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The blackmarket is very much alive and well in Germany, allowing photographers to verify anything is silly, they can be bribed. :x In fact when I lived in Aust
by mtnGoat 6y ago
The blackmarket is very much alive and well in Germany, allowing photographers to verify anything is silly, they can be bribed. :x
In fact when I lived in Austria, within a couple months I had access to more black market goods/services then I did after growing up in the US for 25 years. I would imagine Germany is the same.
- possiblelion 6y agoWhat do you mean by this? What kind of black market goods did you have access to?
- fluffything 6y agoGiven location and user name, probably milk.
- ilammy 6y agoSeem sketchy, given > after growing up in the US for 25 years and the average lifespan of the species being 12-15 years.
- oh_sigh 6y agoI don't know about Austria bit there is a healthy market in Sweden for anything which is heavily taxed - mainly alcohol, cigarettes.
- mattr47 6y agoAlcohol and cigarettes are always on the black market close to US military bases. Prices are always cheaper for service members and their family on base.
- xwdv 6y agoDatabases of credit card numbers on USB sticks, etc
- Spivak 6y agoThe point isn't that they can be bribed, it's that the photographer has to attach their name to the photo and certify that it hasn't been altered or tampered with. It adds the ability to go after the photographer if they gov't ever discovers tampering has been done.
- LargoLasskhyfv 6y agoNew business model. Pop-up photoshop. Like the countless other businesses popping up, operating for a few months, washing money, closing down, owners gone, employees unknown, and so on.
- verst 6y agoExcept it takes a while to start a business in Germany and there is lots of paperwork involved. Also it sounds like licensing is required to be able to take passport photos. Chances are that licensing might apply to both the business and the individual photographer.
- verst 6y agoThis is also where it is important to point out German culture. Germans are extremely law abiding and rule following. People are also generally worried breaking social norms. So while it is technically possible for photographers to digitally alter photos before upload, there will be very few who would dare to do that. Photographers rely on the revenue from passport photos for their businesses to survive. Initially the plan was to exclude professional photographers too but the government backtracked on that after outcry.
- wolco 6y agoThe blackmarket is obviously bigger outside of the US where US law and enforcement will be encouraged to go after blackmarkets more strongly than another company.