sound to me like a kid who just bought her first boat and immediately wants to sail around the world without considering the implications.
Could it be deadly? Sure, but it could also be deadly for an adult who's been sailing for the same amount of time she has, yet they don't need anyone's permission to go.
I simply don't see her age as being the only relevant issue in this.
It doesn't sound to me like a kid who just bought her first boat and immediately wants to sail around the world without considering the implications.
Could it be deadly? Sure, but it could also be deadly for an adult who's been sailing for the same amount of time she has, yet they don't need anyone's permission to go.
I simply don't see her age as being the only relevant issue in this.
14
Britney Spears (or any other celebrity) buying coffee is not news, but the PAPS get to use the first amendment to clobber the rights of citizens as they move about living their lives. If the movements, daily affairs, or sexual affairs of a citizen does not effect society as a whole - why should it be allowed to hound them to death, follow them everywhere, profit off their images, and invade their privacy? It's not news just because they say it is. An actor on the red carpet - as part of his public job - is fair game. But that same person going to the dry cleaners is not. If you can't (technically) sell a coffee mug with someone's photo on it without paying for licensing, then why are these vultures allowed to sell photos of a people living their lives for a a profit. What is the difference? Following Madoff with a camera is one thing. Following Madonna, shouting insulting questions, etc. is another. People should be entitled to a private life, and to live it without harrassment and stalking, no matter what their jobs are. Good for the Dutch. Even royals are entitled to privacy when not performing official duties. People should not be hounded to death or insanity.
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