[Infowarrior] - Man dressed as The Joker gets national ID card

[Richard Forno]

Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/25/the_joker_gets_id/
Man dressed as The Joker gets ID card
By Jan Libbenga
Published Thursday 25th January 2007 15:28 GMT

A Dutchman dressed as the unpredictable master criminal The Joker from
Batman managed to get himself a national ID card
(http://www.ad.nl/binnenland/article1023228.ece), despite supposedly
stringent new rules which outlaw grins, funny faces, and head coverings from
passport pics.

Man dressed as The Joker gets Netherlands ID card

To avoid confusing facial recognition scanners, travellers in Europe have
been ordered not to look too happy in their passport photographs. Eyes must
also be open and clearly visible, and there must be no sunglasses, tinted
glasses, or hair across the eyes. In the Netherlands, these rules were
introduced last August.

But a 35-year-old man from the Dutch town of Hellevoetsluis decided to paint
his face black and dress up as Batman's goofy trickster-thief rival and was
astounded that his new appearance was accepted without a hitch. Initially,
the man was asked not to wear a hat, but when he argued it was because of
religious beliefs, he was allowed to leave it on.

The incident has stirred quite a controversy among Dutch politicians.
Interior minister Johan Remkes now has to explain how this could have
happened. "We don't think there are many people dressed up as clowns in this
country," his department said. ®