According to this St. Pete Times article, JetBlue caused a lot of legal trouble for a woman who took video footage of an altercation on an airplane. Companies and police are so terrified of YouTube these days that it's turned into all-out war on any evidence-recorders.
Videotaping misconduct and abuse of power is the only legally available tool we have left to fight tyranny and fascism. The act of trying to take that away is, in effect, just as bad for the abuser or oppressor as if they had let the videographer go unscathed. I applaud the St. Pete Times for printing this story, to out the bullies at JetBlue.
I just don't feel safe flying JetBlue, now knowing that if I record an employee's misconduct, I will be viciously harassed and imprisoned. It's a shame because I'd really liked JetBlue and flew with the company so frequently that I even had a TrueBlue card. I have to admit that AirTran has been my airline of choice recently because its fares are far lower than JetBlue's have been for the same locations, but until today I always checked JetBlue when I needed to book a flight. I will not support companies that behave this way -- especially when there are so many alternatives.
