So The Riddle of the Camera has a very simple answer: A camera is not a camera when the EU says it isn’t. And that answer says so much about the matrix in which we live.
by James Corbett
The International Forecaster
Here’s a riddle for you: When is a camera not a camera? It may not sound as important as The Riddle of the Sphinx, but let me assure you it speaks to the very nature of the reality we live in. And it has a simple answer: When is a camera not a camera? When the EU says it isn’t.
That’s right. Back in 2007, “EU trade experts decided [. . .] that to be classified as a digital camera, equipment must not be able to record at least 30 minutes of a single sequence of video in a quality of 800 x 600 pixels or higher at 23 frames per second or higher.”
Yes, “EU trade experts.” That’s literally how Rothschild Reuters described them. As if there is such a thing as a “trade expert,” let alone a level of expertise that would allow you to decide precisely how many minutes of continuous shooting transforms a recording device into a “digital camera.” As a result of these vaunted trade experts’ proclamation, any device capable of recording at least 30 minutes of continuous video at the above-mentioned resolution is slapped with a customs duty of 5-12% as soon as it enters the borders of the European Union.