FutureWatch - Video Vigilantes

New Zealand - A Christchurch cul-de-sac has thwarted its boy-racer problem with secret video surveillance.

Business owners and the only resident of Dalziel Place in Woolston were fed up with weekly crowds of boy racers converging on their street, doing burnouts, defacing properties and throwing bottles.

Cameras set up by a surveillance company that has its headquarters on the street captured footage of six cars and their drivers breaking the law.

The footage was passed on to police and all six drivers last week had their cars impounded for 28 days. (more)

SpyCam Story #442 - Webcam Hijack Warning

Experts at SophosLabs™, are warning computer users about the importance of properly securing PCs, following news that a man who allegedly used computer malware to prey upon young women has been charged in Canada.

According to media reports, 27-year-old Daniel Lesiewicz has been charged with using spyware to take over the webcams of women as young as 14 and coerced them into posing naked for him. (more)

Congressman Ordered to Pay in Wiretap Case

A federal judge has ordered Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) to pay nearly $1.2 million to House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), settling a legal dispute over McDermott's actions in leaking the contents of an intercepted 1996 conference call involving Boehner and other Republican leaders.

Chief Judge Thomas F. Hogan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia,... had already levied a $60,000 civil fine against McDermott in 2004 for violating federal wiretapping statutes by receiving the intercepted audiotape of the conference call and releasing its contents to several members of the media....

Boehner was speaking on a cellphone in Florida, where his conversation was illegally recorded by a couple who heard it on a radio scanner. (more)

Hollywood Wiretapping Case - 6-Years Running!

Anthony Pellicano masterminded a lucrative criminal enterprise aimed at discrediting and destroying the enemies of his Hollywood clients, a federal prosecutor charged Thursday in opening arguments in a long-awaited wiretapping trial.

But he bragged about it so much — and recorded himself doing so — that Mr. Pellicano “was the biggest government informant in this case,” the prosecutor, Kevin Lally, said Thursday.

Mr. Pellicano, 63, who is defending himself against wiretapping and racketeering charges, denied nothing in his opening remarks, saying that his business was “problem solving,” and that customers in the entertainment industry paid him well because they knew he would “perform” for them. He stressed only that he never intended their secrets to become public. (more)

Alert - The Wikileaks.org ruling affects you, too.

Quick review...
(from Jan. 9, 2008)
"WikiLeaks.org is developing an uncensorable version of WikiPedia for untraceable mass document leaking and analysis."

Every coin has it light side and dark side.
The flip side of this coin is extortionography.

"What is Extortionography?"
Using audio / video / photographic or other evidence for personal or monetary gain, or to force a desired result or outcome.

"Do [insert demand here] or I will send [insert audio, video or other info-leak here] to WikiLeaks!"
------------------------
First blowback...
(from Feb. 20, 2008)
Recent days have brought two federal court decisions with disputed First Amendment legitimacy.

In San Francisco, District Judge Jeffrey White acceded to a request by a Cayman Islands bank to shut access to the Web site Wikileaks.org, which "invites people to post leaked materials with the goal of discouraging 'unethical behavior' by corporations and governments," as the New York Times reports.

In this case, the bank, Julius Baer Bank and Trust, accused "a disgruntled ex-employee" of giving stolen documents to Wikileaks in violation of banking laws and a confidentiality agreement. (more)
------------------------
This weeki...
Free speech advocates immediately hailed as a victory the decision on Friday of a federal judge to withdraw a prior order turning off the Web address of the site Wikileaks.org ...

“Maybe that’s just the reality of the world that we live in,” Judge White said. “When this genie gets out of the bottle, that’s it.” (more)
------------------------
"What does this mean to me?," you ask yourself.
- The court has given extortionography the green light for now.
- Don't assume your business information is protected from leakers.
- Reassess your information security procedures, today.
- The most damning leaks are always the audio and visual leaks.
- Conduct eavesdropping and spycam detection audits frequently.
Need help? Call us.

