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RIM patent locks down cameras the old fashioned way: with a key


Many businesses bristle at the thought of intellectual property being whisked away from their premises via camera -- a fear that becomes ever more realistic as cameraphones jump from 1 to 2, 3, or 5 megapixels -- and perhaps no phone manufacturer is more in tune to the needs of those suits than RIM. Sure enough, the BlackBerry people have come to the table with a rather unusual patent application to address the problem. Rather than remove cameras entirely a la 8800 series, they're proposing the use of a removable key to prevent the camera from being used. Insert the key, the cam works like a champ; pull it, it goes dead. Because, you know, that obviously can't be circumvented in any way.

[Via CellPassion]