1984 is so 2007

Amusing and frightening video from the Beeb about a new use for CCTV:

"Talking" CCTV cameras that tell off people dropping litter or committing anti-social behaviour are to be extended to 20 areas across England.

They are already used in Middlesbrough where people seen misbehaving can be told to stop via a loudspeaker, controlled by control centre staff.

About £500,000 will be spent adding speaker facilities to existing cameras.

Not surprisingly, kids are being dragged in:

Competitions would also be held at schools in many of the areas for children to become the voice of the cameras, Mr Reid said.

This coming just a day after I introduced students to Orwell's novel / cliché. And I thought distributed snitching was creepy.



[via BoingBoing, via Instapundit]