+5¢ Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 So I am searching the virtual caches within 500 miles of my house tonight just because I am bored. I come across some photos that show some things like what got the South Carolina issue brought to light. My question is, for the geocaching communities own good, should this be brought up to cache owners that they might want to delete the pictures? We can not help that someone made a mistake and took a questionable picture, but we can not post it all over the web. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment
johndmann Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 Not sure what you are referring to, but it should definitely be up to the cache owner to delete pictures and/or log entries based on their content. Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 (edited) To our credit, we are constantly flagellating ourselves over these relatively minor and infrequent incidents in the forums. OK, you shouldn't be hunting caches after dark in a closed park, or park your car illegally, but in the scheme of things these are minor offenses. My caches have generated well over 10,000 logs and I can think of maybe 4-5 where someone mentioned breaking a rule. One rode a mountain bike in an area where they are off limits (but common) and most of the the others involved bringing dogs along in parks where pets are not allowed. In every one of these instances the violator wasn't even aware of the rule. The worst transgression I've encountered was where someone bushwacked in spite of a "stay on the trails" rule. The wrong thing to do? Sure. But it's not exactly like he was dumping used motor oil or old refrigerators in the woods. Breaking the rules is not a good thing, but I don't see the "wanton disrespect for peoples' property, park rules, and general laws" that Parrot Rob mentioned in another thread. In fact I've seen quite the opposite. With nearly a quarter million active caches and hundreds of thousands of logs written every week, I'm actually amazed at how infrequent these incidents are. I do wonder about the mindset of the morons who do break the rules and brag about it in their logs. And posting photos of your rulebreaking, how dumb can someone get? But its up to the cache owner to deal with that idiocy. Edited February 2, 2006 by briansnat Quote Link to comment
SGT Superman Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 So I am searching the virtual caches within 500 miles of my house tonight just because I am bored. I come across some photos that show some things like what got the South Carolina issue brought to light. My question is, for the geocaching communities own good, should this be brought up to cache owners that they might want to delete the pictures? We can not help that someone made a mistake and took a questionable picture, but we can not post it all over the web. Any thoughts? can you elaborate on the South Carolina issue for us new cachers? Quote Link to comment
+Torry Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 Perhaps those of us who wish to see this game go on for a long time need to speak up more often about fellow cachers who seem to not be as concerned. Quote Link to comment
+fishingdude720 Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 So I am searching the virtual caches within 500 miles of my house tonight just because I am bored. I come across some photos that show some things like what got the South Carolina issue brought to light. My question is, for the geocaching communities own good, should this be brought up to cache owners that they might want to delete the pictures? We can not help that someone made a mistake and took a questionable picture, but we can not post it all over the web. Any thoughts? can you elaborate on the South Carolina issue for us new cachers? The peole of SC are putting bans and making new rules for Geocaching. I am not from that state but I read it in a post. There are no rules here in NJ and I like it Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 (edited) So I am searching the virtual caches within 500 miles of my house tonight just because I am bored. I come across some photos that show some things like what got the South Carolina issue brought to light. My question is, for the geocaching communities own good, should this be brought up to cache owners that they might want to delete the pictures? We can not help that someone made a mistake and took a questionable picture, but we can not post it all over the web. Any thoughts? can you elaborate on the South Carolina issue for us new cachers? Well in short, a SC legislator with not enough to do, had her staff spend lots of time combing logs for "incriminating" statements and photos. In most instances what they did was take partial passages from logs that detailed innocent activities and pulled them out of context to make them look sinister. A log (from a SC law enforcement officer BTW) mentioning a restroom break was edited to look like the writer was relieving himself in a cemetery. At first we were accused of desecrating and digging up graves and all other kinds of vandalism. In the end the worst thing they could come up with were photos of people standing in cemeteries holding GPS units and one fellow laying on the ground next to a grave marker. She then presented this to her fellow lawmakers as evidence our sport needed to be controlled via legislation. Anti geocaching legislation was passed by the SC House and is awaiting a vote in the Senate. Local geocachers have been working with lawmakers to take some of the sting out of the bill. Edited February 2, 2006 by briansnat Quote Link to comment
