by Monica Davis

Do you love the ability to be a citizen journalist? Do you feel empowered when you use your cell phone camera to take pictures of arrests, wrecks and civil rights violations?

Use it while you can because Apple has just patented a piece of software that will allow police to turn off  WIFI enabled devices at will.. There goes your ability to send pictures of brutality, car wrecks, or other notewortht happenings immediately. 

This image of cops bashing heads in 1971 could not have been flashed around the world with the immediact of a cell phone. Cell phones and digital phones didn’t exist. MOREHERE

Police around the world have been embarassed and even faced court action, as oline videos and photos of bruitality have flashed around the world. Thanks to wifi technology, cell phone cameras and digita camers, anybody with a cell phone camera or digital camer can take pictures and flash them around the world in the blink of an eye.

After the photos hit the airwaves, then police supervisors, military officers and politicians have to answer: why, and how will you stop the abuse?

And how do you deal with anarchists and youth who WANT to start a riot, or infuriate cops?

But now the police may not need to fear scrutiny anymore, because Apple has recently patented a piece of technology that would allow the authorities and police to block data transmission, including video and photos, whenever they like. All they need to do is decide that a public gathering or venue is deemed “sensitive” and needs to be protected from externalities. In this case Apple will enable them to switch off all its gear. The developers insist that the affected locations are normally cinemas, theaters and concert grounds, but Apple admits it could also be used in covert police or government operations that may need complete “blackout” conditions. MOREHERE