> By Panarat Thepgumpanat
>> Asian governments have expressed security concerns about easy access
>> to detailed satellite images on the Internet, such as those used by
>> rescuers in New Orleans, saying the technology could endanger
>> sensitive sites.
> Google should do the same as they do for the US. Currently, they
> block the roof of the White House, and buildings around it. View
> 1600 Pennsylvania and see. As you zoom in, at a certain magnification,
> the roofs are whited out.
> Either respect the wishes of those countries and 'mask' their sensitive
> sites, or don't mask ours.
You can buy 2m resolution imagry from Russian satellite distributors. As I recall, a Canadian newspaper got into hot water during the cold war for printing images of a secret military base in Canada ... that they bought from the Russians.
My old Laserdisk of satellite images had a small section of a commercial "SeaSat". Turns out that the commercial (non military) satellite showed up nuclear submarine tracks quite nicely. The satellite suddenly went dark and has not been replaced.
It's all bullshit. Anyone who wants these images can get them with very little difficulty.