Hidden government cameras in digital converter boxes? No.

Wired's Kevin Poulsen explores a strange and clever hoax: the claim that DTV converter boxes contain a hidden camera and a microphone, to enable companies and the state to watch you in your homes. The buzz surrounds a brilliant YouTube video (below).

Here's another video busting the hoax. It's awful quality, but there if you need it to sleep.

[#1 posted by strider_mt2k , February 24, 2009 6:50 AM]

Well that sucks.
Good thing I can get my money back.

I had a few well picked words for the government...or whoever.

;)

[#2 posted by dculberson , February 24, 2009 7:18 AM]

Picture me givin' a damn, I said never!

[#3 posted by Trnck , February 24, 2009 7:27 AM]

There IS a camera in it. You just can't find it 'cause it's made by NASA or something lol

[#4 posted by Jonathan Harford , February 24, 2009 8:16 AM]

Also a lot of people don't know the significance of those blue cylinders in the background!

COSTSAVING TIP: Every DTV converter box actually contains 32 AA batteries!

[#5 posted by sanity , February 24, 2009 8:20 AM]

COSTSAVING TIP: Every DTV converter box actually contains 32 AA batteries!

Truth.

[#6 posted by Moriarty , February 24, 2009 8:30 AM]

Why would they need to do that, if they already put nano-spybots in the drinking water? That's why I only drink rainwater and pure grain alcohol.

[#7 posted by smellison , February 24, 2009 8:42 AM]

The Wired article mentions that it has even spurred conspiracies involving "mind control experiments." I was pretty sure that they had already exposed that one, and that it was called "TV."

[#8 posted by alowishus , February 24, 2009 8:59 AM]

NO! Spying on this guy was key to the whole operation! Now we'll never infiltrate the proles!

[#9 posted by randalll , February 24, 2009 10:50 AM]

Come on, sheeple! WAKE UP!

ha ha ha

[#10 posted by Scuba SM , February 24, 2009 11:07 AM]

There is a time-honored solution to this situation, one that goes back to the earliest days of humankind...

When in doubt, KILL IT WITH FIRE!

[#11 posted by Pip_R_Lagenta , February 24, 2009 11:19 AM]

The YouTube vid that you link to, busting the hoax, was made in extreme low light. What is the point of videoing that thing using the lighting from Christmas tree lights? No, really! What’s up with filming in the dark?

[#12 posted by bowlerhatdinosaur , February 24, 2009 12:07 PM]

I'm going to have to agree with #11. I stopped watching because I couldn't see a damn thing.

[#13 posted by Clay , February 24, 2009 1:19 PM]

1. Launch an insidious but really boring conspiracy involving vast sums of money and global macroeconomic systems.

2. Drum up interest in a ridiculous and fake conspiracy involving the most important thing in consumers' lives, their TV sets.

3. While the populace is focused on step 2, continue with step 1.

4. Profit!

[#14 posted by freetardzero , February 24, 2009 2:04 PM]

I for one, welcome our new DTV Converter Overlords.

Signed,
Winston Smith

[#15 posted by semiotix , February 24, 2009 2:52 PM]

I'm the last person to spread evil gummint conspiracy stories, but I'm willing to bet that there's at least one FCC middle-management type who's hearing these stories and thinking, "Damn, why didn't we think of that?"

First they put fluoride in the water, and I said nothing because I wanted healthy teeth... ;)

[#16 posted by ultra uytuytuyt , February 24, 2009 10:18 PM]

Oh, so they got to you too, eh?

[#17 posted by Ugly Canuck , February 25, 2009 6:41 AM]

no camera/mike, but they know which channel you are viewing.

[#18 posted by Gutierrez , February 25, 2009 7:42 AM]

If they really had tiny cameras in them I'd buy one to pull it out and use in my own projects. With the coupon it would be a cheap component source.

[#19 posted by Rick. , February 25, 2009 8:18 AM]

@#2: Fight the power.

[#20 posted by umgrego2 , February 25, 2009 8:22 AM]

does the narrator sound like crispin glover to anybody else?

[#21 posted by steelball , February 25, 2009 9:30 AM]

@#2 & #19 - Best obscure reference ever! I just listened to that album the other day.

Public Enemy - It takes a nation of millions to hold us back

[#22 posted by Anonymous , February 25, 2009 7:28 PM]

before i post this on facebook, why am i the only one on the comment board who is thinking/expressing "I Knew It!"?

[#23 posted by MrC , February 25, 2009 11:58 PM]

This reminds me of the stories when closed caption decoders became mandatory in US TVs.

There was a contingent of the tinfoil hat society that insisted the CC decoder was a secret spy device to watch you while you watch TV....