PA school district issued order to refrain from webcam spying (video)

Why a school district would ever think it was acceptable to secretly snap pictures of its students — in their own homes, no less — is totally beyond us, but with any luck the Lower Merion School District webcam caper will soon have its day court. Yesterday, an attorney for plaintiff Blake Robbins’ confirmed that an agreement was reportedly finalized to stop the school from spying on its students while preserving evidence for the lawsuit. “What gets me in this situation is that I can’t imagine there’s a parent anywhere who would support the school district’s actions here,” said ACLU of Pennsylvania Legal Director (and all around good guy) Vic Walczak. “[W]hat the school allegedly has done here is the equivalent of the principal breaking into the house, hiding in the child’s closet, and then watching him or her from there.” Yuck! For more info on the technical aspects of this case, peep the video after the break.

Update: Seems that someone dug up some of the school’s policies surrounding the webcam surveillance, and suffice it to say, the bullet points listed here are downright crazy. How crazy? How’s about “possession of a monitored MacBook was required for classes, and possession of an unmonitored personal computer was forbidden and would be confiscated.” Oh, and “disabling the camera was impossible.”

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PA school district issued order to refrain from webcam spying (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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School allegedly uses students’ laptop webcams for espionage, lawsuit ensues

Hold onto your butts, kids, we’ve got a doozy of a story. Let’s take this one slow: a class-action lawsuit has been filed in Pennsylvania accusing the Lower Merion school district of “unauthorized, inappropriate and indiscriminate remote activation” of webcams in laptops issued to students, without prior knowledge or consent. The tale begins when Assistant Principal Lindy Mastko of Harriton High School informed a student that he was “engaged in improper behavior in his home”; the suit alleges that when pressed for details, Mastko told both the boy and his father that the school district could remotely activate the webcam — a capability that is apparently being used.

The school district has yet to respond to the accusations, so at this point we’ve only got the plaintiff’s side of the story — for all we know this kid took a picture of himself and somehow accidentally uploaded it on the school network. Then again, some purported Lower Merion students just emailed Gizmodo and claimed that their MacBooks’ green webcam lights went on at random times, but they were told by IT support that it was just a technical glitch. Holy alleged invasion of privacy, Batman, this could get mighty interesting. PDF of the complaint available below.

Update: The Lower Merion School District superintendent Christopher McGinley has issued an official response on its website, acknowledging “a
security feature intended to track lost, stolen and missing laptops.” Going further, he says the district ”
has not used the tracking feature or web cam for any other purpose or in any other manner whatsoever” but that the matter is “under review.”

[Thanks, Yossi]

School allegedly uses students’ laptop webcams for espionage, lawsuit ensues originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Creative’s new headset keeps WoW gamers engrossed in all-night raids

It’s a little late to be jumping on the World of Warcraft bandwagon, but it’s safe to say that there are still quite a few addicted dedicated players out there in dire need of a headset. You know, to keep their roommates from going batty as they stay up all night congregating with digital friends and “leveling up.” Anywho, Creative Labs has just put its latest headset up for pre-order on Amazon, with a wired version listed at $119.99 and a wireless rendition priced at $40 more. According to the product listing, the latter relies on a 2.4GHz signal, and both of ‘em utilize THX TruStudio PC technology in order to split your mind wide open with pure aural bliss. There’s nary a mention of a ship date just yet, but you know you’re fixing to get your pre-order in now to avoid missing out. Er, you will right after you slay one… more… enemy….

Creative’s new headset keeps WoW gamers engrossed in all-night raids originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Feb 2010 01:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PlayStation 2 finally launches in Brazil for the bargain price of around US $462

You read that right. Sony’s PlayStation 2, which the great majority of the world has been enjoying since 2000, is just now officially touching ground in Brazil. We’re pretty sure it’s been making its way into the country for many years by not-so-official means, but if you’ve gone the legit route, last-generation’s game console king can be yours for just 799 Brazilian Real, which we’re sad to say translates to about $461 in US currency. Yeah, we’re expecting this to just fly off the shelves.

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PlayStation 2 finally launches in Brazil for the bargain price of around US $462 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SteelSeries Aion limited edition Zboard keeps MMO addicts stuck in the basement

You’ve got to hand it to ‘em, SteelSeries knows its market. Following up on its array of WoW-themed gear, the company has just issued a new limited edition Zboard aimed at to-be Aion gamers, which just might be “the most anticipated MMO of 2009.” As with most of the outfit’s MMORPG-centric keyboards, this one also packs a colorful motif, a swath of dedicated action keys, menus and chat commands, full customization of each key and quick-access “emote keys for greeting, intimidating, or taunting your opponent.” In related news, the firm is also dishing out an Aion Asmodian mousepad, which may or may not be superior to the stained napkin you’re currently using to raid on. Both units are available for pre-order right now at $19.99 and $14.99, respectively, and we hear that UPS totally delivers to dingy basements for a nominal fee.

[Via Coolest-Gadgets]

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SteelSeries Aion limited edition Zboard keeps MMO addicts stuck in the basement originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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