Abusive Teacher Caught On Tape

A Houston mother, who said her daughter was well-behaved at home, was worried about what was going on in her child's classroom because the girl had been suspended four times for bad behavior.

Teacher: 'Y'all Are Just Stupid Kids'
So, Diana Mijares decided to secretly bug her daughter's backpack and was shocked to hear what was on the tape.

"It made us concerned," Mijares said on "Good Morning America" today. "It was enough and we needed answers."

Megan Mijares' digital tape recorded mostly mundane moments at Memorial Elementary School's prekindergarten class, but then it captured the teacher yelling at the group of 4- and 5-year-olds. All of it happened without Megan's or her teacher's knowledge.

"You're just a bad kid," the teacher says on the six-hour tape. "You're mean to me, so I get to be mean to you."

The teacher, who was not identified, continues to harshly scold the children.

"You are all just stupid kids. I swear to God," the teacher says. "You are just all stupid kids." (more) (video)

Leaked Info Dampens First Amendment

Recent days have brought two federal court decisions with disputed First Amendment legitimacy.

In San Francisco, District Judge Jeffrey White acceded to a request by a Cayman Islands bank to shut access to the Web site Wikileaks.org, which "invites people to post leaked materials with the goal of discouraging 'unethical behavior' by corporations and governments," as the New York Times reports.

In this case, the bank, Julius Baer Bank and Trust, accused "a disgruntled ex-employee" of giving stolen documents to Wikileaks in violation of banking laws and a confidentiality agreement. (more)

First Amendment vs. Creeping Extortionography.
You decide. In the meantime, keep your information from leaking in the first place. Need help? Call us.

'Sex, Lies and Texting’

A scandal envelops the mayor of Motown...

MI - It's bone-chillingly cold in Detroit, and the big auto show is going on, but all anyone can talk about is the scandal consuming Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick--the one a local TV station calls "Sex, Lies and Texting."

Once known as America's first hip-hop mayor, Kilpatrick, 37, had notably toned down his living-large lifestyle in his second term as the mayor of Motown. But this week, his partying past caught up with him.

The Detroit Free Press published text messages between Kilpatrick (who is married with children) and his chief of staff, Christine Beatty (divorced with children), that seem to confirm what both have denied under oath: that they had an illicit affair. (more)

SpyCam Story #425 - Amy Winehouse

The list of celebrities caught unaware by covert surveillance sadly grows. This time, it is Amy Winehouse - caught on camera - reportedly "blitzed out of her skull and struggling to talk after sucking in crack fumes from a glass pipe." (story & video of the incident)

Whatever you think about this story, remember, your privacy can be violated - and broadcast on the Internet - in an instant, using similar techniques.

Reduce your risk...
In addition to Bob's sage advice below, have a specialist conduct periodic bug sweeps for you...

Walk on your tip toes
Don't try "No Doz"
Better stay away from those
That carry around a fire hose
Keep a clean nose
Watch the plain clothes... (more)

SpyCam Story #418 - Phat in Batu Pahat

Kuala Lumpur: Police will investigate the "hidden camera" aspect of the sex act involving Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek in a hotel room.

This follows some concerns that the secret recording of the intimate scenes captured on a widely-circulated DVD was an indication of an invasion of privacy and the possibility of more cases of sinister taping of other privileged information.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Ismail Omar said investigations would cover all aspects of the case including how the recording equipment came to be in the room at a hotel in Batu Pahat.

The first disc, which is about 60 minutes long, contains footage from four different angles -- suggesting four cameras in the room -- of a black-and-white recording of what appears to be a hotel room. The second disc is an enlargement of the angle above the bed. (more)

Vendetta 1 - Berlusconi wiretap posted on internet

vendetta - noun
1. A feud between two families or clans that arises out of a slaying and is perpetuated by retaliatory acts of revenge; a blood feud.
2. A bitter, destructive feud.

