Okay so what is the moral call on this?

Hell no you weren’t wrong. She was in public, in front of an audience, acting like that.She was fair game for any of that. And her buddy who got in your face should have realized that it was HER behavior that started it, not you whippin’ out the phone. Dumbasses……

I’m sorry, I’m don’t do moral that much usually but I would have to go with option 1 on this. With everything on youtube, myspace etc. it feels like it’s all snowballing and turning in to a Mad Max world where everyone’s beating each other, puking, drinking etc. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

I don’t think you deserved a bashing or even the evil eye for it but to me it’s just not ok, if someone did it to one of my friends I would be the first to slam the phone… in the pavement… I might have this opinion as I’m the girl most likely to be caught on these kind of videos :s

Kudos!

It’s pretty well understood amongst people that anything you do in public is fair game for blackmail. Hell, you might be doing her a favor, she obviously can’t control herself when she’s drinking in public if she hadn’t even gotten in yet and was already damn near passed out, so maybe seeing her dumb drunk ass splattered across YouTube will make her go to rehab. You know, like Britney or Lindsey.

You could have charged that guy with assault for slamming your phone close. I would have recorded that drunk bitch too! You were not wrong in any way!

Even though u didnt catch it, a surveillance cam could have and either way she woulda been caught on tape. As long as you would blur her face out, you were in the right. The dumb-ass should have known when to stop drinking. And her dumb-ass friends should have known how to control her. F-in people.

As long as you blur out the faces, I don’t see how that could be in the wrong. Do it. I wanna see.

I’m not sure where I stand on this. I would be pissed to find out someone taped me while I was acting drunk and stupid, it’s a vulnerable moment and a violation. One thing to be stupid in public and have the actual people witnessing it lauh at you, a whole ‘nother to have it live on via youtube.
Yeah, you can blur out faces, but people are recognizable by more than that. I’m sure her voice could give her away or maybe a tattoo or a favourite shirt. A video like that could make someone lose their job or end a relationship.

Fuck that’s it, I don’t think people should make videos like that. Yeah, someone’s being a twat, but you are the bigger twat to tape it out of maliciousness.

Mind made up. Wrong.

I think you are probably in the clear legally, but think of that other girl - lets say it does become a viral video - her life is ruined because of one drunken night, all for you to get 1000 more hits on your blog, which will translate into a few more cents of advertising revenue? I say take the high road here.

It would be in the right. She was in public acting like an jackass. Tape away. (Now don’t tape the concert - trouble there.) I am not so sure you have to blur out the faces - you are not professional doing this, it is not for profit. but you might want to just to be safe legally. No legal opinion given here.

drunks make sure fun entertainiment

You weren’t wrong and if they were acting like that much of a douche in public you shouldn’t have to block out their faces.
THEY WERE IN PUBLIC!! There was no right to privacy involved.

This is hilarious and I would totally post about it. I actually had the same kind of thing happen to me on Sunday when I went to virgin festival. There was a girl getting on the monorail in baltimore at the same stop we were and she was totally drunk and falling all over the place. I wish I had a camera so I could video tape it.

I have to agree with most on this one, she was in the wrong, I wish you would have been able to tape her. My question is, why do these stupid people waste their money on concert tickets? I mean, I understand having a few drinks while enjoying yourself but not to the point you wont remember the concert. I’m going to a concert tonight and I’m taking my cell now so maybe i can find one of these people,thanks for the idea:)

if ya know you’re going to be in public, control your drinking; if you know you’re gonna be drinking, control your public appearances. simple as that.

My boyfriend is the king of videotaping folks in compromising positions. He works at a college bar and witnesses drunk girls often. He videotapes them so we can both laugh when he gets home from work.

