Hoping to crack down on the increasingly prevalent practice of people using hidden cameras to invade the privacy of others, three legislators held a public hearing yesterday to discuss what should be included in new regulations to bar such activity.
There have been a growing number of complaints about photographs and video tapes published in the media or found on the Internet that were taken by hidden cameras in public restrooms, hotel rooms and the bedrooms of private homes.
Three PFP legislators -- Lee Yung-ping (李永萍), Pang Chien-kuo (龐建國) and Chen Chin-hsing(陳進興) -- sponsored yesterday's hearing. Representatives from the National Police Administration, the Ministry of Justice, the Judicial Yuan, the Modern Women's Foundation and the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation attended.
"There is only Article 315 of the Criminal Code regulating personal privacy, and the punishment is light. Seeking a new regulation is the first step in our anti-taping campaign," Lee said.
Article 315 -- which prohibits the taping of private dialogue and conduct without the consent of the individual being taped -- was passed by the Legislative Yuan in 1999. It mandates a prison term of five years or a NT$50,000 fine for circulating such illegally taped material.
The numerous reports of such abuses reflect the seriousness of the problem, according to Judicial Yuan and Ministry of Justice officials, even though there have been no lawsuits filed yet under Article 315.
"It's very tough for us to find the evidence [to prosecute] secret taping and hidden cameras," said Wang Pei-ling (
Wang Ru-shiuan (王如玄), a representative of the Modern Women's Foundation, said the Legislative Yuan should draw up an anti-secret-taping law to regulate the use of hidden cameras and to force owners of public spaces -- such as hotels and shopping malls -- to bear responsibility for any illegal taping that occurs on their premises.
Other representatives attending yesterday's hearing all supported Wang's idea.
Minister of the Interior Yu Cheng-hsien (余政憲) on Monday promised a meeting of the Legislative Yuan's Home and Nation's Committee to submit an amendment to the Architecture Law to the legislature within three months.
The proposed amendment would stipulate that stores, malls and other such public buildings that were found to have hidden cameras on their premises would lose their operating licenses.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
RSS