Man who posted school video has second thoughts

[G_j]

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091001/NEWS01/910010315


Man who posted video has second thoughts
By Ashley Wilson • October 1, 2009 12:15 AM


ASHEVILLE — The local man who posted a controversial YouTube video of students at Sand Hill-Venable Elementary praising President Barack Obama said he is having second thoughts about his actions.


He also said he's received complaints from parents of students appearing in the video, a one-minute clip of a February PTO program about “heroes” put on by third-graders for their parents. Obama was one of several leaders from throughout American history honored during the program.

“You can't un-ring a bell, but if I could I would,” said Loren Lanter, president of the Swannanoa metal fabrication firm Brisco Inc. “You can always second-guess yourself.”

He has removed the video from his YouTube site, but it is now available at other locations on the Web.

It has been aired on cable news shows and posted on conservative Web sites. The school and Buncombe County Schools have received accusations of political bias and even death threats in response to the video.

The school system has said the clip was taken out of context, and that no parents who attended the performance had any objections to it.

Lanter has gotten some calls — he wouldn't say exactly how many — from Sand Hill-Venable parents upset that he posted a video of their children without their permission, and he said he understands their concerns.

..more..

[nebenaube]

1. Sue HIM! n/t

[Ian David]

2. Sue him, and make children sing songs about what a douchebag he is. n/t

[seabeyond]

3. hmmm. not like we need to think things thru now a days. really is a free for all

promoted by too many. dont think genie can be put back in the bottle.

[NYC_SKP]

4. In California, one cannot publish images of minors without express permission.

He and anyone else who has posted the video could be in trouble over this.

At least he did the right thing and pulled it.

Now the others should follow suit.

Maybe you can't unring a bell, but your ass can be punished for ringing it.

[paulsby]

6. at least every time they have played the video on teevee

that i have seen, they totally fuzz out the kids faces.

which is good

[johnnie]

5. From the story

"On Tuesday, Lanter said he received the controversial clip from a friend who works at a video store and copied it from a video brought in by a customer. He refused to identify the friend or the store where he worked. In a Wednesday interview he gave a different story, claiming the person may have given him the clip by accident, and he couldn't remember exactly how he got it."

So some repuke working at a video store saw it and gave it to his repuke buddy so they could make a statement without even thinking that these little kids faces would be all over the place? Typical right-wing assholes.

[rvablue]

7. What a freak

From the OP, I got the sense he was one of the parents attending and had taken the video.

If he got this surreptiously and then posted it, I hope some of the parents go after him with legal action.

[G_j]

10. yea, that whole thing sounds pretty shady

stupid too, I hope they are appropriately held accountable.

[tosh]

8. So this is the guy who was responsible for the creepy music.

Yeah, he's having second thoughts, alright, now that he's faced with legal action.

[G_j]

9. time to get a lawyer

if he hasn't already

[G_j]

11. this is a local story: commentary in today's paper:

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091002/COLUMNISTS09/910020337/1202/opinion

Issue is not the Sand Hill-Venable video on Obama but those who made it public
John Boyle
Columnist • October 2, 2009 12:15 AM
<snip>

I'm more interested in this issue: Why and how did the tape get posted in the first place?

On Tuesday, Lanter told the paper he received the clip from a friend who works at a video store and copied it from a customer's video. Nice.

Even nicer: Lanter wouldn't identify the friend or the store.

On Wednesday, Lanter sang a different tune, saying the person may have given him the clip by accident, and he couldn't remember exactly how he got it.

I imagine next week he may claim Santa Claus gave him the tape. Isn't it funny how when an issue turns into a bombshell and parents are outraged that their kids' images are all over the Internet, the poster's memory gets a little fuzzy?

Here's what I want Lanter to do. Stand up and be a man. Admit what you did was wrong and sleazy — and done solely to make political hay. And if you won't identify the person who gave you the clip, I would hope you would at least alert the video store managers so they know what their employee is up to.

Personally, I think it's always better to tear off the cloak of anonymity. I'd sure like to know if my video store thinks nothing of copying my videos without permission and disseminating them for political reasons. The video store and the employee should face the music along with Lanter.

Sure, it's a lot easier to go through life hiding behind anonymity, but that's the easy way out. Anonymity just breeds loud-mouthed bullies and cowards.

I wanted to explore this issue with Lanter, so I tried calling him at work and home Thursday. But the phones just kept ringing and ringing — kind of like that pesky bell he couldn't unring.

[Wizard777]

12. How would a video store get it from a customers video?

Is this not digital video? This is a major issue that needs to be looked into. There are major privacy concerns. If people are trusting this store to process or store video's. Their employees are violating that trust. worst case scenario. People should not have to worry if some perv is out there with a copy of their kids pool party and a bottle of hand lotion.

[WonderGrunion]

13. Congrats to YouTube poster pipspeeps

They correctly got this video pulled as a COPPA violation.

Original YouTube poster of video. www.youtube.com/user/alteredbeat

It's funny to read the comments and see how butt hurt they got when they found it got pulled.

[Swamp Rat]

14. kick

[Canuckistanian]

15. Death threats. There are death threats against a person who posted little kids singing.

Think about that for a moment.

[Swamp Rat]

16. The man is anti-Obama, and used children in the process of advertising hate

He's lucky he only got threatened.

[Canuckistanian]

20. Hey, Swampy

Good to see you around.

[Gabi Hayes]

17. no...they're against the school and school system, which I interpret

as the exact opposite of what you're saying

see what I mean?

''It has been aired on cable news shows and posted on conservative Web sites. The school and Buncombe County Schools have received accusations of political bias and even death threats in response to the video.''

[Canuckistanian]

19. It's still little kids... performing in a parent's concert

If someone interprets that as a threat worthy of death, then somebody's values are WAY out of whack.

[Gabi Hayes]

25. that's what I was implying: the ones making

death threats, I think, SIDED with the creep, and thus, are just as bad, if not worse, than this sick fuck. I work in a school, and if I'd put up any pic/vid like that, without EVERYbody's permission, I'd have been fired, and sued, for sure

[G_j]

18. actually, it was the the school that received death threats

The school and Buncombe County Schools have received accusations of political bias and even death threats in response to the video.
<snip>
Lanter has gotten some calls — he wouldn't say exactly how many — from Sand Hill-Venable parents upset that he posted a video of their children without their permission, and he said he understands their concerns.

[Canuckistanian]

21. This was a concert, right?

A presentation made for anyone who cared to see it, right? I assume they weren't checking IDs at the door.

So, if this video was made during a PUBLIC event, in a PUBLIC school, then it would be ridiculous to make an argument for privacy, right?

If the parents were SO concerned about their kid's right to privacy, they should have pulled their kids from a PUBLIC EVENT.

Right?

[G_j]

22. put on by third-graders for their parents

“We have to sign permission slips for the school to use our children's images,” said Bethany Smith, whose niece was in the program and whose daughter also attends the school. “I don't understand why it's legal for complete strangers to post our children's faces on the Internet.”

On Tuesday, Lanter said he received the controversial clip from a friend who works at a video store and copied it from a video brought in by a customer."

[Canuckistanian]

23. Is it really that complicated?

Do people really sign legal consent forms for their kids to be in concerts?

Is this what society has become?

[dsc]

24. You may NOT record students at a school and then use the video

I wasn't even permitted to record for my national boards, which only the judges ever see, without written permission from the parents of my students. We don't even put stuff on our our school website without express permission. This guy was wrong six ways from Sunday.

[BlooInBloo]

26. (facepalm)