These jobsworths are nationwide. Last Sundy about 35 of us Flickr-ites local to Los Angeles had a photog rally at one of the subway stations in Hollywood, then took the subway downtown and did a shoot at L.A.'s Union Station. Everything went well. No problems from security... until...

... shortly after the group broke up, the security guards were again harassing photographers. :-(

I'd love to see federal legislation on this.

@ 6, 13, 15, 16, 17 and 22: The article appears to refer to the Treasury Department's list of Specially Designated Nationals ("SDNs"). The article describes this as a "watchlist of suspected terrorists and drug dealers." That description is somewhat misleading.

The SDN List contains the names of all people and entities that are subject to US economic sanctions (except for certain members of the Palestine Legislative Council, who are listed on a separate "NS-PLC List"). People are on the SDN List in connection with terrorism and drug trafficking sanctions, yes, but also in connection with the other US sanctions, including WMD sanctions, blood diamond sanctions and all the country-specific sanctions (e.g., Cuba, Iran, Burma). According to the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights, few US citizens are on the List.

I am not defending the legal regime here, but let me explain how people get onto the SDN List. They are not simply thrown on to the List in secret by anyone who "suspects" them of being bad guys. The President or the Treasury Department must designate each person as meeting the conditions of the sanctions program under which that person is to be sanctioned. The particulars of the sanctions are published in the Executive Orders initiating the sanctions and in Title 31 of the US Code of Federal Regulations. The name of the person to be sanctioned, along with AKAs, is then published in the Federal Register, noting that the person has been added to the SDN List. The up-to-date SDN List itself is available online in a variety of formats on OFAC's website. OFAC occasionally removes people and entities from the List.

While SDNs have not necessarily been judicially determined to be guilty of any crime, they have been administratively determined (i.e., by the Executive Branch) to have met the conditions of the sanctions. US economic sanctions generally block SDNs' property that is either in the US or outside the US and in the possession or control of a US person. They also generally prohibit US persons from dealing in an SDN's property or property interests, whether the property is inside or outside the US. The sanctions generally prohibit US persons from doing business with SDNs, because buying something from or selling something to an SDN, or performing a service for an SDN, is considered to be "dealing" in property in which the SDN has an interest.

Most US sanctions programs are authorized by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act ("IEEPA") of 1977 (the Cuba and North Korea sanctions are authorized by the Trading With the Enemy Act). IEEPA allows the President to declare a national emergency based on "any unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States," and then impose sanctions on any foreign country or person involved in that threat.