A ban on upskirt photos and other kinds of video voyeurism by cell phone cameras, minicams, and other such technology, passed the House Judiciary Committee May 19.
Lawmakers said such devices let the peepers get the images without the targets knowing it. Violators would be fined and jailed up to a year if the bill passes the full House and is signed by President Bush.
The Senate passed the bill in September 2003. The bill defines an improper image under such miniature technology capture as including a person’s “naked or undergarment-clad genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or female breast,” if it “is depicted in the improper image under circumstances in which that individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy regarding such body part or parts.”
The version passed by the Judiciary Committee was the second version to have been considered by the Senate and, as had the original version, the bill did not specify the amount of fines.
The bill was written by Sens. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) and Charles Schumer (D-New York). It wasn’t yet known just how soon the bill could hit the full House floor.
