video taping me

What is the name of your state? NY
Is it legal for your neighbor to video tape you with out your consent or knowledge while your in your own home/yard?

Generally, yes - it's going to be legal. If they are in a place they have a right to be, and they are not poking the camera over your fence or something, then there is likely no specific law preventing them from doing this. Your jurisdiction may have some local ordinance preventing it, but I doubt it.

However, if they are following you around and constantly harassing you by taping you, then you might have a cause for some sort of civil or criminal action against the person.

What exactly is being done? And why might they be doing it?

Carl

being videotaped...

My state is OR.
My problem is that I was videotaped when I went to an ex-lover's house and he had the video camera set up in the corner of the room without my knowledge and taped our entire argument. Was that right of him to do without my consent?
And furthermore, I have been threatened 'indirectly' by him about being killed and he will put a restraining order on me if I talk to his son anymore. I talked to his son over the summer while he was at his mom's house across the US because he wanted to stay in contact even though I was no longer with his father anymore. Now I am told by the father that if I have anymore contact with his son, he will put a restraining order on me and he laughs because he knows that I will not hurt his son in any way, he told a friend that he knows it will go on my 'clean' record and mess it up for me!
What can I do here? I need help! I am afraid of his threats, but if I try to put a restraining order on him, I think that will escalate his anger towards me and he will put one on me just to get back at me! Can he do that?

You went to his house and he taped you? You gotta be kidding me. It appears you can't take a hint so I'll be blunt. How about you leave him and his son the hell alone? He obviously doesn't want to deal with you anymore and if his son is a minor, he can legally tell you to stay away. Why not take him up on that offer before you do get the RO taken out against you?

no the thing was that two months ago, when he and i were just about on the outs as friends....he called me over to talk to me, i was going to get my things that night so i didnt have to come back anymore. i had 2 other friends with me in case something went down that night i had witnesses. I dont want anything with this man, dont read it wrong please....
his son and i were pretty good friends and when he was away this summer we talked on MSN messenger and he wanted to know if i could pick him up from the airport today and i told him i know the answer to that one and i wont be able to. but he insisted on calling his father to ask him about it and that was when that man went ballistic! This stuff that i posted last was from a big ordeal on tuesday night. (which i never spoke to the man)
I am not the bad person here! I was being a friend to his son and staying away from the father! Since that night, I have had no contact with that man and never wanted to again!
That man is angry that his son and I talked because he thinks that i am going to use his son against him but what he doesnt know is that his son confided in me, because i am his friend, that he hates his father and they have problems. I told the son that is not my deal and he has to deal with it, that i cannot help with that stuff anymore.

You were in his house ... I suspect that it is just fine for him to tape you or anyone else within his own home. However, what he plans to do with the tape could be a different story. Blackmail would be illegal. But simply possessing a tape he made because he was not sure what might happen - or, he wanted to protect himself from a false accusation later on - is NOT likely a criminal act.

Carl

but what about the fact that he has threatened my life to another person and that message was relayed back to me!? And if that be the case that I need to put a protection restraining order on him for my own being, will he still be able to put one on me? I think that I am getting screwed either way....I mean I have done nothing wrong in this case, and yet I will be the one with the order on me, when he should be the one looked at because of his threats.
He told his friend (which is my friend) "I want to snatch her up and take her to Sand Lake and break her neck and bury her in the sand so that nobody will find her. It will be like mopping up the mess, doing a chore."
Now where in that have I gone wrong?
I am going to get this order on my record because he thinks that I will turn his son against him, when his son has his own opinions, and I will never try to persuay them. How is this going to affect my life in the future for finding jobs and whatnot?
And I have the tape...he didnt ask for it back I took it to view it and he knew I took it, and I said dont worry I still have it, nobody else has it, Im going to watch it, and he said ok.

If you feel threatened, see if it is possible for you to obtain a restraining order. And call the police - the comments he made MIGHT be criminal. In theory they COULD be in CA ... but that would depend on your belief in his ability to do it and his capacity to carry out such a threat immediately.

But, you can call the police and see if they can take a report on the threats.

Carl