johndmann Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 She then presented this to her fellow lawmakers as evidence our sport needed to be controlled via legislation. Anti geocaching legislation was passed by the SC House and is awaiting a vote in the Senate. Local geocachers have been working with lawmakers to take some of the sting out of the bill. Jeez, what's her issue with geocaching? lol! That doesn't even make sense that someone who fight that hard against it. She must have something personal against geocachers, I imagine. Well, I wish your state the best of luck on that one. Having laws put on a sport such as this one would degrade the quality of the sport, I would imagine. Quote Link to comment
+Elde Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 To our credit, we are constantly flagellating ourselves over these relatively minor and infrequent incidents in the forums. Yes, there's some flagellation of ourselves, but there is not a lot of action against the offenders. There's also a great deal of "whatever folks want to do man, its OK, it doesn't effect how I play my game..." Quote Link to comment
+ksphotoguy Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 It's too bad that the SC lady is making such a fuss about all those people showing up in her state spending money there while they enjoy a little caching. It never ceases to amaze me what some politicians will do. But is it really geocaching that is at fault here? I think most all are responsible folks that respect others property. I would have to believe a minute number of cachers , if any at all are out to vandalize things. There are other groups ( gangs for instance ) that do far more damage to private and public property than any GC'r would. Quote Link to comment
+ksphotoguy Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 I forgot to add that I don't see a problem with photos as long as they are just showing a person at a cache site or as part of their hunt. Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 I would have to believe a minute number of cachers , if any at all are out to vandalize things. There aren't. Its a made up issue. They found absolutely no proof of any vandalism from geocachers, so they changed to the argument to the idea that we are showing "disrespect". Maybe a few geocachers do. Who knows. But is it really the place of our government to legislate respect? Jefferson, Adams and Franklin would be rolling over in their graves if they heard about this baloney. Quote Link to comment
+Mule Ears Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 To our credit, we are constantly flagellating ourselves over these relatively minor and infrequent incidents in the forums. Yes, there's some flagellation of ourselves, but there is not a lot of action against the offenders. There's also a great deal of "whatever folks want to do man, its OK, it doesn't effect how I play my game..." What sort of action would you propose? Quote Link to comment
+ksphotoguy Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 I would have to believe a minute number of cachers , if any at all are out to vandalize things I need to re-phrase that I think I would find it hard to believe even a minute number would be out to vandalize things. Quote Link to comment
+BigWhiteTruck Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 I think cache owners should delete logs that highlight harmful activity, and point the logger to this page, and invite them to re-log if they want to. Cacheopedia article about harmful logs Quote Link to comment
+NotThePainter Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 Given what is happening in South Carolina I'd almost rather see a more centralized approach to this. Here is one way it could work: You see a bad photo you flag it. The owner can delete it but also Groundspeak gets notified (just like if you click the "report" button in the forums). Groundspeak can also delete the photo. Groundspeak has a vested interest in keeping our image good. Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 Are you going to define what a 'bad photo' is to the acceptance of everyone else? Quote Link to comment
+DiskDevil Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 Are you going to define what a 'bad photo' is to the acceptance of everyone else? Not to insult your intelligence, or disrespect your "freedom of speech rights" that you quote so often, you know what represents a "bad picture"! Please quit stirring the pot! Quote Link to comment
+Sputnik 57 Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 The forums are all about stirring the pot. I know when someone is "bad." Basically, its anyone who doesn't agree with me. Quote Link to comment
