PI want compulsary flashes on camera phones (Slashdot story).

There are so many reasons why this is a bad idea.

The technological reasons: it will drain the battery, the image quality may be reduced with a flash (i.e. in bright conditions or when darkness is required).

The social issues: it will annoy people (especially if it's a dark place).

That's about it. I don't see what the problem is. Anyway, if somebody is in public they're already giving up any privacy they may otherwise have. Also, why are phone cameras being singled out anyway? There are smaller and more descrete cameras.