An Italian newspaper has posted a seven-minute secretly taped phone call on the internet in which Silvio Berlusconi (former Italian president) apparently tries to persuade state broadcaster, RAI's head of drama to hire two actresses. The alleged reason is to encourage two centre-left politicians linked to the women to join his opposition bloc in parliament...

The phone call was recorded by police as part of an ongoing investigation into corruption allegations concerning Berlusconi and RAI. Italy's richest man denies any wrongdoing, dismissing the country's prosecutors as a "Red Army". (more)

SpyCam Story #415 - Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

MA - A Newton activist who concealed a camera to videotape a Boston University police sergeant was convicted of violating state wiretapping laws. An associate is charged with witness intimidation.

Peter Lowney, 36, was sentenced last week to six months probation and fined $500. A Brighton District Court judge ordered him to stay away from the sergeant and remove footage from the Internet. (more)

SpyCam Story #403 - Revenge Videos

Videos of teachers that students taped in secrecy are all over online sites like YouTube and MySpace. Angry teachers, enthusiastic teachers, teachers clowning around, singing, and even dancing are captured, usually with camera phones, for the whole world to see.

Some students go so far as to create elaborately edited videos, shot over several days, that use popular soundtracks and sound effects to poke fun at their teachers.

Now, concern is growing among teacher advocates that the proliferation of such videos is causing stress for teachers and some students, and could have a chilling effect on classroom discussions. (more)

Two court cases involving students covertly recording teachers.
• Evens v. L.A. Unified School District
• Roberts v. Houston Independent School District
The teachers were told they did not have an expectation of privacy in both cases.

FutureWatch...
• Expect this trend to expand and invade the workplace.
• Have a policy in place to address this threat.
• Conduct inspections to detect employee-placed spycams.

Information Security - Quote of the Day

"Your ultimatum: resign in one hour or I will go to the press and smear your reputations -- was a remarkable piece of bullying and thuggery, and it almost worked."
(In fact... it did work.)

This was the response of the five (independent) Directors of Affiliated Computer Services Inc. to ACS lawyers who had demanded the immediate resignations on behalf of company management.

"One of the most serious allegations ACS leveled against the independent directors is that they gave a competitor access to company secrets during discussions with Unisys, according to people close to ACS." (more)

Moral: Take your information security seriously.

SpyCam Story #401 - Royal Shoot-Out

UK - Two men who allegedly demanded £50,000 from a member of the royal family to keep quiet about a sex and drugs video were arrested after a police sting in a hotel room. ...the royal went straight to police who set up a meeting at the £500-a-night Hilton hotel in Central London. ...The meeting was filmed secretly by officers in an adjacent room. (more)

Internal "Affairs"

CA - A San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's spokesman said Monday that the department will make no comment on a high-ranking commander's accusation that the sheriff and undersheriff illegally spied on him in his office during a private meeting in late 2006.

Sheriff's Cmdr. Gary Hoving filed a $1.25 million claim against the county Friday, alleging Sheriff Pat Hedges and Undersheriff Steve Bolts illegally bugged his office in October 2006.

In the claim, Hoving, a 28-year veteran and the third-highest-ranking officer in the Sheriff's Department, accuses Hedges and Bolts of “unlawfully entering” his office in early October 2006 to place a concealed video camera in the ceiling.

The claim also alleges that Bolts attached an audio recording device to the common wall between Hedges' and Hoving's office with the intent of recording a “private” meeting between Hoving and Sgt. Jay Donovan.

The surveillance and recording equipment was operated from Hedges' office, according to the claim. (more)

Life Imitates Art... Linkletter

...from an Arizonia college newspaper...
"If you like Overheard on Campus, do your part to keep this space filled by submitting the products of your eavesdropping today!

The Arizona Daily Wildcat is proud to feature "Overheard on Campus," where private conversations become public hilarity.

Got a good one? E-mail it to campus@wildcat.arizona.edu. Be sure to include your name, year and major with your submission." (more)

SpyCam Story #370

A woman fled the DEFCON conference after being identified in front of hundreds of other attendees as an undercover television reporter on a crusade to expose collusion between cyber criminals and federal agents.