+ParrotRobAndCeCe Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 Breaking the rules is not a good thing, but I don't see the "wanton disrespect for peoples' property, park rules, and general laws" that Parrot Rob mentioned in another thread. In fact I've seen quite the opposite. With nearly a quarter million active caches and hundreds of thousands of logs written every week, I'm actually amazed at how infrequent these incidents are. I didn't say they were frequent, Brian. I said they exist, and that is a bad thing, regardless of how infrequent they are. It only takes one publicized incident to give eyerone a bad name. Quote Link to comment
Trinity's Crew Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 Are you going to define what a 'bad photo' is to the acceptance of everyone else? Not to insult your intelligence, or disrespect your "freedom of speech rights" that you quote so often, you know what represents a "bad picture"! Please quit stirring the pot! I'm not sure I know what a "bad" picture is. I saw the SC thread and the pictures just looked like cachers logging caches. No "dangerous" behavior or vandalism, just people having fun. Quote Link to comment
+5¢ Posted February 3, 2006 Author Share Posted February 3, 2006 Are you going to define what a 'bad photo' is to the acceptance of everyone else? Not to insult your intelligence, or disrespect your "freedom of speech rights" that you quote so often, you know what represents a "bad picture"! Please quit stirring the pot! I'm not sure I know what a "bad" picture is. I saw the SC thread and the pictures just looked like cachers logging caches. No "dangerous" behavior or vandalism, just people having fun. I saw some of people setting on tombstones and using tombstones to rest their gps. Hint, hint, wink, wink, could be what the guy who started this was talking about but not trying to completley bring up. Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 Breaking the rules is not a good thing, but I don't see the "wanton disrespect for peoples' property, park rules, and general laws" that Parrot Rob mentioned in another thread. In fact I've seen quite the opposite. With nearly a quarter million active caches and hundreds of thousands of logs written every week, I'm actually amazed at how infrequent these incidents are. I didn't say they were frequent, Brian. I said they exist, and that is a bad thing, regardless of how infrequent they are. It only takes one publicized incident to give eyerone a bad name. You used the word wanton, not me. Not sure which definition you had in mind but I assumed it was #3. Maybe you meant #5? wan·ton Audio pronunciation of "wanton" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (wntn)adj. 1. Immoral or unchaste; lewd. 2. 1. Gratuitously cruel; merciless. 2. Marked by unprovoked, gratuitous maliciousness; capricious and unjust: wanton destruction. 3. Unrestrainedly excessive: wanton extravagance; wanton depletion of oil reserves. 4. Luxuriant; overabundant: wanton tresses. 5. Frolicsome; playful. 6. Undisciplined; spoiled. 7. Obsolete. Rebellious; refractory. Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 Are you going to define what a 'bad photo' is to the acceptance of everyone else? Not to insult your intelligence, or disrespect your "freedom of speech rights" that you quote so often, you know what represents a "bad picture"! Please quit stirring the pot! I'm not sure I know what a "bad" picture is. I saw the SC thread and the pictures just looked like cachers logging caches. No "dangerous" behavior or vandalism, just people having fun. I saw some of people setting on tombstones and using tombstones to rest their gps. Though somewhat insensitive, its doesn't quite rise to the level of a crime. At least not yet. Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 (edited) I'm getting mildly tired of people trying to police this hobby. If you have a problem with something that was posted, send an email to the poster or contact your friendly, neighborhood reviewer. Or better yet, grow a thicker skin. Good grief. Edited February 3, 2006 by sbell111 Quote Link to comment
+Firefyter00 Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 I'm getting mildly tired of people trying to police this hobby. If you have a problem with something that was posted, send an email to the poster or contact your friendly, neighborhood reviewer. Or better yet, grow a thicker skin. Good grief. Amen....it's crap like this that discourages people from playing. We don't need laws, and we don't need somebody to write a book of stinkin' rules. Use common sense, have fun, and ignore the folks trying to tell you how to play your game. To paraphrase Eric Cartman, "S**** you guys, I'm going caching." Quote Link to comment
+Lil Devil Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 I saw some of people setting on tombstones and using tombstones to rest their gps. I would never sit on a tombstone but I have used them as a handy table to set my GPS or even sign the log against. I've always asked the "resident" if it was OK and none has ever complained. Quote Link to comment
