If anybody was hearing in the news today, there is all of this media converage about this kid by the name of Tyler Clementi. He committed suicide because someone secretly put a webcam on his computer to watch him have gay sex and post it live on the internet. Now the DA is charging two close aquaintances of “breach of privacy” and other realted charges.
Is this a breach of privacy? If so, does this violate the non agression axiom? How would the Austrians deal with privacy? Is putting in a secret webcam an invasion of someone’s “privacy”
However, Libertarians would. And it’d be that there is no such thing as a “right” to privacy, only property. If you want “privacy” then buy a larger property, get curtains, grow a bigger hedge etc.
Wiretapping etc, things that involve invasions of private property are obviously physical aggressions and as such - criminal.
Who put the cam there? Trespassing? Manipulated or damaged, or hacked his computer?
As Rothbard states in Chapter 16 of The Ethics of Liberty:
“There is no such thing as a right to privacy except the right to protect one’s property from invasion.”
It’s all about property rights. He uses the example of wiretapping:
“Wiretapping is properly a crime not because of some vague and woolly “invasion of a ‘right to privacy’,” but because it is an invasion of the property right of the person being wiretapped.”
To carry the example to the webcam incident, it was not an invasion of a right to privacy, but because it was an invasion of the property right of a person being recorded and webcasted.
I believe it was his roommates computer. The roommate was the one who set it up on his own computer and broadcast it from their shared room. He went to someone else’s room to watch. At least that’s how I understand it. Unless there was something in the dorm room contract, that wouldn’t be an invasion of property rights.
Sam: “Unless there was something in the dorm room contract, that wouldn’t be an invasion of property rights.”
I agree with the fact that it wasn’t his own computer.
But the question remains, the logic still extend the invasion of his person from being recorded and webcasted? IIRC, we ourselves are property, and one owns oneself. That is the unalienable piece of property we have, thus such an act is infringing on property rights.
“the logic still extend the invasion of his person from being recorded and webcasted?”
How is filming someone an act of physical aggression? (if it doesn’t break or violate a contract)
It isn’t.
It seems given the facts, that the person clearly has a right to film what goes on in their own room, with their own equipment… if it’s not in violation of any other previous agreement or contract. That is what political philosophy deals with.
Whether you think the persons actions were morally correct or not, depends on personal ethics.
Let’s say the person who secretly filmed it, said to the “victim” - don’t have sex in my room, or I will put it on the net - and the “victim” disregarded it. The dude had sex in his room, the guy secretly filmed it and then put it online. The dude then commits suicide.
When rights have not been violated, but people still feel a wrong has been done due to their personal ethics - they are free to ostracise, protest etc all they want - targeting that persons, “the aggressors” reputation. “Justice” can then be done, via other means - violence doesn’t need to be employed.
Aside from the libertarian aspect of this situation, read the comments on this article and research some of the stuff they’re saying. Supposedly Clementi had been posting videos of him “pleasuring himself” (for lack of better words) naked on the Internet way before this video popped up. It’s a very weird situation. I think there’s a whole lot more to this story than what’s coming out right now.
“N.J. State Sen. Shirley Turner introduced a bill that would raise the maximum fine for privacy invasion from $15,000 to $150,000 and would hike the possible prison sentence to five to 10 years from the current three to five.”
Oh yeah, but CIA, FBI, Homeland security, IRS etc not included.
I don’t even think it was considered his private property since they shared a room. Not that what the webcammers did was right, but there’s no possible way they will be charged without a largely activist jury. From what I know, the Tyler kid had been having sexual affairs with various older men in the room, and all the webcammers’ lawyers will have to say is that he was making sure that Tyler wasn’t messing with his own private property while he was gone.
There is still the issue of an implicit contract between roommates.
I am sure it has a privacy clause that says you will not take advantage of the fact that you are roommates with someone to secretly film him having sex and publish the clip on the world wide web.
Yeah, I realize that. But it will still be very easy to get away with no punishment in court, I think. And they weren’t having sex on film, just so you know. He tried to, but the camera only ever showed the two kissing.
I don’t know what will happen. I was talking from the point of view what would be important for a judge in ancap.
Lets think less abstractly. I am not familiar with dorm culture but I assume that if roommate A plans on having sex in a shared room with a third person that he asks the roommate B not to be there that evening. The roommate B, if he does not voice opposition and is in fact not there that evening certainly for the night signs away many rights he otherwise has in regard to the shared room.
I can help with some of the dorm culture things- I should be able to, seeing as I live in one.
For shared/“traditional” dorms, you can either A) risk the other roommate getting out of class early, B)do say you suggest and plan ahead, or C)movie style create a signal. Part of having these dorms those is you volunatrily give up privacy by agreeing to them- you naturally have no speratation- the bathroom is at the end of the hall, and is just a big hole off the hallway with 2 beds in it and a door.
For the other “suite” type- you have a common area, which includes the kitchenete(if you have one), bathroom and a living area. Off of these/a hall are the bedrooms, with only 1 bed per room. These have doors so you seal yourself off of the main area. I have this type, but alreay 2 of my 3 roommates have had overnight guests- and not always the opposite gender. (to identify and make this easier, I am roommate A, then the other 3 are B,C,D.0
B has had opposite gender, C has had nothing and D has had the same gender, we are all guys. For this type though, we were all in dorm and D was having his fun, but we never go after him for his choices.
As for the rights, I do have the experience in the common area- I know how to cook (stovetop, oven, slow cooker, microwave, open flames, dutch oven), and of course have various items to do so. Most of the stuff I do keep in my “locked” cabinet (lock’s broken and maintance doesn’t want to fix it). These my roommates know to either not use, or ask before they do use them. The cheap plastic measuring cup, toaster-convection oven and oven mitts though I leave out and “give up” my rights to have control over who uses them. Thankfully B&C can burn water, and don’t attempt to use them and D bakes (and is a germaphobe) so we’ve had no issues.