Product Improvements Outpacing Even Planned Obsolescence?

Unintentional Porn Atop Holiday Gift Lists

from the wrong-kind-of-tight-end dept

Tue, Jan 2nd 2007 10:11am — Carlo Longino

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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24 Comments

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Shorty, 2 Jan 2007 @ 10:32am

either way they may wind up blind....

*ducks
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Annoying Bastard, 2 Jan 2007 @ 10:53am

Mike...
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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Uninteninal re-gifting, 2 Jan 2007 @ 10:54am

Utah...
Utah, US capital of the Jehova's Witnesses...
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chris (profile), 2 Jan 2007 @ 10:55am

say no to bootlegs for xmas
don't give bootleg games as presents and the odds of getting pr0n in your stocking will be greatly reduced.
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Anonymous Coward, 2 Jan 2007 @ 11:05am

The current version of "I didn't put that there!"
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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bo, 2 Jan 2007 @ 11:05am

Utah
I think you mean Mormons. Depending which website you check, Utah is 62%-86% Mormon.
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Jebediah, 2 Jan 2007 @ 11:08am

Re: Utah...
Actually, that would be Mormons. The two are totally unrelated.
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Diana, 2 Jan 2007 @ 11:27am

Banal Crap.....
"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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Anonymous Coward, 2 Jan 2007 @ 11:29am

Re: Mike...
Be sure to proof read your own words when calling someone out based on their bad grammar, sparky.
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Anonymous Coward, 2 Jan 2007 @ 12:02pm

Will some one please think of the children!
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LukeD, 2 Jan 2007 @ 12:21pm

What's wrong with porn?
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Down w/ Carlo, 2 Jan 2007 @ 12:33pm

U not punny
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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Stew, 2 Jan 2007 @ 12:45pm

Overreacting
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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Anonymous Coward, 2 Jan 2007 @ 12:50pm

Re: Overreacting
by copy, they meant a unit.
they also said bought in california.
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The Original Just Me, 2 Jan 2007 @ 12:51pm

Re: Shorty
LOL
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Stew, 2 Jan 2007 @ 1:00pm

Re: Re: Overreacting
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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Carlo, 2 Jan 2007 @ 1:16pm

Re: Re: Re: Overreacting
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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Nick Burns, 2 Jan 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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Frink, 2 Jan 2007 @ 3:28pm

assuming
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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Anonymous, 2 Jan 2007 @ 7:24pm

You sir are a imbecile
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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adam whitney, 2 Jan 2007 @ 8:28pm

anyone think the uncle messed up???
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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JM, 2 Jan 2007 @ 10:59pm

Re: Mike...
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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Anonymous Coward, 3 Jan 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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Oksana, 15 Jan 2007 @ 12:45pm

wow
I wish I could be in Porn!!
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