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Friday, February 15, 2013

Crime / City Local Anarchists Play a Round of CAMOVER

Posted by Brendan Kiley on Fri, Feb 15, 2013 at 8:43 AM

CAMOVER is a game proposed by anarchists in Germany, in honor of an EU police congress taking place in Berlin on Feb 19. The idea of the game is to "destroy as much cctv-cams as possible" (pardon the awkward auto-translation):

For this we decided to announce a competition. For joining in you need a group with a name that starts with command…, briagde…, etc. and ends with a historic person. The only other requirement for you is to be aware of internet-safety...

The CAMOVER game ends with the 19 february 2013 – the day when the european police congress in Berlin is being held. The winner may walk in the first line of the demonstration against the cops on 16 february and crouch down to avoid being hit by flying cams.

Some prize.

But a few locals decided to form the "Barefoot Bandit Brigade" and went to work, claiming to have "removed and destroyed 17 security cameras throughout the Puget Sound region."

Barefoot Bandit Brigade

From the German CAMOVER site:

The reactions were due to the CAMOVER video actually globally and despite all our skepticism about social behavior and communication on the Internet to the conclusion that cameras and even government surveillance generally encounter huge rejection and vice versa

Here is the Jan 3 video launching the "competition." Will the Puget Sound round of CAMOVER end with any arrests? We'll have to wait and see!

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Comments (14) RSS

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Ugh, glamorizing the teen hoodlum that notoriously made headlines for his crime spree that originated here in the NorthWest. Dipshits.

Posted by Dr_Awesome on February 15, 2013 at 9:02 AM

I like it, and I hope the Puget Sound represents. Where can I place some online bets?

Posted by Gurldoggie

on February 15, 2013 at 9:18 AM

Yeah, more evidence that anarchists are nothing more than petulant shits.

Posted by Rotten666 on February 15, 2013 at 9:28 AM

Aren't the people in Europe making a statement against tax payer funded government cctv in public space? What statement are people on the west coast making other then expressing their love for smashy smashy private property

Posted by j2patter on February 15, 2013 at 9:44 AM

I agree with 4. Unless those are government funded cameras in that photo, this has zero to do with the EU protest and more to do with jackasses.

Posted by ScienceNerd on February 15, 2013 at 10:18 AM

I'm sure those businesses or homes that used those cameras to protect their property also have a direct feed to the secret room beneath the White House where President Obama personally watches our every move. Good job, kids!

Posted by Aaron Huffman on February 15, 2013 at 10:20 AM

This is the kind of activity that will hasten the coming of the domestic drone.

"Well, we tried to use cctv cameras, but kids kept destroying them so we were forced to use drones in order to protect the citizenry"

Posted by Theodore Gorath on February 15, 2013 at 11:27 AM

@4/5 I don't know exactly what groups are involved in the German one but I think the main argument is that the logic of the capital is not ment to fence in our existance - so its not only about the state.

@7 well its ok they got that covered as well. Taking down a drone isn't that tricky after all - plus is that an argument? I mean "resisting something bad will only make it worse - so just go limp instead"?
I'm not saying these kids has got it right or anything - just that its a very strange counter argument.

Posted by JensR

on February 15, 2013 at 11:57 AM

@8: I am simply stating what I think a possible response from the SPD may be, since they were essentially forced to mothball their drone for now. But vandalism and crime is the one reason to install cctv cameras, and if people are routinely destryoing them, the city will find another option to watch the streets, and drones are the current top tech in that department.

I personally do not think it is a good argument, but one I can see being made, which is why I put it in quotes.

Posted by Theodore Gorath on February 15, 2013 at 12:19 PM

fuck yea camover. NW represent.

Posted by blackflags

on February 15, 2013 at 2:29 PM

Wow, yeah, you're right. The reason we have metal-framed billboards today is because people in the 70s and 80s cut down or torched wooden billboards across the country ... because they are eyesores and cause more accidents.

So yeah, we should just lie down and accept whatever they do to us, we can't really resist anyway. It's not like ... zzzzz

Posted by treacle on February 15, 2013 at 4:21 PM

So if qroup of anarchist want to live together in their commune and by their rules, that's cool, but if a group of people living in belltown want security cameras on their own property, that's not? This is why anarchist are a joke, they still want to enforce a way of life, just their way of life. Anarchist are just as bad as fascist, they want you to see things from their world view and use violence to do so.

Posted by j2patter on February 15, 2013 at 5:41 PM