+NotThePainter Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 Are you going to define what a 'bad photo' is to the acceptance of everyone else? Actually, yes I am ... and so are you. Readers of the geek slashdot website will immediatly know what I am referring to. On slashdot, which is a high volume forum on geek topics, each posting is moderated up or down by a group of volunteer moderators. And who are these moderators? Every single slashdot reader is a moderator. Periodically you get a notice that you can moderate 5 comments. This happens anywhere from every couple of days to every couple of weeks. It takes about 5 minutes to do your moderation duties. You mark what you think is interesting and what you think is crap and that comment is bumped up or down. While you are doing this, OTHER moderators are doing the same thing. A single individual cannot really put forth an agenda because the other moderators will reverse it without even knowing that they did it. And what if you are a bad moderator? That is also taken care up. You are also asked to "meta-moderate" where periodically you are shown 10 comments and the moderation that they were given. You mark these fair / unfair / no comment. If the original moderator gets a lot of "unfairs" they are less likely to get moderator points. This might sound complicated but in practice is is pretty painless and pretty effective. So for geocaching photo moderation every once in awhile you would get an email asking you to go to an URL and mark 5 photos offensive or not. You mark them and you're done. Also, everyonce in awhile you get an email asking you to go to an URL where you see other photos that others moderated and you mark their moderation as fair or not. That isn't that painful. As for me trying to police the sport? I don't think so. I'm trying to prevent South Carolina from coming to Manchester NH. Your number don't bother me, your fake logs (I'm not referring to anyone in particular here BTW), your binders of geocoins passed around events, your virtual TBS don't bother me. I play the game the way I play and your actions are no concern of mine. But when your actions threaten my hobby, then I get upset. A few weeks ago I filed an SBA on a cache that I found on a FTF hunt. I felt bad doing it but it was bomb squad material. My approver agreed with me after the fact and I hope to buy the hider a beer at our next event. But yeah, sometimes one has to stand up and say "This is wrong." And yes, BTW, I do vote Libertarian... you can do whatever you want as long as it doesn't affect me, and offensive log entries and photos do affect me. I wish they didn't. Paul Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 Not only does that process sound like an unbelievable PITA, but what would be the point? 7 people thought this photo was offensive, 12 didn't care, 3 laughed, and 547 didn't respond. What do we do now? Can anybody else think of a way to make an innocent game a huge amount of tedium (other than by becoming an admin or reviewer)? Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 A few weeks ago I filed an SBA on a cache that I found on a FTF hunt. I felt bad doing it but it was bomb squad material. BTW, what is 'bomb squad material'? Did it have wires hanging out of it? Was it dripping an oily funk? Quote Link to comment
+NotThePainter Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 BTW, what is 'bomb squad material'? Did it have wires hanging out of it? Was it dripping an oily funk? It was in the structure of a 4 lane bridge. It wasn't the cache, it was the placement. Quote Link to comment
+NotThePainter Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 (edited) Not only does that process sound like an unbelievable PITA, but what would be the point? It isn't a PITA, it is remarkably little work. And what is the point? It removes offensive material with very little effort. I'm going to be offensive here so stop reading if you are offending. I will remove the vowels. On slashdot, as in any online community, there are people who just like getting a reaction out of people. One person would love posting XVYY GUR T*L A*TT*EF!!!! Now if I posted that, with vowels, and not in the context seen here. You can be assured that half a dozen people would quickly click the "report" button and the post would be taken down. But who did that taking down? Each forum here has a small handful of moderators. That works here because these forums are low volume. If we moderated the logs / photos of geocaches that would be HIGH volume, and nobody is going to sign up to do that. So, as a community, we all share the burden. On slashdot this takes 5 to 10 minutes per month. [Edited to ROT13 the offensive part, I've also clicked the "report" button on myself] Edited February 3, 2006 by NotThePainter Quote Link to comment
+5¢ Posted February 3, 2006 Author Share Posted February 3, 2006 (edited) Are you going to define what a 'bad photo' is to the acceptance of everyone else? But when your actions threaten my hobby, then I get upset. Couldn't have said it better myself Edited February 3, 2006 by 5¢ Quote Link to comment