Organizers were able to confirm that the woman had a camera in a small black bag that allowed her to surreptitiously video tape people attending the show. She hoped to tape people admitting to breaking the law and then attempt to tie them to federal agents who also attended the show. At one point, she was observed panning a room with her hidden camera.

The woman was identified as Michelle Madigan, an associate producer for Dateline NBC. (more)

SpyCam Story #368

Chicago, IL - Channel 2 is despicable and slimy for shooting and/or obtaining, and then airing the covert video of the Stebic pool party. It's getting to the point where the National Enquirer may have more journalistic ethics than some of our local media -- and that's not saying much. ~Martin J. Jacobs
(more)

The story that precipitated this remark is fascinating. (more)

Prince Charming and the Tell-Tale Tape

Once upon a time, in jolly old England...

The Plot
A police worker was fired after an investigation into a video tape allegedly showing Prince Harry on a night out. The woman was arrested after a raid at her home found police surveillance equipment. The swoop followed a tip-off she had a recording of Harry, 22, that had been taken out of a car known to have been driven by Prince William, 24. The civilian engineer, who worked for an elite covert unit, was nicked on suspicion of theft.

The Twist
She said she was using the surveillance equipment to spy on neighbours who she claimed were harassing her. It is believed she was also questioned about the tape. The fate of the recording is unknown (surprise) and its alleged contents cannot be revealed for legal reasons.

The Turn
But The Sun (the local yellow beacon of truth) understands the playboy prince, famous for his high spirits, was recorded in an unguarded moment. The charge against the worker was dropped but she was sacked for “gross misconduct”.

The Ciiffhanger
But she is appealing (note double entendre) and has launched a claim for sexual harassment against six named cops. (source)

"And then layin' in the Bombay alley next day..."

India - In a month-long sting operation,
Tehelka (a local newspaper)
caught Sawla (a local builder)
on a spycam saying Pasricha (the Director General of Properties) was his ‘guardian’ and had been helping soft-pedal the on-going investigation against him.
Tehelka has Sawla’s cellphone records since January 1, 2007, but even this three-month record shows Sawla to have been calling up Pasricha almost every week, sometimes twice a day. ... In 2004, when Pasricha was chief of the Anti-Corruption Bureau he had booked an entire floor of a residential tower being constructed by Sawla under a slum rehabilitation project in the posh Juhu area of Mumbai. (more)

Teachers resign over sex tape

IL - A principal and a teacher at a suburban elementary school quit amid allegations they were caught on video having sex in the principal's office, authorities say.

In keeping with Cook County's reputation for bare-knuckle politics, the scandal broke after copies of the sex tape (2.5-hour DVD) were mailed anonymously to parents this week, just days before a contested school board election.

The case has also created something of a mystery: Who planted the camera that recorded the action?

...Sheriff's Department and South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force officers Thursday night searched the school to look for the camera and other items that may be related to the investigation.

Contrary to televised reports, the FBI was not part of the search at Sandridge Elementary School, Cook County Sheriff's Police Department Deputy Chief John Palcu said.

"At this point (the camera) wasn't found last night," Palcu said Friday morning. "I'm pretty sure it was removed. If it was a setup, they got what they wanted and then distributed the DVDs." (more) (photo)

Bullies With iPods

UK - Playground bullies are deploying iPods and social networking sites such as MySpace and MSN Messenger to wage increasingly hi-tech campaigns against victims, according to new research.

Academics studying the growth in so-called cyber-bullying discovered that youngsters, particularly girls, who were twice as likely to be affected as boys, ruthlessly exploited every new technological gadget.

