Posted on: Tuesday, July 8, 2003

Cell-phone cameras used in 'digital shoplifting'

Associated Press

TOKYO — A group of Japanese publishers launched a campaign to stop people from using camera-equipped cell phones to photograph magazines instead of buying them.

Palm-sized handsets embedded with camera lenses the size of a thumbtack have proved immensely popular in Japan, where people use them to snap photos and relay them instantly online.

But as the technology improves to produce sharper images, more people are using them in bookstores for "digital shoplifting," said Ryosuke Katsumi, spokesman for the Japan Magazine Publishers Association.

For the next two months, the association is posting notices at bookstores across Japan advising customers that such use is illegal, he said.

The abuse of camera phones is a growing problem. There have been reports of people using them to photograph up women's skirts or furtively snap shots in off-limits areas, such as courtrooms or museums.

Manufacturers of cell phones, concerned by the unintended uses of their gadgets, have mounted etiquette campaigns asking customers to respect privacy and to refrain from unauthorized photography.

In response to such problems, J-Phone, the cell phone unit of Japan Telecom Co., designs handsets to sound an alert when the shutter is pressed.