[jonKranked]

I doubt there was a master scheme to videotape coeds, but there is a vidcam and a rarely used remote activation program. Mix it with one unhappy student with legal access...

a "supposedly" rarely used activation program (according to the school). accounts from students contradict this. It will be interesting to see how many images are actually pulled from all the laptops.

 

[IH8Rice]

School district has agreed not to destroy/delete any images captured by the webcams. Part of me thinks that this could put them in hotter water, especially if there are images of students dressing/undressing.

im sure the HDD will mysteriously crash somehow.

 

[jonKranked]

im sure the HDD will mysteriously crash somehow.

data recovery services yo

 

[X3pilot]

Vice principal who confronted the student about his behavior caught on the webcam held a presser today. Caught snippets on the way home from work. She basically blasted everyone and played the "Hey , I'm a victim, too!" card.

 

[rockofullr]

This just keeps getting better!

 

[jonKranked]

Vice principal who confronted the student about his behavior caught on the webcam held a presser today. Caught snippets on the way home from work. She basically blasted everyone and played the "Hey , I'm a victim, too!" card.

Exercising poor judgement does not make you a victim. In this case, maybe a scapegoat.

 

[Silver]

im sure the HDD will mysteriously crash somehow.

C'mon, it's not like this is the Bush White House...it'll be there.

 

[IH8Rice]

C'mon, it's not like this is the Bush White House...it'll be there.

i was just reading a article in Maxim about Bush's election and the IT system they used for Ohio.

 

[rockofullr]

mmmmm.......

Maxim, a reliable source of news.

Or maybe I was thinking of tits?

 

[X3pilot]

So now the digging starts...

Laptop family is no stranger to legal disputes

Relevant to this case, no. But did find it funny that their lawyer now had taken them to court before. And the pics of Mom all botoxed up.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Livin' in a million dollar house on $100K a year?

 

[sanjuro]

So now the digging starts...

Laptop family is no stranger to legal disputes

Relevant to this case, no. But did find it funny that their lawyer now had taken them to court before. And the pics of Mom all botoxed up.

That's so hard to believe...

 

[IH8Rice]

mmmmm.......

Maxim, a reliable source of news.

Or maybe I was thinking of tits?

the "news" you speak of has been everywhere regarding the Ohio voting system's IT system

 

[jonKranked]

some updates:

2 IT workers put on "paid leave"


http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/86505452.html

edit: wait WHAT?!

The two people authorized to activate the software - Michael Perbix, a network technician, and Carol Cafiero, information systems coordinator - were put on paid leave last week while lawyers and technicians examine how the remote system was used, The Inquirer learned yesterday.

Lawyers for Cafiero and Perbix said their clients did nothing wrong. Perbix and Cafiero turned on the remote software only when a laptop was reported missing, they said - and administrators knew what they were doing.

"A phone call had to come from the high school to turn it on," said Charles Mandracchia, attorney for Cafiero. "And if it was turned on, it was turned on with the understanding that the computer was either lost or stolen."

Perbix's salary this year is $86,379. Cafiero, who supervises 16 technicians and administrative assistants, makes $105,569. Both have been with the Lower Merion district for 12 years, according to spokesman Douglas Young.

Their lawyers said the use of the software was no secret. On at least two occasions, the district turned over pictures and other information to Lower Merion police so they could help track stolen laptops.

The district even set up a secure Web site so the police could have access to pictures and other information, according to attorneys in the case.

 

[Pesqueeb]

And no body at PD looked into the leagal aspects of all this? I'd be willing to bet the city is next to get sued.

 

[Silver]

And no body at PD looked into the leagal aspects of all this? I'd be willing to bet the city is next to get sued.

There's probably something in the PATRIOT act that makes it legal...

 

[jonKranked]

And no body at PD looked into the leagal aspects of all this? I'd be willing to bet the city is next to get sued.

Eh, I doubt they'll get tangled up in this too much. They were given access to the content (images) that were captured, not the ability to create additional content (activate the webcams remotely).

 

[dante]

I'm still remarkably underwhelmed by this. Unless it can be proven that the school district activated the cameras on laptops that *weren't* stolen, I don't really see the big deal. What this all sounds like is perp A from the original post stole (borrowed without permission?) the laptop. School district confronts him with pics of him *using* said stolen (ahem, borrowed) laptop, kid flips and gets parents to sue school district. If the school district is smart they have a program/log/something in place that records each and every time they have to activate the webcam to clear themselves of wrong-doing (random girl claims school turned on the camera while she was changing).

The school is still claiming that they have *only* turned on the webcams when someone has stolen the laptop. If that's the case, I really don't see what the big deal is...

 

[sanjuro]

What about the principal that ordered this? Why isn't he being suspended?

 

[Silver]

What about the principal that ordered this? Why isn't he being suspended?

Same reason the George W. Bush and Dick Cheney aren't in jail cells at the Hague right now. **** flows downhill.

