Stopping Pixel Piracy

Digital imagery devices, both still and video motion cameras, are commonplace. They are so prevalent, their applications so varied, that we have somewhat become desensitized to their near omnipresence. Investigators, both private and public, use digital imagery devices concealed in or under items of apparrel and in aircraft and satellites. Thieves use high-quality, small-package video inside theaters to pirate the on-screen movies or record the live stage presentations for illegal sale.

Recognizing that there are undesirable applications for digital imagery devices, the ramblin' wrecks from Georgia Tech have begun to develop a device that will detect and then block digital imagery devices. Stop them dead in their pixels. The prototype and the research behind it is described in No Pictures Please: Researchers Develop System to Thwart Unwanted Video and Still Photography, an article appearing in the June 17, 2006, issue of Georgia Tech Research News.

The research raises an interesting question of social and public policy. If the technology works effectively in a controlled setting to counter unwanted digital imagery surveillance, could it be expanded to work in an open environment to block legally authorized digital imagery surveillance? Could it block overhead imagery by manned and unmanned aircraft and satellites?