There used to be a Canadian Comedy show on called “Talking to Americans”… this comedian would go around interviewing random Amercicans in different American cities and convince them to say all sorts of things on Camera which would highlight their ignorance of Canada….things like: “Canadian Prime Minister Zamboni should build a dome over Canada’s Parliamentary Ice Igloo to stop the melting!”… or “Congratulations to Canada for adopting a 24 hour day”… I always wondered why no one ever sued them, I guess they were too embarrassed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talking_to_Americans

If your intent is to make money from her alcoholic antics, you’d need a waiver or disclaimer. But if you just wanted to post her video for laughs, too bad for her — public spaces are free game. If she didn’t want to make an ass of herself and get taped by anyone, she’d have thought twice about getting so drunk, or her friends would have taken her home and/or sobered her up. They did, however, try to stop you. As our society becomes more pervasively filmed, our insistence for personal privacy in public spaces will gradually erode.

Personally, I might have taped it for my own personal amusement, but never posted it on YouTube. If I did, I would have made her identity anonymous… and I have no problem with that. If paparazzi can claim free speech rights, then so can I; however, this lady isn’t a public figure, so removing her identity shouldn’t have any impact on her life at all. Besides, what’s the likelihood that she’d discover a YouTube video about her? If she did, she can always ask you to remove it. Better to ask forgiveness…

Thanks for this blog.

If a tree falls in the woods and there’s nobody there to film it, does it still need a publicist?

Listen; if you are in a public space making an ass out of yourself, then you are fair game. How sweet of you to be worried about this drunk old hooker’s reputation when she herself apparently didn’t give two shits about it after downing that fifth boiler-maker (or whatever the hell it is that you straight people drink.) She obviously wasn’t all that concerned with the public’s perception of her, and apparently her friends only care that she’s behaving like a fool when a camera is on her. And where was this concern for tact, grace and decorum when she was making everybody else uncomfortable with her rants? Why is it that, by you pointing a camera at her, her friend all of the sudden becomes so sort of clandestine moral compass.

Bitch, please.

Film it, baby. Hopefully these viral videos floating around the web (that I am totally addicted to) will, through humiliation and mass consumption, curb idiotic behaviors.

Finally, rest assured that her valiant friend has already regretted standing up for a drunken vat of moral decay.

You had every right. I think that if she was displaying her drunk ass in front of everyone then anyone could have taken her pic. She was on display to everyone anyway so what’s the big deal. If her friend was that upset then he should have been controlling her actions in the first place instead of taking it out on you. Maybe he was hiding his embarrassment by starting something with you…. oh kevin, we love your pics so snap away……

I would direct you here for an overview of the law covering this issue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_privacy

Basically, I would be VERY careful about what you put on the internet. If you do put something up, be sure to BLUR out that person’s features completely, to avoid a lawsuit. Make sure their names are not audible, as well.

Celebrities have to expect that their dumbass actions have public consequences, private citizens are afford more protection, however.

Hmmmm….that’s a tough one. On one hand, she’s acting out in a public place causing a public disturbance, so one half of my brain says it’s fair game. On the other hand, she one day might become sober, and seeing her faux pas on Youtube or something like that would just further humiliate her and remind her of a night she’d probably rather forget.

I don’t think I’d post it. There are some things I’ve done that I’m glad there’s no video reminder of…I think it should be left well enough alone.

Afforded, that is.

Sure, taping it might provide you minutes of entertainment later on. I wouldn’t post it anywhere…that’s when the whole “If it were my friend, would I be pissed someone did that to her” deal comes into play. Karma.

But what I really don’t get are people who pay for tickets and don’t hardly see the show because they’re too drunk, or they’re in the beer line or pee line. Those people always end up in back of ME, splashing their beer on my shoulders.

if someone is going to be an ass in public you have every right to tape and exploit it. i do it with still photos of horrible cars, bad hairdos, and outfits that defy comprehension. if you don’t want people to make fun of you or document your stupidity you need to stay home. then again, this is coming from someone who is even more of an asshole when it comes to making fun of people than you are, so i don’t know how much weight it holds. haha.

yeah, i wish u coulda gotten it on tape…it wasnt wrong….not at all…

I think you had the right to tape her. There’s something I read about photographing people, that if a person smiles into the camera, that is express permission to take their picture. This is of course if you are selling the pictures for profit.

