In the IMC "Principles of Unity" which imc's have to sign up to to be part of imc network it says:

[3. All IMC's respect the right of activists who choose not to be photographed or filmed.] 

At every international large demo imc I've ever been to people always take pains to say don't take pictures of this or that and legal briefings are always given about powers of cops to seize film / footage etc.

That said things are often very different on the streets  - the best laid plans... etc etc

You said you tried to stop dangerous picture taking (great) but i would be intersted to know if those people you spoke to stopped taking pictures or just carried on regardless (you don't say, you just note their replies).

RE:
"We have seen extremely absurd and ridiculous situations, when alternative, corporate (and police) media formed lines together, encircling places where direct actions (breaking windows,spraying,etc.) had been taking place. This still didnīt seem to be disturbing for anybody"

Couple of points - first off i would hope alt media people were only taking pictures that did not include people (ie windows, grafiti). That said it is not weird for alt media people to stand next to cops at all, sometimes it's the best place, sometimes you want to be in the right place to photograph the cops if they go smashing people's skulls. There were other situations when lots of people with cameras along with other protestors encircled groups of undercover cops and forced them out of the area (by the way many instances of provovateurs have been revealed through such footage over the last couple of years).

The number of people filming and taking pictures in Brussels was perhaps more obvious because there weren't that many people there after the large union march, as opposed to other events.

However, and this is an important point in relation to what you're saying, when u look at the number of people who posted pictures on the imc site this was minimal. The majority of people taking pictures were not taking them to post on indymedia - so they're either the personal keepsake types (of the media art student variety or just activists with cameras, of which there are many indeed), corporate media scum (of whom there were a lot), freelancers (who sell to corporate media scum), cops or tourists.

A similar thing goes with video cameras too.

I do agree however indymedia ID cards are a dangerous joke since they appear to say i'm a friendly person, but they mean nothing. They should not be trusted fully.

RE:
"Cops know that Indymedia people are much more accepted on demos than the mainstream press, so theyīre becoming easier and more valuable targets too. The police attack on the Indymedia Centre in Genua didnīt happened by accident..."

No you're correct it was no accident, however the purpose of the raid was not the seizure of materials. Yes they took a few cameras, a few discs and a few tapes, but they left a much larger amount behind - this was not the purpose of the raid be clear about that, and understand why they really wanted to hit indymedia - because it's being successful at getting info out etc. (note: precautions over film materials ARE routinely taken).


RE:
"we haven`t noticed any deeper discussion about the ideas of left radical media, its values and responsiblities"

This is discussed on the many mailing lists of indymedia, rather than onsite. But I agree more public discussion would be good, and a more structured presentation of good practice 'how to' guides for those new to the ideas of media activism could be put on indymedia sites more prominantly.

I think that the general point you make about indymedia encouraging a camera culture may be true, but it's also a lot to do with more people simply having access to the kit. There's also some cultural differences too which need to be taken into account. In the UK we have one of the most comprehensive surveillance societies in the world (lots of cop cameras and cctv) and a dirty right wing press coupled with a situation where violence and property destruction on larger demonstrations are for the most part much less than those seen in a lot of europe. In other places the situations are very different - some imc people black out every face in a crowd from their pictures.

Re "All cameras will be trashed! This is the final warning!" this just makes me seriously angry after a good setting out of some important issues and makes me want to rant about black block people taking pictures of themselves outside damaged property and other taking pics of which I have seen many, so please include these people too. Also out of the many times I've seen people in trouble for having cameras, most were doing things that were well out of order - most had their film destroyed and not the camera, others did have the camera destroyed, others were physically beaten, other just had their cameras stolen. In the situations when people have approached me while taking pictures a quick chat has sufficed to re-assure (digi cameras at least allow you to show what you've just taken pictures of), that said several friends have been beaten by cops and protestors alike just for being in possession of a camera, which is bullshit.