+ParrotRobAndCeCe Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 Breaking the rules is not a good thing, but I don't see the "wanton disrespect for peoples' property, park rules, and general laws" that Parrot Rob mentioned in another thread. In fact I've seen quite the opposite. With nearly a quarter million active caches and hundreds of thousands of logs written every week, I'm actually amazed at how infrequent these incidents are. I didn't say they were frequent, Brian. I said they exist, and that is a bad thing, regardless of how infrequent they are. It only takes one publicized incident to give eyerone a bad name. You used the word wanton, not me. Not sure which definition you had in mind but I assumed it was #3. Maybe you meant #5? wan·ton Audio pronunciation of "wanton" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (wntn)adj. 1. Immoral or unchaste; lewd. 2. 1. Gratuitously cruel; merciless. 2. Marked by unprovoked, gratuitous maliciousness; capricious and unjust: wanton destruction. 3. Unrestrainedly excessive: wanton extravagance; wanton depletion of oil reserves. 4. Luxuriant; overabundant: wanton tresses. 5. Frolicsome; playful. 6. Undisciplined; spoiled. 7. Obsolete. Rebellious; refractory. No, I meant 3. And wanton means excessive in magnitude or scope, not in frequency or quantity. Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 Not only does that process sound like an unbelievable PITA, but what would be the point? It isn't a PITA, it is remarkably little work. And what is the point? It removes offensive material with very little effort.... Again, how does it remove anything. So what if you think a photo is offensive? How many down votes does it take? What if three people are extremely offended, 10 people just don't care, and two people got all giggly? At what point do you, personally, want to control how everyone else plays the game? BTW, some would say that posting comments such as you did above, even in the context that you did, even with the vowels removed was improper and offensive. Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 ...You used the word wanton, not me. Not sure which definition you had in mind but I assumed it was #3. Maybe you meant #5? wan·ton Audio pronunciation of "wanton" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (wntn)adj. 1. Immoral or unchaste; lewd. 2. 1. Gratuitously cruel; merciless. 2. Marked by unprovoked, gratuitous maliciousness; capricious and unjust: wanton destruction. 3. Unrestrainedly excessive: wanton extravagance; wanton depletion of oil reserves. 4. Luxuriant; overabundant: wanton tresses. 5. Frolicsome; playful. 6. Undisciplined; spoiled. 7. Obsolete. Rebellious; refractory. I prefer #4, long and curly. Alas, I'm married now and Cathy has cut her hair. Quote Link to comment
+NotThePainter Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 Again, how does it remove anything. So what if you think a photo is offensive? How many down votes does it take? ..... At what point do you, personally, want to control how everyone else plays the game? BTW, some would say that posting comments such as you did above, even in the context that you did, even with the vowels removed was improper and offensive. Oh, I guess I missed that part. Goundspeak decides that. This very different from the slashdot model where each individual decides what they want to see. Here the goal is to remove offensive material. There is a limit, I don't know what it is. 10 offensive votes, 20% offensive votes, 2000 offensive votes. The numbers don't matter. That can be worked out if the system is ever implemented. But at some level the offensive material is removed from Groundspeak's servers. I would guess that intially this would require manual Groundspeak action, but I also suspect that after awhile they would put in automatic because the community would be self-moderating. And as for being offensive, yes, I could have been, but if I made it all ****** you wouldn't have know what I was talking about. That exact quote, with vowels, was something the slashdot community had to deal with and deal with it the community did. This is theory, this happens. Just like South Carolina isn't theory. It happens. Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 How about this much simpler plan: If you see something offensive, you take the following four steps: 1) Email the poster and advise as to your level of offense (I would suggest some sort of color chart). 2) Email the cache owner to advise as to your level of offense. 3) Email TPTB to advise as to your level of offense. 4) Click on any link to take yourself away from the offending (but very likely not illegal) photo. Quote Link to comment
+NotThePainter Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 How about this much simpler plan: If you see something offensive, you take the following four steps: Did this work in South Carolina? Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 For (probably not) the last time, I don't live in SC. SC citizens have a problem with some of their pols and they should resolve it. If the same thing were to happen in a state that I did live in, I would take some action on the issue. That action would likely not be to remove pictures of people doing things that aren't illegal and would not be illegal if they were holding an mp3 player instead of a GPSr. Why is this a difficult concept? Quote Link to comment
