I always knew i was doing the devil's work!
“We are not responsible for the misuse of equipment by some wicked people,”
he said, adding that the new mobile-camera phones were very useful.
/dc
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Religious body seeks ban on mobile phones equipped with cameras
By Muhammad Saqr & Ahmad Al-Othman
RIYADH/JEDDAH, 30 May — Ibrahim Al-Ghaith, president of the Commission for
Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice in Riyadh, has urged authorities to
prevent marketing of mobile phones equipped with cameras, saying wicked
people might misuse the device.
Al-Gaith’s statement came after the device became widely popular among young
Saudis and with companies’ plans to import this new variety of phone.
Al-Gaith said he had sent messages to higher authorities about the
controversial device but ruled out confiscating them before conducting a
comprehensive study.
Arab News toured the telecom market in Riyadh and found the phones, which
can be used to take more than 280 digital photos, on sale to the public for
about SR1,700.
The Commerce Ministry in coordination with the Ministry of PTT is
investigating the legality of the new device after complaints that they were
used secretly to take photos of women.
Abdul Aalee Al-Abdul Aalee, director of the department to combat commercial
fraud at the Commerce Ministry, told Arab News that his department would
take action against those misusing the device.
Adel Fareed, director of distribution at Saudi Ericsson, told Arab News that
the new mobiles distributed by his company were approved by the Saudi
Arabian Standards Organization (SASO).
“We started distributing the device two months ago and there was good
response,” Fareed said.
Mustafa Al-Hussein, regional director of Mashael Al-Khaleej for Electronics,
agents of Nokia, said his company imported all equipment with Commerce
Ministry permission.
“We are not responsible for the misuse of equipment by some wicked people,”
he said, adding that the new mobile-camera phones were very useful.
Muhammad ibn Abdullah Al-Humaidan, owner of a wedding hall in Jubail, said
the new device would discourage women from attending marriage ceremonies and
called for banning the device to avoid such a situation.
However, Dr. Ahmad Al-Sinani, a Saudi writer, said that the device must be
allowed onto the market. “Of course it may be misused by some wicked people
but they are very small in number. We should not exaggerate things. By
creating awareness among public we can reduce the impact of the equipment’s
potential misuse,” he added.
“We had similar concerns before when ordinary phones, mobiles, the Internet
and satellite channels were first introduced to the Kingdom. These concerns
faded away with the growing awareness among our people,” he explained.
Saudi authorities recently seized a large quantity of mobile phones made in
Israel. The phones and accessories were shipped into the Kingdom via Poland.
The customs department seized the goods and was preparing legal action
against the company which imported the equipment.
</dc>
+-----+-----------------------------------------+
david [dc] collier
e | dc@gamelet.com
> www.gamelet.com
v | 310-709-7286
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Received on Fri May 31 09:11:37 2002