Unintentional Porn Atop Holiday Gift Lists
from the wrong-kind-of-tight-end dept
You might remember our earlier story about the mother in Chicago who'd bought her kid a Zune for Christmas, only to find it full of gay porn. She wasn't alone in discovering that her holiday presents weren't what they seemed: a South Carolina woman says a toy phone she bought for her kid utters obscenities, while a kid in Utah says the Madden 07 video game he got from his uncle for Christmas features porn instead. The stories both feature the standard questionable circumstances (like the unnamed "obscenity" the phone makes, and a 14-year-old boy who tells his parents he's got some hardcore porn), with some grandstanding for added benefit. In the Madden case, the kid's dad says "somebody needs to be held accountable," and an investigator from the Utah Attorney General's office says they're trying to find the responsible party so they can hit them with charges of providing pornography to a minor. That might be sort of hard, since the game was bought in California and only traveled into the state when the kid's uncle gave it to him, perhaps making him as responsible as anybody -- but who cares about trivial matters like the law and jurisdictional concerns when you can take advantage of a slow news week to make it clear you're protecting the children? In any case, perhaps "no, it might have porn on it" is becoming the modern version of "you'll shoot your eye out."
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by Shorty on Jan 2nd, 2007 @ 10:32am
either way they may wind up blind....
*ducks
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Mike... by Annoying Bastard on Jan 2nd, 2007 @ 10:53am
Please do Techdirt and its community a favor:
Quit letting Carlo post this banal crap!
All you're doing is giving the trolls ammo and turning off readers.
BTW, a lack of punctiuation and and the inability the piece together continuous thoughts do NOT constitute a writing style. (More of a lack thereof.)
Happy New Year, Carlo.
Now learn to write drafts before you post articles, or go get a real job.
SOAPBOX
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Utah... by Uninteninal re-gifting on Jan 2nd, 2007 @ 10:54am
Utah, US capital of the Jehova's Witnesses...
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say no to bootlegs for xmas by chris on Jan 2nd, 2007 @ 10:55am
don't give bootleg games as presents and the odds of getting pr0n in your stocking will be greatly reduced.
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The current version of "I didn't put that there!" by Anonymous Coward on Jan 2nd, 2007 @ 11:05am
I guess back in the old day when your parents found the dirty mags you should have claimed when you bought them they where REALLY just comic books! The Zune sounds like a return that was put back on the shelf. The game, the kid thought he had found a good place to hide his pone from mom and dad!! LoL
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Utah by bo on Jan 2nd, 2007 @ 11:05am
I think you mean Mormons. Depending which website you check, Utah is 62%-86% Mormon.
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Re: Utah... by Jebediah on Jan 2nd, 2007 @ 11:08am
Actually, that would be Mormons. The two are totally unrelated.
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Banal Crap..... by Diana on Jan 2nd, 2007 @ 11:27am
"but who cares about trivial matters like the law and jurisdictional concerns when you can take advantage of a slow news week to make it clear you're protecting the children?"
Shame on you and the publishers who let this fly.
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Re: Mike... by Anonymous Coward on Jan 2nd, 2007 @ 11:29am
Be sure to proof read your own words when calling someone out based on their bad grammar, sparky.
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by Anonymous Coward on Jan 2nd, 2007 @ 12:02pm
Will some one please think of the children!
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by LukeD on Jan 2nd, 2007 @ 12:21pm
What's wrong with porn?
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U not punny by Down w/ Carlo on Jan 2nd, 2007 @ 12:33pm
In any case, perhaps "no, it might have porn on it" is becoming the modern version of "you'll shoot your eye out."
You make baby jesus cry
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Overreacting by Stew on Jan 2nd, 2007 @ 12:45pm
I think it’s important to mention that the news media only shares information that can be classified as 'sensational' to grab our attention. Never mind what the real details are, or what the back story is. I know some weirdoes who think that 'dang' is a swear word, and that two piece bathing suits should be illegal because they promote porn and lust.
Does gay p0rn consist of guys kissing, or more?
Were the obscenities uniformly considered obscenities, or was that just her opinion (‘dang’)?
