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   From: oO@oO.com   
      
   CCTV channel beamed to your home   
   By Amy Iggulden   
   (Filed: 09/05/2006)   
      
      
      
   Big Brother, the reality television show that attracts up to seven million   
   viewers, is old hat.   
      
   In the world of boundary-pushing television, it was surpassed yesterday by a   
   group of Eastenders who have become the first to monitor their own   
   neighbourhood via a home CCTV channel.   
      
   Shoreditch TV is an experiment in beaming live footage from the street into   
   people's homes and promises to be every bit as fascinating as the courtship   
   rituals of Celebrity Big Brother contestants Chantelle and Preston.   
      
   Viewers can watch the dog walkers on the street below, monitor the   
   appearance of new graffiti and keep an eye on the local pub.   
      
   This summer 22,000 Londoners will be tuning in and homes across Britain are   
   getting their own version next year. But despite being a curtain-twitcher's   
   paradise, the channel is about "fighting crime from the sofa", not   
   entertainment.   
      
   In return for a package that includes footage from 12 security cameras, a   
   police advice channel and an array of standard cable fare, the residents of   
   Haberdasher Estate are expected to shop any yobs that they catch on camera.   
      
   They can alert the council and police through a CCTV hotline and an   
   anonymous e-mail tip-off service. Or they can just watch the world go by.   
      
   Jan Ashby, 57, a resident who previewed the scheme before yesterday's   
   launch, said: "I wouldn't say it was spying, but it is nice to see what's   
   going on. Look, there's my local pub."   
      
   Mrs Ashby is a "huge fan" of Channel 4's Big Brother, but is the real deal   
   just as addictive?   
      
   "I must admit I have watched it everyday since I have had it - but I   
   wouldn't sit down to it for hours."   
      
   One of the stars of the show is Ken Hodkinson, whose pub, The Marie Lloyd,   
   sits directly under the gaze of Mrs Ashby and Camera South.   
      
   "I can't say I ever fancied being on television, but I don't mind a bit if   
   it keeps the area safe," he said.   
      
   Digital Bridge, which set up the scheme for the regeneration agency   
   Shoreditch Trust, hopes it will reduce fear of crime. It is also in talks   
   with police about including an Asbo channel, featuring the faces of youths   
   to avoid because they have broken the terms of their order.   
      
   Civil liberties groups are concerned, with Mark Crossman of Liberty   
   predicting the emergence of vigilante groups and an epidemic of old ladies   
   crying wolf over young people in hoodies.   
      
   But James Morris, the chief executive of Digital Bridge, said: "This is not   
   naming and shaming or spying, it is getting the community engaged with their   
   services."   
      
   After a free three-month trial residents will pay £3.50 a month for the TV   
   on-demand service, which also comes with a wireless keyboard that can turn   
   the television into a PC with broadband internet.   
      
   Police will also be able to interrupt regular programming with alerts about   
   incidents.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)