Google's latest computerized device, the Google Glass, is likely to run into widespread legal challenges, attorneys and market observers say.
The computer on an eye glass frame is not expected to be available to consumers
for months, but the glasses outfitted with computer capabilities are already
provoking a legal response, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
They have already been banned in a bar in Seattle. The owner of the 5 Point
Cafe, Dave Meinert, said the bar, described by the Times as a Seattle "dive" was
a "kind of a private place."
The Google Glass will have the ability to take photographs and videos and
instantly post them onto the Internet. One software developer made a splash last
week, when it was announced software had been created that allowed pictures to
be taken if the wearer winks.
That may sound like harmless, James Bond-like fun to some, but to others it is a
challenge to privacy laws and a public safety concern if they are worn by
drivers.
"This is just the beginning. Google Glass is going to cause quite a brawl," said
Los Angeles attorney Timothy Toohey, whose practice focuses on privacy issues.
"Google Glass will test the right to privacy versus the First Amendment,"
Bradley Shear, a social media expert at George Washington University told the
Times.
To promote Google Glass, the company is calling the device "seamless and
empowering," which is partly why it is making some people nervous.
Casino operators are also nervous. Computers and recording devices are not
allowed in casinos run by Caesars Entertainment and the Google Glass is both and
can be potentially disguised as prescription eye glasses. "We will not allow
people to wear Glass while gambling or attending our shows," said a company
spokesman.
"We are thinking very carefully about how we design Glass because new technology
always raises new issues," said Courtney Hohne, a Google spokeswoman.
