Man makes illegal phone call from top of Mount Everest, now under investigation - Polidicks

[QUOTE]British mountaineer Daniel Hughes gave a live video interview to the BBC on his smartphone from the 8,848-metres (29,029-feet) peak on Sunday morning. "This is the world's first live video call -- never been done before -- from the rooftop of the world," said the climber while breathing heavily through an oxygen mask and wearing a clown's red nose for charity. "I don't have a camera man with me. It's me with a pole, an HTC smartphone...and of course my red nose. It's a very proud moment to be here and two-and-a-half years in the making," he added. The mountain has had mobile phone coverage for several years. But Purnachandra Bhattarai, joint secretary of Nepal's tourism ministry, told AFP Hughes had broken the law by not seeking permission from the government for his broadcast. "Even the tourism ministry has to seek permission from the communication ministry to film, broadcast or conduct media related events on Everest," Bhattarai said. He said Hughes' trekking agency was under investigation as a result of the incident but did not elaborate further. During a so-called "fair weather" window on Sunday, 146 people reached the summit of the world's highest peak, featuring teams claiming records for the first women from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, Indian sisters as the first twins, and a British climber completing the feat for his eleventh time. Hughes was climbing to raise money for a Britain-based charity. The mountain has become a popular symbolic pilgrimage site for record-setting, awareness-raising, and pledge drives for charities, which have increased crowds on the mountain.[/QUOTE] [url]http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/2013/05/21/06/48/nepal-investigating-everest-call[/url]

I wonder if this guy was with Dean Hall, I believe they did the summit today. Seems silly you can't make calls too.

fucking ridiculous bureaucracy these days. i bet its illegal to tweet/post about how you climbed everest, too.

Anything remotely fun has been made: Illegal.

Making a phone call doesn't appear to be the issue, its the fact he did what was in effect a live TV broadcast. I have to admit I caught it live by the virtue that my TV was on BBC1 at the time. It was quite impressive, mainly due to the quality and how clear the weather was.

I don't see the illegality of showing people the top of a mountain. It isn't like they're going to capture a yeti or something. It's just snow and rock, what's the deal?

What's so wrong with having a broadcast climbing Mt. Everest?

[QUOTE=Lium;40720150]I don't see the illegality of showing people the top of a mountain. It isn't like they're going to capture a yeti or something. It's just snow and rock, what's the deal?[/QUOTE] They want you to pay for any photos/videos taken.

This is why we should scoop up Everest and put in in America, the land of the free.

It's all about the money.

[I]greed[/I]

[QUOTE=aznz888;40720015]fucking ridiculous bureaucracy these days. i bet its illegal to tweet/post about how you climbed everest, too.[/QUOTE] [quote]"Even the tourism ministry has to seek permission from the communication ministry to film, broadcast or [B]conduct media related events[/B] on Everest," Bhattarai said.[/quote] Seems it is?

[video=youtube;t86vkl-hRrI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t86vkl-hRrI[/video] Full clip in question.

[QUOTE] 146 people reached the summit of the world's highest peak, featuring teams claiming records for the first women from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, Indian sisters as the first twins, and a British climber completing the feat for his eleventh time.[/QUOTE] man I know 146 people isn't a lot of people but it still seems like it's a fair bit easier to get to the rooftop of the world nowadays like, you'd get up there and instead of being the one dude at the top of the mountain you'd be with like a hundred other fuckin' people, gross

[QUOTE=latin_geek;40720648]man I know 146 people isn't a lot of people but it still seems like it's a fair bit easier to get to the rooftop of the world nowadays like, you'd get up there and instead of being the one dude at the top of the mountain you'd be with like a hundred other fuckin' people, gross[/QUOTE] the people running the tourism scene are fucking it up too, the place is littered to shit at its base and they don't care [img]http://fractalenlightenment.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/image-import/_Mi7AIQ22soI/SB2XNvsL05I/AAAAAAAABKs/7qBbQIVHN0Q/s1600-h/Garbage-on-Mount-Everest.jpg[/img] I also hear there's a good amount of crime too, camps getting raided for their supplies. Heard there were some fatalities at least once because their oxygen tanks got ganked

So he climbs Mount Everest for his favorite charity and is going to get charged for broadcasting his success? Poor guy.

Why do they get to own the mountain anyway? I don't see why tourism should be able to own the place and dictate who gets to show the fact they made it there.

What the man said: "Can you hear me now?"

[QUOTE=imadaman;40720289][quote]"Even the tourism ministry has to seek permission from the communication ministry to film, broadcast or [B]conduct media related[/B] events on Everest," Bhattarai said.[/quote]Seems it is?[/QUOTE] It'd make zero sense if that means multimedia in all forms. I think it means media as in news stations and such.

Whoa, spoiler alert!

The Nepal government has been quoted as saying: "He has reached the peak of his fun!"

[QUOTE=Sword and Paint;40720253]This is why we should scoop up Everest and put in in America, the land of the free.[/QUOTE] Probably an easier feat than trying to convince the kind of people who make this thing illegal how silly they are.

[QUOTE=Rhenae;40720780]Why do they get to own the mountain anyway? I don't see why tourism should be able to own the place and dictate who gets to show the fact they made it there.[/QUOTE] Because the mountain is in their country, perhaps?

[QUOTE=Rhenae;40720780]Why do they get to own the mountain anyway? I don't see why tourism should be able to own the place and dictate who gets to show the fact they made it there.[/QUOTE] Maybe because it's within the borders of a sovereign nation? Hey let's say I go to the grand canyon and and get to say what happens there.

[QUOTE=daijitsu;40720718]the people running the tourism scene are fucking it up too, the place is littered to shit at its base and they don't care [img]http://fractalenlightenment.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/image-import/_Mi7AIQ22soI/SB2XNvsL05I/AAAAAAAABKs/7qBbQIVHN0Q/s1600-h/Garbage-on-Mount-Everest.jpg[/img] I also hear there's a good amount of crime too, camps getting raided for their supplies. Heard there were some fatalities at least once because their oxygen tanks got ganked[/QUOTE] there's also plenty of corpses up there too. at that altitude they don't decay.

You can't clean mount everest, neither of dirt nor the bodies.

[QUOTE=mobrockers;40722885]Because the mountain is in their country, perhaps?[/QUOTE] Yes but within their country they don't control every tweet that may be posted then? Everest is an international icon. And lets be honest until comparatively recently I doubt anyone claimed they owned Everest, it was everyones border.

It's pretty stupid how it's illegal to make a phone call. For example, what if something was going wrong? Screw you health, you're under arrest! And then there is the principle of the matter. You can't make a phone call because it's Mount Everest? Is there no other reason? Just because it's the worlds largest mountain it's illegal to do anything other than climb it? The authorities need to prioritize their shit.

[QUOTE=megafat;40720908]What the man said: "Can you hear me now?"[/QUOTE] Hope the reception was good.

[QUOTE=IceWarrior98;40723294]It's pretty stupid how it's illegal to make a phone call. For example, what if something was going wrong? Screw you health, you're under arrest! And then there is the principle of the matter. You can't make a phone call because it's Mount Everest? Is there no other reason? Just because it's the worlds largest mountain it's illegal to do anything other than climb it? The authorities need to prioritize their shit.[/QUOTE] The phone call has NOTHING to do with it, he did a TV broadcast. Perhaps Nepal is one of those countries that is strict on who can broadcast from it..