I agree with most people here, that if she was drunk in public, then she should expect to get herself on film. Perhaps like the Hoff (we hope) it will make her clean up her act.

As far as ruining her life, if she feels it’s fine to run around in public drunk off her ass, then perhaps she should feel some real world consequences for her actions.

Now while I think it’s okay to tape this woman in her drunken state, I don’t think it would be okay to say tape a bunch of old ladies tripping over a grate, just to get a laugh. When people do it to themselves (hence the drunk woman) then it’s okay… there’s my two cents.

Legally, you can do it. To be on the safe side, you might want to do some blurring and whatnot, but it’s still not going to land you in jail. An ass-kicking? Maybe.

However, that doesn’t seem to be the point. You’re feeling a little conflicted about if someone were to do that to you or a friend of yours. It’s a moral issue, no doubt, one that would have me up late questioning it myself.

You’ve got to ask yourself some questions about the range of entertainment on your blog. Do you want to get into the realm of ‘amateur paparazzi?’ Which is pretty oversaturated on the Internets, yet still funny in a vouyeristic way.

On my blog, I make a rule that nobody looks dumber than I do. I do this mainly so each post has sort of a moral, nobody gets too mad at me and I don’t look like the egotistical, elitist jackass I actually am. It serves me well, but clearly my blog lack the edge that yours does. You’re willing to go out there and finger-point at the failures of society, while still maintaining a self-effacing and ‘everyman’ attitude. It’s a good line to straddle.

So, what am I getting at? I guess you have to look at it like you already mentioned: How would you feel if someone did that to you or a close friend? Would you laugh it off or take it personally? I don’t know how I’d feel, either.

The simple fact that it’s bothering you leads me to believe that you feel a twitch guilty about it and think that it’s wrong. Following your gut is never a bad idea, dude.

Hell I’ve done the same thing, and I am usually the one who tapes my friends being a drunk ass in public any way..

hey, if it is morally wrong, then I guess I am immoral..

but at least I am intertained.

[quote comment="4276"]Hell I’ve done the same thing, and I am usually the one who tapes my friends being a drunk ass in public any way..

hey, if it is morally wrong, then I guess I am immoral..

but at least I am intertained.[/quote]

and apparently I cant spell * entertained

Well, I think you are a genius for even thinking of getting your phone out to videotape her. Having said that, if any of the antics I have gotten up to ever got out on videotape, I would be mortified and probably never be able to show my face in this town AGAIN!

I wish you had it so that we could all laugh at her expense…

Hell, Kevin, you weren’t wrong at all. In fact, when she drank herself into a Spears moment, she fully accepted that she was sloshing herself into a bad situation. And people like that act that way to get attention. You were merely giving her the stage, and she placed herself at the mercy of the public eye. What is more disturbing is the fuckstick that slammed your phone shut. He touched property not belonging to him without your consent. And in my neck of the woods, that’s grounds for a nice little ass-beating that he would have never forgot. What if he would have broken your phone? It’s yours, and he wouldn’t have replaced it. Besides, he was clearly as out of control as the dink was that started it all in the first place. There’s that “freedom of speech” and “expression” clause in people acting like assholes that they tend to forget — just because you behave irresponsibly in public, doesn’t mean you’re not fair game. Fuck ‘em. I wish you had a nanosecond of it, though. She DESERVED to be youtubed. Or, the fuckstick buddy of hers could have had a nice time explaining to ER docs why there was a camera phone lodged into his descending colon.

They were in public, it was fair game.

Go for it! I wasnt to see it even if it is a crappy ass 3 second clip!

ever heard of the dominoes theory? before any major US military action, there are a lot of people sitting around the pentagon planning the attack/response whatever, and there is a sharp rise in the number of pizzas delivered to the pentagon - the pizza index skyrockets.