Since when is buying copied games legal? And hopefully the uncle is also being charged if it was a copied game. Then again, maybe stealing is considered a better modal for a child over viewing p0rn.
We need the whole story before we make assumptions, but like always, we’re never given the full details.
1. There are two sides to every coin.
2. Never Assume.
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Re: Overreacting by Anonymous Coward on Jan 2nd, 2007 @ 12:50pm
by copy, they meant a unit.
they also said bought in california.
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Re: Shorty by The Original Just Me on Jan 2nd, 2007 @ 12:51pm
LOL
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Re: Re: Overreacting by Stew on Jan 2nd, 2007 @ 1:00pm
I don't have an Xbox 360 or PS3, but last time I checked, the XBox and PS2 won't play burned disks. P0rn would need to be on a burned disk, as I'm pretty sure its hard to get a p0rn disk straight from the factory.
So the game disk was inserted into a computer...
So, was the bought disk a 'copy?' If so, Illegal copy, and a mod chip used on the consol. Not the topic, and I couldn't really care less, but a point.
But let's ASSUME that it was bought by the Uncle from a vendor used and/or opened, and with a recreation cd sticker on it. My other points hold.
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Re: Re: Re: Overreacting by Carlo on Jan 2nd, 2007 @ 1:16pm
By "copy of Madden 07", I simply meant the unit his uncle says he purchased at Circuit City, not an illegal copy. I've changed the post to clarify.
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by Nick Burns on Jan 2nd, 2007 @ 1:29pm
I'm with the people saying the kid probably was just hiding his porn in the Madden case. Mom and Dad, get over the notion that your little angel is still a little angel.
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assuming by Frink on Jan 2nd, 2007 @ 3:28pm
From reading the article, the press and the authorities are assuming that the family is telling the truth about the porn on the game disk. Is there any evidence that the copy of the game was really a new, sealed copy purchased off the shelf at a retail store in California?
This all sounds like sensational bullshit to me. I see an attorney in the future for this family. It will cost big bucks to pay for therapy to help the child recover from this life altering experience.
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You sir are a imbecile by Anonymous on Jan 2nd, 2007 @ 7:24pm
Please learn third grade English. Run-on sentences with lack of proper punctuation are not considered “professional writing”. Putting letters in various order, with no real point continues to be just a collection of letters, as is your purported "article".
In the future, please help all of us, and ask someone to review your crayon notes. It would be even better if you just mailed them to yourself. It will be a pleasant surprise for you, and we do not have to read it.
Good bye techdirt.com - I rather poke my eyes out with a broken plastic fork then read this sort of twaddle.
techdirt - did you actually pay for this?
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anyone think the uncle messed up??? by adam whitney on Jan 2nd, 2007 @ 8:28pm
maybe th euncle put his own porn into the madden case, then forgot, but was too ashamed to admit it, i think is is very plausable. No?
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Re: Mike... by JM on Jan 2nd, 2007 @ 10:59pm
All you're doing is giving the trolls ammo...
Strange... your post seems like exactly what you're complaing about. I'll give you one thing though, it perfectly fits your name Mr. Bastard.
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by Anonymous Coward on Jan 3rd, 2007 @ 9:53am
"EA has sold more than 5 million copies of Madden NFL 07" Quote from linked article
1 out of 5mill. Sounds like BS to me.
"The game appears to be authentic, is embossed with a Madden NFL 07 label and came in a factory-sealed case, Linda Mahoney said." Also from same article
OK even if it did have all these things how could it have been made from the factory? They do not have the setup to make porn. There machines do not pump that out. Circuit city doesnt have the setup to do these things ether.
I agree with the kid hiding his porno and got caught. By now I bet the parents know they just don't want to be embarrassed nationally
as for the cell phone spouting sex insted of six, has any one ever taken apart some of these toys? I bet its realy 90 cents worth of electronics. That dousn't buy a good speaker. ever try to spell something over a phone? and that has better electronics.
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wow by Oksana on Jan 15th, 2007 @ 12:45pm
I wish I could be in Porn!!
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