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  Dark Helmet (profile), Aug 24th, 2009 @ 7:36pm

  
  

  Grrrr...

  "Switzerland Tells Google To Take Down Street View"
  
  ...and Dark Helmet tells Switzerland that Mega Maid is on her way to take their air...

   

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  Anonymous Coward, Aug 24th, 2009 @ 8:01pm

  
  

  Uhm... well, what does street view potentially compete with? Perhaps maps or GPS devices? Though one could think they could complement each other as well. This doesn't seem like a plausible explanation.
  
  Something is missing. Not sure what exactly but something doesn't make sense.

   

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  Anonymous Coward, Aug 24th, 2009 @ 8:11pm

  
  

  Re:

  (to continue from my last post). Then there is the possibility that the motive is to have some firm charge for these services (ie: see http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090730/0130025706.shtml ). That would make more sense being that it follows the logic that they want to structure the laws to extract as much money away from you as possible. But still, it seems like I'm missing something.

   

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  Anonymous Coward, Aug 24th, 2009 @ 8:07pm

  
  

  "Surveillance cameras are real-time. Street View is not. Surveillance cameras do not blur faces/license plates. Street View does."
  
  Street view is accessible to everyone in the world. Surveillance cameras are not.
  
  Sort of changes the story a bit. Nice reach Mike.

   

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  ..., Aug 24th, 2009 @ 8:11pm

  
  

  Re:

  "Sort of changes the story a bit. "
  
  How is the story changed?
  As far as I can tell, the Swiss gov still wants street view gone.

   

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  HolaJohnny (profile), Aug 24th, 2009 @ 8:46pm

  
  

  Re:

  And how is this a reach? What will the public do with pictures taken one moment in time? See their neighbors dog defecating on their lawn? If it was real time I would definitely see where your going but your argument isn't really clear here... Also as previously pointed out on this site many many times. If your going to personally attack or point out Mike. Maybe you can stop being a AC and register. If your willing to attack people you should be willing to defend that view. If you want to stay anonymous well then your a skank.

   

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  icepick314, Aug 25th, 2009 @ 6:10am

  
  

  Re:

  damm straight!!!
  
  only governments are allowed to have cameras for their viewing pleasure!!!

   

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  Ben, Aug 24th, 2009 @ 8:51pm

  
  

  Re:

  Mate... I'm Swiss and I can tell you, this article is misleading. Switzerland does not want to totally ban the Streetview. It just wants to take the service offline before all the complaints about privacy have been resolved.
  
  I still think that's pretty sad, actually, because once a complaint reaches google they only take a couple of hours to remove / blur the image.
  
  I can only say: typically Swiss. Always aim for the perfect (impossible) solution.

   

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  HolaJohnny (profile), Aug 24th, 2009 @ 8:58pm

  
  

  Re: Re:

  I hope you are indeed Swiss, for many reasons though the most predominate is I'd like to think here we are open to and hear views from all over the world. I also hope your right about this. I'd find it said to see any country burdened with a nanny state. The more times I hear about such governments/government attitudes the more I think we are moving backwards.

   

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  lordmorgul, Aug 24th, 2009 @ 10:16pm

  
  

  Re: Re:

  I wonder how the responsible parties (politicians) actually expect all the complaints to be resolved while the service is offline and noone can see anything to complain about...
  Then again I've always assumed logic is a skillset somewhat unneeded in politics.

   

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  Ben, Aug 24th, 2009 @ 10:26pm

  
  

  Re: Re: Re:

  Yeah, I was wondering the exact same thing... It seems, as most of the time, the politicians don't have the slightest clue.

   

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  Ben, Aug 24th, 2009 @ 10:25pm

  
  

  Yep

  Yep, I'm Swiss, but living in Australia at the moment. (Probably because I wanted to have a break of Governments that rather do nothing than something that's not 100% perfect.)
  I read this post and found it disturbing, so I checked some of the (reliable) Swiss news agencies. They tell a slightly different story.
  
  Yeah, too much nanny is no good and drives people mad (or out of the country).

   

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  Anonymous Coward, Aug 25th, 2009 @ 5:48am

  
  

  Re: Yep

  Could you send these reliable news Swiss agencies to Mike? He seems to have problems finding reliable sources.

   

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  Anonymous Coward, Aug 25th, 2009 @ 11:17am

  
  

  Re: Re: Yep

  Mike has that problem a fair bit these days.

   

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  martyburns, Aug 25th, 2009 @ 4:30am

  
  

  This still completely baffles me.

  I just cannot for the life of me understand anyone who has an issue with street view.
  
  I reckon lots of people who do are just Google haters.

   

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  mattarse (profile), Aug 27th, 2009 @ 10:12am

  
  

  Re: This still completely baffles me.

  I think it's fair to have issue with Streetview and not be a google hater (I would fall into this camp). In the past google has not been very accommodating towards people with legitimate privacy concerns - I remember many complaints about google going into driveways and onto private roads.
  
  I'm not against streetview per se, however I do have concerns about googles regard for privacy. Yes they may take down pictures people request quite quickly, but some of the burden should lie with google not to take those pictures in the first place.

   

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  Ana, Aug 25th, 2009 @ 6:29am

  
  

  in defense of the swiss

  Hi,
  
  I live most of the time in NY, but have been spending a good chunk of the year in Zurich.
  When I saw the phrase "nanny state" I felt I had to chime in.
  
  I spend time in Switzerland precisely because it is NOT a nanny state - at least no where near what NY/America has become. The authorities here are very respectful of your privacy and actually treat you like a non-criminal - ex: it is much, much more pleasant entering this country as a non-citizen than it is entering America as a citizen.
  
  You can swim here in the Limmat river at any hour, have a beer, even smoke a joint, and no one cares - no lifeguards, no signs, etc... I know that at parts of the Jersey shore in the US you cannot even throw frisbees anymore, bring your dog, or bring any containers of food or drink! My experiences here only make it clearer to me how unlivable America and most of western europe has become.
  
  I also have seen the swiss versions of the google street view story. It does seem that they do not want to eliminate it permanently, just put it off line until all issues are solved. While the libertarian in me has problems with that, there is something to be said for swiss time frame.
  Look - the swiss have remained stable for a thousand years b/c they move very slowly, and there is something to be said for that.
  
  Anyway, just my two cents. The swiss guy in Austria should check out the states and then write back about what a nanny state really is :)
  
  - Ana

   

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  MC, Aug 25th, 2009 @ 6:41am

  
  

  Perplexed

  How can pictures, taken from a moving vehicle on a public thoroughfare, be considered invasive? It's all accessible to the public, whether it's on the web or not.

   

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  Glenn, Aug 25th, 2009 @ 8:24am

  
  

  Oops...

  Also, if you visited Switzerland recently and took some pictures, don't post them online where others can see them. I mean, they might make people actually want to visit the place.

   

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  Michael Long (profile), Aug 25th, 2009 @ 4:02pm

  
  

  Why?

  "...it does make you wonder why Google would launch it these days without first having assurances from the gov't that it would be okay."
  
  Why does every business would wants to launch a new service have to seek "assurances" from the government?

   

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