+5¢ Posted February 3, 2006 Author Share Posted February 3, 2006 (edited) Somethings I have learned.........most cachers have no idea of what is going on outside of their 20 mile local area, if that far. A select few cachers have a " I do what I want, when I want, leave me alone and play your own game" attitude. (This is not good for the game as it affects all people playing in the long run) For something as simple as a travel bug that is no longer in a cache, of the 5 people I have emailed this info to, asking that they remove the tb since the tb owner didn't respond to me asking them to mark it missing, 1 complied. Kinda tells you about the whole of the caching community doesn't it? I know, this must be a local issue because everyone elses area is on top of everything right? One bad apple can ruin things for this game. I don't want to be in the area that does it. New people to this game have no idea of what is right and wrong. Most don't visit the forums, so they look at what others have done and assume it ok. Edited February 3, 2006 by 5¢ Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 No, I meant 3. And wanton means excessive in magnitude or scope, not in frequency or quantity. And are the transgressions we are discussing "excessive in magnitude or scope"? I hardly think illegal parking and entering a park after hours fits that definition. Wrong? Sure. But they are relatively minor transgressions. We're not talking vandalism, thievery, illegal dumping or rape here. Quote Link to comment
+bblake Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 Ah... South Carolina, home of the big Confederate Flag debate, the NAACP boycotting tourism because of it flying on government property, the politicians agreeing to take it down only to move it to another location on government property, and meanwhile they're still flying the flag under which slavery thrived for many more years than it did under the Confederate Flag (the United States Flag!). [ducking] Anyway, if enough people get upset over something (like the pictures referred to) then there's a big fuss about it in the media, which in turn puts pressure on the politicians, so lots of money will be wasted on creating legislature that doesn't really satisfy everyone involved. I haven't followed the issues with geocaching in SC... actually have seen nothing about it in the news, ever, and I'm in southeast NC. I have been interested in geocaching for years but just started participating recently. Does anyone have any links to info about the SC legislature re: geocaching, etc? I am interested in protecting and promoting geocaching, but I haven't been involved in it long enough to make suggestions about how to manage "incriminating photos". bblake Quote Link to comment
The_Brownies Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 This is what the stink is all about? Here is a link to the South Carolina Legislation. Propose Article 16-17-605 Ammendment. so as to define the terms "geocache", "geocaching", and "letterboxing", to provide that it is unlawful to engage in geocaching or letterboxing in cemeteries, archeological sites, or on the historic properties of the state, and to provide a penalty Yep that would count out the state parks, and civil war cemetaries, and battlefields. However, it does not mean that the physical caches could not become virtuals and if I'm not mistaken the issue of virutals is about to be addressed. Quote Link to comment
The_Brownies Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 (1) 'Geocache' means the container that serves the purpose of providing a place to store small items or logbooks which are intentionally placed by their owners. (2) 'Geocaching' means the activity of participants using a global positioning system (GPS) device to locate the geocache or another specific location that contains information on the geocache. Do we have a lawyer in the house? Virtuals would still be legal if I read the law correctly. Quote Link to comment
+jon & miki Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 (edited) There has been extensive discussion in the forums over the SC bill. See Sc H.3777 and SCGA Steering Committee Meeting for some of the threads. You can find others by searching for some of the longest threads ever posted on GC.com. As I remember at least one of the H3777 threads was in the top 5. That monster thread included comments from quite a few lawyers discussing the need for written permission to hunt caches and whether virtuals would be included. There were multiple versions of the bill with various amendments before it passed the House, so take the comments in the older thread with a little salt since they may apply to an intermediate version of the bill. Jon Edited February 3, 2006 by ikim & noj Quote Link to comment
+jon & miki Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 (edited) (1) 'Geocache' means the container that serves the purpose of providing a place to store small items or logbooks which are intentionally placed by their owners. (2) 'Geocaching' means the activity of participants using a global positioning system (GPS) device to locate the geocache or another specific location that contains information on the geocache. Do we have a lawyer in the house? Virtuals would still be legal if I read the law correctly. Virtual stages would seem to be prohibited by the posted language. I don't believe any new virtuals would be listed under current guidelines. If you are thinking of "waymarks", see Department of Veterans Affairs in the Waymarking category and notice what SC state legislator's staff member initiated the complaint. Edited February 3, 2006 by ikim & noj Quote Link to comment
