CCTV warning for Beijing kissers

CCTV warning for Beijing kissers
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
CCTV

The next time you're in Beijing and fancy kissing someone in public, be warned - you could be caught on closed-circuit television, and labeled as a criminal by the computers who monitor the footage.
According to reports, Beijing's couples are being warned that 'intimate acts of lovers may be initially categorized as "kidnapping" or "robbery" by the computers, which are programmed to be sensitive to violations of safe distances.'
But fortunately, the young lovers' fate won't be decided purely by some emotionless machine which doesn't understand the concept of 'love'. In such situations, police officers monitoring the cameras will look at the footage of the kissing people to decide if the situation really is dangerous. Which is both reassuring, and slightly creepy.
But there will be some warning for amorous couples, the Xinhua news agency said. Signs will go up next month in areas covered by the cameras, saying in Chinese and English 'you are entering a camera-monitored zone.' Which should kill any romance nicely.
Closed-circuit cameras are becoming more common in Beijing, and Xinhua said that before next year's Summer Olympics the city plans to unify the monitoring of the cameras. There are currently networks monitored separately by the police, and transport, public utilities and maintenance departments.