Cool form to fill out! Don’t worry, unless you have a phone or a camera

Ah, BMOrg. Just when you thought it was safe to go out on the Playa…when things couldn’t get any more fucked up with tickets, when lines couldn’t possibly be any longer on the way in…they come up with some strict new rules policy enforcements to implement. Way to create the total opposite of a streamlined gate experience.

Got one of those new-fangled phones? You know, the ones that have a camera in it? Yup, thought so. By 2010, a billion people had them, so now there’s a pretty good chance that if you have a phone, you have a camera. Well, if you’re bringing that to Burning Man, you’d better get your PUA paperwork sorted and ready for inspection!

Greeter jkisha tells ePlaya:

Just got this in a greeters email announce…

We needs ta help each other out. When participants arrive at BRC, they have to fill out a personal use agreement (PUA). The PUA is for anyone using a video capable camera or any technology that can capture video… this includes a Smart Phone. So, basically, everyone needs to fill out a PUA. Just imagine every participant sitting in there car waiting to enter the city filling out a form… YUCK! So, attached is a link where participants can fill out the PUA before they arrive in the city. All they have to do is hand this form to their Greeter. So, Greeters… lets make this link go viral. Post it everywhere… remind everyone to fill out their PUA before they arrive at Greeters Station. Really will make our lives soooooo much simpler.

If you promise to only shoot still images on your phone, perhaps because it’s too old fashioned to have a video capability, then you might be OK. No paperwork required. But don’t even think about shooting video. And good luck explaining all that to the (mostly volunteer) crew of Greeters. There are two different stories coming out of BMOrg.

http://www.burningman.com/preparation/event_survival/video_cameras.html#.UCrcJmNYuZ0

Burner Lisa: The website says one thing, the form title says specifically for video/dv/film/digital camera, and the very first sentence says “I desire permission to record via video tape, digital video, film or digital still photographs…” Am checking with Greeters to see if we can get clarification.

Surely they can just have some kind of blanket waiver/disclaimer for everyone – either printed on the tickets, or just make everyone sign the same thing. This sounds much harder to implement.