+bblake Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 (edited) Thanks to those who posted the links to the legislature and threads re: the subject. I would have searched but the forum search function is broken, and thought asking to be easier than Googling. Wow, this is ridiculous. How would one prove that someone was in fact Geocaching in a cemetary or on a historical site? Anyone carrying a GPS in such an area would be under scrutiny, so they'd have to stake-out the cache to catch the person in the act, I guess, unless they posted dated photos of themselves doing it. And maybe that would help take some pressure off the drug dealers, pedophiles, rapists, etc. while law enforcement could be busy catching the *real* criminals and making sure they are put behind bars for up to 30 days and forced to do 100 hours of community service. Here are some other dumb SC laws from http://www.dumb.com/laws.htm • A railroad my not remove itself from a town of more than five hundred people. • All schools must prepare a suitable program for Francis Willard Day. By law, if a man promises to marry an unmarried woman, the marriage must take place. • Charleston: It is against the law to drive a motorized vehicle on King Street. The Fire Department may blow up your house. This law was made so that the fire department could create a fire brake. • Dance halls may not operate on Sundays. Every adult male must bring a rifle to church on Sunday in order to ward off Indian attacks. • Fortune tellers are required to obtain a special permit from the state. • Fountain Inn: Horses are to wear pants at all times. • Horses may not be kept in bathtubs. • In some church in South Carolina, every man must bring a rifle to church on Sunday to ward off Indian attacks. • In some town in South Carolina, it is perfectly legal for a man to beat his wife. But only if its on the courthouse steps on Sunday. • It is a capital offense to inadvertently kill someone while attempting suicide. • It is considered an offense to get a tattoo. • It is illegal to communicate with a woman using obscene messages. • It is illegal to display a confederate flag on a courthouse. • It is illegal to give or receive oral sex. • It is illegal to sell any alcoholic beverages on Sunday, unless you own a private club. • It is legal to beat your wife on a Sunday morning on the steps of the state house. • It is perfectly legal to beat your wife on the court house steps on Sundays. • Lancaster County: It is illegal to dance in public. Merchandise may not be sold within a half mile of a church unless fruit is being sold. • Musical instruments may not be sold on Sunday. • No work may be done on Sunday. An exception is that light bulbs may be sold. • Performing a U-turn within 1,000 feet of an intersection is illegal. • Railroad companies may be held liable in some instances for scaring horses. Spartanburg: Eating watermelons in the Magnolia Street cemetery is forbidden. • When approaching a four way or blind intersection in a non-horse driven vehicle you must stop 100 ft from the intersection and discharge a firearm into the air to warn horse traffic. *** bblake Edited February 3, 2006 by bblake Quote Link to comment
CoyoteRed Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 How about this much simpler plan: If you see something offensive, you take the following four steps: Did this work in South Carolina? Nope. It didn't work because few, if any, saw anything offensive in the pictures posted on the site. The pictures were taken out of context and shown in the worse light. The issue here in SC is little different than if some militant environmentalist group started a campaign against geocaches in the woods. This site is filled with photographic evidence of geocachers leaving litter in the woods. Not only do other cachers find that litter, but leave it for others to find. See, here's some pictures of folks with this litter spread around. (Shows picture after picture of folks at cache site with cache open.) They're even smiling about it. They're proud they do this! That's not the worst part! Geocachers are elitists when it comes to litter as they only allow their litter to remain. They take other people's litter and stuff in nearby trash recepticles leaving little room for anyone else to use it. Here's more pictures proving they do this. (Shows picture after picture of CITO.) There are plenty of laws on the books that provide for fines, penalties, and even jail time for littering. Don't you think we ought to do something about this scourge called geocaching? Ridiculous? Of course it is. But not unlike what is happening here in SC. Quote Link to comment
+jon & miki Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 How about this much simpler plan: If you see something offensive, you take the following four steps: Did this work in South Carolina? It's a little off topic since the original post was about pictures and not logs or cache placements, but I have to disagree with CR slightly as to why sbell's recipe didn't work. It didn't work because very few cachers were willing to be seen as "cache police", skipped steps 1-3 and instead just jumped to step 4, then didn't hunt similar caches from then on. That left the questionable caches on the ground to be used as clubs by the H3777 proponents. Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.