 

[jasride]

No Mike - n - Ikes in these photos.........

or, are parents going into a sue frenzy?......

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2010/04/pennsylvania_school_district_t.html

 

[drkenan]

Sounds like someone else is trying to cash in on the situation.

 

[$tinkle]

 

[jonKranked]

updates:

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/04/webcamscanda/

A webcam spying scandal at a suburban Philadelphia school district is broadening, with lawyers claiming the district secretly snapped thousands of webcam images of students using school-issued laptops without the pupils’ knowledge or consent.

Some of the images included pictures of youths at home, in bed or even “partially dressed,” according to a Thursday filing in the case. Pupils’ online chats were also captured, as well as a record of the websites they visited

“Discovery to date has now revealed that thousands of webcam pictures and screen shots have been taken from numerous other students in their homes, many of which never reported their laptops lost or missing,” attorney Mark Haltzman wrote in a Thursday federal court filing.

 

[sanjuro]

 

[jasride]

my best attempt.....

 

[jasride]

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2010/04/pennsylvania_school_district_s_1.html

Pennsylvania school district says it took 56,000 images on student laptops

Thats a s**t ton of pictures.

 

[jonKranked]

in addition to the thousands of images...

Even worse, the IT staff responsible for implementing and monitoring the student laptops seemingly viewed the whole thing as entertainment. The motion cites e-mails sent between staffers—one says the pictures were "like a little [Lower Merion School District] soap opera." Carol Cafiero, one of the administrators responsible for the program responded "I know. I love it!" Cafiero is one of two staffers who have been placed on administrative leave.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/04/school-it-allegedly-took-thousands-of-pics-in-webcam-case.ars

 

[sanjuro]

my best attempt.....

Sketch FAIL: Pants are still zipped up.

 

[jasride]

in addition to the thousands of images...



http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/04/school-it-allegedly-took-thousands-of-pics-in-webcam-case.ars

Man, wasn't even thinking this could have been headed by woman, thats a whole other kinda sketch.

 

[jonKranked]

update: another student is now suing:

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/07/webcam-spy-scandal-broadens/


tl;dr version:

-student reports laptop missing, tracking software activated
-laptop located and returned 3 days later
-tracking software never deactivated
-images and screenshots captured until Feb 18 when first lawsuit was filed
-federal judge considering allowing this to proceed as a class action lawsuit against the district

 

[Pesqueeb]

Bitchez are gettin paid.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A Philadelphia-area school district has agreed to pay $610,000 to settle two lawsuits over secret photos taken on school-issued laptops.

The Lower Merion School District admits it captured thousands of webcam photographs and screen shots from student laptops in a misguided effort to locate missing computers.

Lower Merion High School student Blake Robbins, then 15, charged in an explosive civil-rights lawsuit filed in February that the district used its remote tracking technology to spy on him inside his home. Later evidence unearthed in the case showed that he was photographed 400 times in a two-week period, sometimes as he slept in his bedroom, according to his lawyer, Mark Haltzman.

The settlement calls for Robbins to get $175,000 and a second student who filed suit, Jalil Hassan, to get $10,000. Their lawyer, Mark Haltzman, will get $425,000 for his work on the case.

The FBI investigated whether the district broke any criminal wiretap laws, but prosecutors declined to bring any charges.

"Although we would have valued the opportunity to finally share an important, untold story in the courtroom, we recognize that in this case, a lengthy, costly trial would benefit no one," school board President David Ebby said in a statement late Monday. "It would have been an unfair distraction for our students and staff and it would have cost taxpayers additional dollars that are better devoted to education."

The district's insurer has agreed to pay $1.2 million toward legal and settlement costs. The carrier, Graphic Arts Mutual Insurance Company, had questioned in a lawsuit whether costs associated with the webcam suit would be covered under the district's policy.
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Neither Haltzman nor the Robbins family returned calls for comment Monday.

Hassan has since graduated from Lower Merion High School, and a phone number for him could not immediately be determined.

The district issues Apple laptops to all 2,300 students at its two high schools.

The district's review found that its technology staff captured at least 56,000 images through the remote tracking program, which was sometimes left on inadvertently for months after laptops were located.

Robbins said he had never reported his computer missing, and did not know why the program was activated on his laptop.

District officials said he had damaged or destroyed two other school laptops, and failed to pay the required $55 insurance fee on the one he had. He was therefore not authorized to bring it home, a technology official said in court papers.

According to his suit, Robbins learned of the practice when a Harriton vice principal cited a laptop photo in telling him that the school thought he was engaging in improper behavior. Robbins told reporters the school had mistaken candy he was seen eating for drugs.

The district is no longer using the tracking program.

LOL@ the Lawyers take compared to the actual victims.

 

[valve bouncer]

Bitchez are gettin paid.

LOL@ the Lawyers take compared to the actual victims.

Bitchez are indeed gettin' paid, bottom feeding algal growth really, really getting paid. Porsches don't buy themselves ya know.

 

[rockofullr]

Must.......... Kill........ Lawyers