The Latest Holiday Season Spy Toy Rolls Out... and records!

...from the seller...
"The I Spy Tank uses all of the latest technology so that you are able to see what the I Spy Tank sees. 

With the Wi-Fi transmitter you are able to control the I Spy Tank with your iPhone, iPad or iPod.

Because of the built in Live Streaming Video Camera you are able to have battles with other I Spy Tanks. Why not see what your friends and neighbors are up to from your very own arm chair while your I Spy Tank goes and finds out. Why not use several I Spy Tanks to arrange war games with your friends? The possibilities are limitless!"

SPECIFICATIONS
WiFi Controlled
4 Channel
Use With Your iPhone / iPad / Android device to control vehicle
Records Video and Sound Up To 20 Metres Away
Records Straight To Your Device
Play Time : 60 Minutes
Charge Time : 120 Minutes
Distance Control : 30 Metres
Batteries Required : 6 x AA (not included)
Dimensions : L230 x W190 x H115mm
For ages 8 and up - Warning! Choking hazard due to small parts. 
iPad, iPhone, and iPod not included

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New Video Game Steeped in Surveillance, Wiretapping and SpyCaming

One of several surveillance-related games at E3, "Watch Dogs" casts players as Aiden Pearce, a vigilante who can tap into security cameras and listen in on phone calls across a virtual rendition of an automated Chicago...

The timing of "Watch Dogs" is remarkable in light of recent revelations about the National Security Agency's controversial data-collection programs. They were revealed in media stories by The Guardian and The Washington Post, leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. 

Is "Watch Dogs" a case of a video game imitating life — or the other way around? (more)

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Spy Camera Glasses - Austin Powers is Thrilled

Question Mark & the Mysterians may sue... 

from the manufacturer...
"Ankaka launches Innovative Spy Camera Glasses Espionage. The high tech spy gadget manufacturer Ankaka is back!

This time they bring people the Spy Camera Glasses espionage-spy-camera-sunglasses; Very stylish and comfortable to use, this latest make of high quality spy gadgets enables people to walk around with no worries as people spy on their subject..." (more) (video)

CUT! 
Enough already. This insults the word covert. It's time to stop applying the word "spy" to everything. (grab your glasses and sing-a-long)

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Hobby Drones Under Fire

On Dec. 26, a grand jury handed down several indictments against the owners of the Columbia Packing Company for dumping pig blood into a creek. They now face hefty fines and even prison time stemming from the water pollution, and the plant has since been shuttered. 

Neighbors had complained about noxious fumes and other issues for a while, according to the local news. But investigators didn’t get involved until this drone pilot took his pictures.

Under a new law proposed in the Texas legislature, sponsored by a lawmaker from the Dallas suburbs, this type of activity could soon be criminal. Not the pollution--the drone. (more)

And from down under...

One Tasmanian man is using a drone to help take video in tricky places and some of the video has gone viral. (video)

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New Report: Drones Could Be Used for Stalking, Voyeurism

The sight of a drone in flight is likely to become a regular occurrence in the United States within the next few years. But the rise of unmanned technology could lead to new crimes like “drone stalking” and “drone trespassing,” lawmakers are being told. 

A Congressional Research Service report published Wednesday, Integration of Drones Into Domestic Airspace: Selected Legal Issues, sets out the many contentious areas around unmanned aircraft. It cautions that in the future, as drones become more easily available to private citizens, we may see the technology used to commit various offenses. This could mean neighbors using drones to infiltrate one another’s gardens as a means of harassment, or a voyeur using one strapped with a camera and microphone to photograph women and listen in on people’s conversations.

“Traditional crimes such as stalking, harassment, voyeurism, and wiretapping may all be committed through the operation of a drone,” the report says. “As drones are further introduced into the national airspace, courts will have to work this new form of technology into their jurisprudence, and legislatures might amend these various statutes to expressly include crimes committed with a drone.”

Of particular note is a section in the report titled “Right To Protect Property From Trespassing Drones.” It outlines that in certain instances, under a section of tort law, “a landowner would not be liable to the owner of a drone for damage necessarily or accidentally resulting from removing it from his property.” This doesn’t necessarily mean that you can “use force”—like shooting the thing down—if someone flies an unmanned aircraft onto your property. But it does mean you could remove a drone from your property without resorting to force, and if it were “accidentally” damaged in that process, you might not be in trouble. (more)

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