Point being, if the pentagon can’t even keep it’s military secrets a secret, how can someone out in public, not only talking for everyone to hear but also putting on a show for everyone, how can that person turn around and say “Respect my privacy.”

Even if you don’t blur out her face, it’s not slander, or libel, because it’s true. The only legal snag might be if you were making money off it somehow. But even then, I think the only reprocussion would be for her to sue you for part of the profits (this is what Paris Hilton did with her sex tape).

Posting it on youtube is no different than all the people at the concert seeing her act that way. From one public forum to another.

I don’t know, I have acted really stupid in public. Not that stupid, but there’s stuff I’d be embarrassed to see on video later. She should have practiced a little self-control (hey, do as I say…) but maybe this wasn’t her normal behavior.

As far as videotaping her, I think that they had no reason to stop you, but part of me does think that’s kind of an asshole move. I probably would have taped her too, or at least taken great joy in telling the story later, so I’m for sure not going all moral police.

Public drunkenness is against the law last time I checked. You should’ve taken it to the next level and made a citizen’s arrest.

I’ve been on youtube twice without permission. Suck it up.

you were right. they shouldnt have caused a scene anyways

I think it’s all about protecting yourself where the law’s concerned, and your reputation.

Morally, and I’m just going by what you said, it’s obvious you’re not out to hurt anyone. Your intention is to make people laugh so as long as you keep your rep and legalities in mind it should work out.

I wouldve taped you getting your ass kicked for video taping some drunk sluts verbal tirade

If you don’t want to look like a dumb ass on camera, don’t be one in public. Everyone has cameras and videos now. It should just be a given that if you are going to create a scene it could very well be caught on tape. If you don’t like the idea of that then don’t get so shit faced beyond belief that you can’t act normal in person. The problem here isn’t you video taping it, it was her being shit faced in public and not being able to handle her booze.

I’ve had moments like this and so have my friends. Some have been caught on camera and that’s just what we get.

well….
I think that…
- it doesn’t matter since you didn’t get the video anyway.
- I think the guy was my ex-husband. He likes to talk about people’s moms and his cock.
- I probably have a similar video or two roaming around out there.
- And lastly, for future reference, cover your ass. Do what’s legally required. And take advantage of the comedic “accidents” that happen around you because they are few and far between. If it were 1902 it would be in the local newspaper. The only difference between that age and this is technology.

The End.

This was interesting to me as I recorded a friend who was acting the drunk fool in public so I could send it to her the next day(she actually has no idea what a fuck-up she is drunk) and got into a skirmish with her boyfriend after getting quite a bit of great material.
My personal opinion is in public it’s fair game and if they fuck with your phone or property they open themselves up to a public ass-kicking.

I e-mailed it to her the next day and it totally shocked and started her on a little personal clean-up program…

So yea youtube the fucking drunk asshats…

I do not think there is anything wrong with recording her. She should not have drank that much and its her own fault!

There is a reason your mother always used to give you THAT look and say in a quite, but stern voice, “We are in PUBLIC!” There is no privacy law that precludes people from taking your image or video taping you in public. If that were indeed the case then there would have to be a notice in every single store you walk in. It’s not like she was putting on a donkey show or shooting ping pong balls out of her twat. She was being a hot mess, and it’s not like she’s from the goddamn moon and doesn’t know there’s a possibility she could be recorded. Too bad ol boy didn’t put the amount of effort it took to talk out of his ass, into keeping friend from becoming THAT girl that we all want to punch in the throat.

Come on people if it was Britney or Paris or li-lo you all would have whipped out the video and immediately put it on youtube or tried to sell it for cash. A sloppy drunk in public is fair game. famous or not. Learn to hold your booze babe.

she shouldnt have gotten so drunk, this will teach her to control herself.

I say video tape to your hearts content. and forget blurring their face. They shouldnt have acted like such douchebags..

