In the past, he’s had to deal with exiled dictators, mob bosses, alien warriors, corrupt TV game shows, a boy who would go on to lead an uprising against evil robots, and Danny DeVito. But now he faces he fiercest adversaries – men with cameras.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is clamping down on members of the paparazzi who assault celebrities. Their punishment? A nasty fine.

Fresh from the ‘girly man’ incident, the ‘burning children’s clothes’ incident and the ‘destroy the moon so that women don’t get PMT’ incident, Arnold Schwarzenegger (DVDs) – Governor of California and star of Hercules
In New York – has signed a bill that lets assaulted celebrities sue the
paparazzi for triple the previous amount of damages, and they can also
ask for a court order to make the snappers give up any money they make
from the sale of the photos involved.

Assemblywoman Cindy Montanez is certainly pleased about the bill. She has said:

"This bill hits the paparazzi where it hurts -
the wallet. Money is their motivation, so taking away their money will
be the solution."

Paparazzi around the world have long been blamed for all number of
incidents, from the death of Princess Diana to ramming Lindsay Lohan’s
car to taking and selling manky pictures of those girls from Liberty X monging around
topless on a beach. And we can all certainly do with less of that.

Read more:

Schwarzenegger tackles paparazzi – BBC

[story by Stuart Heritage]