Bad Judgement in the Age of the Internet - II

As was the case previously, here are some cautionary tales regarding questionable behaviour and modern technoloby.

The first one is somewhat sad. A freshman at a University in Wisconsin made a series of explicitly pornographic videos with her webcam. The involved stripping and her using some sex toys. She sent them to her boyfriend who was at another university. What happened next is the subject of some speculation on the web.

Either: 1) they broke up and her ex purposely let these video files circulate on the web or 2) he incorrectly filed them on his hard drive and they ended up being picked up as he participated in an online file sharing site. Either way, this poor woman's porn ended up all over the internet. Legend has it that the boyfriend was sent to jail for a year but this is tough to verify. She has gone underground and the videos continue to circulate. Clearly a bad idea on her part but exacerbated by the ease and speed with which digital media can circulate. She's right there next to the stripper from Western on drunkuniversity.com and numerous other sites.

The second one is more sinister. We continue to hear news of child predators trying to lure kids over the Internet. It is a sad irony that someone from the US Department of Homeland Security was caught trying to lure a young girl for sex. Its bad enough that these guys do it but they have to start seeing a trend in these guys getting caught???

The third is more of a success story. Two university students in China used thier webcam to lip sync to Backstreet Boys and circulated it. The "Back Dorm Boys" got famous and are now making money like crazy. They will be used in Pepsi commercials across China. Rather than turning into the light sabre kid from Quebec ( a sad story) these guys got famous and made money. The bad judgement - The Backstreet Boys?????? There is a video around somewhere in my basement of several students with too much to drink doing a Def Leppard video. Fortunately it is analog on tape and will never see the world wide web. Life has changed. Making bad choices is one thing but they can get away from you in the digital age.