Victims reported feeling more lonely, having fewer friends and being less liked. Among the findings was a growing trend to circulate video clips of young people getting changed after PE sessions. The images are captured on mobile phones and passed onto classmates' video iPods. They are often accompanied by sound tracks of critical comments from laughing bullies. Others found images of their abuse on the MySpace and Bebo sites, although the researchers said operators were quick to remove offensive entries. There was also evidence that that the instant messaging service MSN Messenger was emerging as a hurtful new weapon. (more)

Hidden Cameras & Microphones - White Paper List

Hidden Cameras, Hidden Microphones: Essays From the Experts
The Hidden Camera Conundrum: A Media Lawyer's Perspective
Mark Sableman
Hidden Cameras: A News Executive's Perspective
Mark Effron
Hidden Cameras and Other Inexact Sciences
Allan Maraynes
A Message About Methods: Make No Mistake
Bob Steele
High Standards for Hidden Cameras
Bob Steele
An Argument Against "Toilet Journalism"
Robert Lissit
Hidden Cameras: Handle With Care
Charlie Thompson
Worth Thinking About
Chris Heinbaugh
Hidden Cameras: Is the Truth Worth the Lie?
Stuart Watson
Hidden Cameras Answer Noble Call
Duane Pohlman
Lawyers, Journalists and Hidden Cameras
Sandra S. Baron

Hidden Cameras, Hidden Microphones: Statutes and Court Cases
Introduction
Kathleen K. Olson
Definitions
Federal Statutes and Court Cases
State-by-State Statutes and Court Cases

CREDITS

Extortionography finds a home...

"WikiLeaks is developing an uncensorable version of WikiPedia for untraceable mass document leaking and analysis." (more)

Every coin has it light side and dark side.
The flip side of this coin is extortionography.

What is Extortionography?
Using audio / video / photographic or other evidence for personal or monetary gain, or to force a desired result or outcome. "Do [insert your demand here] or I will send [insert your eavesdrop, wiretap or leak here] to WikiLeaks!"

The Oprah Extortionography Plot

Man accused of seeking money for tapes about her...

Oprah Winfrey was the victim of an extortion attempt after an Atlanta man threatened he had potentially damaging audio tapes he'd publicize if he wasn't paid off, according to federal charges.

Keifer Bonvillain of Atlanta is charged in Chicago federal court with illegally taping telephone calls he had with a Winfrey employee he befriended at a party.

Over a series of weeks, Bonvillain allegedly asked the employee many questions about Winfrey and her business. He later told a second person, described as Winfrey's "business associate," that he recorded 12 hours of those conversations and ultimately asked for $1.5 million to destroy the tapes and his notes, according to charges.

At various times, Bonvillain threatened to sell the information to tabloids, to use the tapes to write a book or to simply sell them to Winfrey's representatives, according to federal charges.

Bonvillain's name came up in a separate legal case in New Jersey recently. According to court records, he was hired as a consultant by one of the parties to that case and involved in tape recording conversations while probing claims tied to an insurance dispute. (more)

I was spy for Fijians

Australia - After almost crippling Britain's Blair Government with a corruption scandal, Gold Coast conman Peter Foster has gone undercover for the Fijian military to expose alleged vote rigging and corruption.

With a male clutch bag concealing a mini video camera and a microphone taped to his chest, Foster met with senior leaders of Fiji's SDL party which controlled the Government until overthrown in a military coup in December.

At the time, Foster was facing forgery charges and was under house arrest in Suva.

"Why did I do it? There is this perception of me as someone who takes from society and doesn't give anything back. Maybe I am just trying to make amends for my sins of the past by being a good citizen, by going out there and putting my neck on the line and saying you know. I want to be on the side of the good guys for a change," Foster said yesterday.

Countering Foster's claims were allegations yesterday that the Australian conman tried to bankroll the SDL election campaign.

But in carrying out the sting operation, Foster has upset some powerful people in Fiji where he had been working to build an island resort.

Local sources yesterday said it's unlikely he will ever be able to regain credibility on the Pacific island nation. (more)

Yo... betta watch out!

"I went undercover via spycam at Sam Walton's..."
~Kerry Woo (fellow blogger)