Their fault

I’m going to say don’t do it, just tell us about it. We’ll believe anything you say anyway.

WOW! Remind me to never go out with americans, this is scary! Well, I wouldn’t end up on film as I only get lovey dovey when I’m drunk but still… WOW!

Actually that guy who slammed your phone shut was in the wrong. He was touch personal property. Hell you weren’t doing anything different than what paprazzi do to the celebs. I would of told him basically the same thing and that its your right to record what ever there is to record because you are in PUBLIC! I can understand if it was their private property, but it wasn’t. So instead of shutting your phone and probably a few others, they should of gotten a hold of the douche bag and left.

I’d say option 1. Yes she was out in public and making an ass out of herself to those present. That’s different entirely from potentially posting it on the internet, and the the entire world can view it, and stays on the internet. We have all had embarrassing moments we regretted, but I think it’s getting out of control now, everyone has a camera, and if you were on the other side of the lens, I’d bet you’d feel differently. I realise she was in a public place, but I think you also have to respect a right to privacy. Her friend did a good job sticking up for her, her judgement was obviously impaired. Using the incident as an amusing anecdote - yes, filming it - no.

Ultimately, this happened in public. If a person happens to act like a douche, they can be held accountable for their actions.

I say you post it, just because it can be up to the person who watches the tape, on what to do…

1)just laugh and make it an instant

YouTube classic…sorry about that

2)pray for her

I think you were lucky someone stepped in.

A drunk kid in a wheel chair could kick your ass

Uh…as far as I know, anything you do in a public place is fair game. At least that was the rule when I worked at the investigative firms. That’s what you get for acting like a total douche in public especially now that there is video mania taking over the planet. You act like that in public and you are just ASKING to be on YouTube.

Everyone is fair game to this crap in this day and age. Like that dude who played Kraimer from Seinfield. Spilling racist remarks are not cool in any books. While he probably shouldn’t be blacklisted for the rest of his life it teaches everyone to show a bit more respect for one another before going into a tirade.

Further…..My website wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for people shamelessly drinking themselves to oblivion!

Personally, I don’t think I would have taped her.

Now, I WOULD make mention of her antics in my blog, though.

One time i caught some kid taking my picture, so i pulled over and not so politely asked him what he was doing! Turns out he liked my car, but i made him delete the pictures out of his phone anyway and explained to him that not everyone likes to have their picture taken.

ha. Next time you’ll be more prepared to catch something. You should put your head over whomever you’re next “stupid people in public” blog stars (with all of the faces to go with it).

You were definitly not in the wrong. When people act like assholes in public, it’s at their own risk.

I wouldn’t have taped her only because it wouldn’t have occured to me. That guy didn’t have any business getting in your face the way he did.

I’m torn on this one too. Sure, she was being an asshole, but I would wonder if maybe some co-workers could see the video online and she could end up getting fired. Then I don’t think it would be worth it. It would be sooo tempting to tape it though. Or if you just wanted the audio, like you said, you could have just taped the ground. It would have solved all the problems.

Do it. Yes, blur the face to protect the stupid people, but video her and anyone else that chooses to put on a show for you and general public ;^P

hmmm..i can see your dilemma…
and i went back and forth a few times on this one.

one the one hand…it IS a public place.
but does that give us the right to video tape someone??
yes she was acting like a tool…. but, still..

is it comparable to say that if someone is dressed with little to no clothing “deserves” to be raped or molested or hit on??
(hey! maybe she won’t dress that way again)

i dunno…

it was probably hilarious…
i just can’t make up my mind.

If adults are going to be acting a fool then such is life. My only concern is that someone’s kid could accidentally be taped. Of course you could blur all faces so it wouldn’t be an issue.

Dude, Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press…….For Christsakes there are Good Men and Women getting killed over in Iraq, for you to deliver this shit to us when we need it!!!!!! Go forth and Conquer!!!!!!!!