Bloggers behaving badly: Gizmodo messes with CES flat screens

By Rafe Needleman – January 10, 2008, 2:25 PM PST

The Gizmodo kids pulled a good stunt at CES: they fired TV-B-Gone remotes at walls of shiny new monitors on display and during press conferences, much to the displeasure of booth staffers.

No colors anymore.

(Credit: Gizmodo)

The video is funny. The ramifications of prank will not be. The CES organizers only grudgingly gave bloggers press credentials to the conference, and even then kept them segregated into a working lounge that was a step down in amenity and luxury from the "press" lounge and work area. This prank will not endear the blogging class to either the CEA, which produces CES, or the companies that paid dearly for the right to occupy CES floorspace and show off their products.

I would not be surprised to see Gizmodo banned from the show and possibly sued by either the CEA or the companies its bloggers harassed. For journalists (in my mind, all bloggers are journalists), legal and constitutional protection does not extend to mischief or sabotage. Publishing news reports, opinion, and satire are protected acts. Physical interference is not.

I asked Gizmodo publisher Nick Denton if he was going to fire the Gizmodo crew for their prank. "No," is all he said in an instant message. He did not reply to followup questions.

Gizmodo added this apology after the post first ran, but I don't think it will mollify the victims.

It was too much fun, but watching this video, we realize it probably made some people's jobs harder, and I don't agree with that (Especially Motorola). We're sorry.

There are other likely outcomes of the prank. From now on, no one with an infrared-controlled device at a tradeshow is going to leave it exposed. A few tabs of black electrical tape will thwart TV-B-Gones. Beyond that, as our security expert Robert Vamosi said about this incident, expect TV manufacturers to think seriously about building encryption into their remote controls.

Category: Content and publishing Tags: CES 2008, flatscreens, video, bloggers, TV-B-Gone

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by OneEyeGuy January 10, 2008 3:10 PM PST: While there will be repercussions because of what Gizmodo did, I think it's hardly as bad as it's been made out to be. Television manufacturers aren't going to change anything -- it'll take more effort than it's worth.; Reply to this comment View reply
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by JoeDuck1 January 10, 2008 3:41 PM PST: Good observations here Rafe, though my angle is that the press was complaining because bloggers lounges were nicer and they were initially not allowed in. I understood that bloggers were allowed in press room and the bloggers lounges. On balance nobody could reasonably complain about the treatment from CES here - rather the interesting story is the Gizmodo pranks and whether the good food and parties mean the blogs lighten up on crappy products. I think the prank will be a *huge* issue for sponsors and CEA, coming as it does after a well written but bogusly scathing and questionable critique of CES. People pay thousands to come here and sponsors tens of thousands. You don't have to respect companies to respect people. These guys want respect as journalists? This is crappy, lame, high school BS and it's going to ruin the good will for many bloggers here.; Reply to this comment View reply
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by jalarmo January 10, 2008 4:35 PM PST: Oh get over yourselves. They turned off TVs. Don't try to make it something it's not.; Reply to this comment


by rafe January 10, 2008 5:20 PM PST: @jalarmo When I first saw the vid I thought it was hilarious. But what they did was akin to heckling. Childish and disruptive. I have to sympathize with the poor folks whose presentations were derailed by this.; Reply to this comment


by jhaggard1 January 10, 2008 6:31 PM PST: Amazing is all I can say. Amazingly stupid for leaving IR ports exposed and amazingly stupid to bring attention to yourself for pulling a stunt that a 7th grader would be embarrassed to call original.; Reply to this comment


by jalarmo January 10, 2008 8:20 PM PST: It's childish and embarrassing, but *this* article makes it sound like they were having Guitar Hero delivered to the the homes of registered sex offenders. Stupid? Yes indeed. Federal friggin hate crime? N-O.; Reply to this comment View reply
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by madjo January 11, 2008 6:33 AM PST: Come on! Encryption in remote controls? Do you really think that would work? Sure, in the US the manufacturers could hide behind the DMCA then (though certainly questionable, and might make your brand highly impopular), but that law is not in effect in other countries. All these people did was turn off TVs, as childish and interruptive as it is, it's hardly a criminal offence. And certainly not hacking. Just tape over the IR ports on those TVs and you're done.; Reply to this comment


by tinyhands January 11, 2008 9:02 AM PST: Nobody at Gizmodo is even old enough to drink legally, so who is really surprised that they pulled a childish prank? They got their junior pilots wings on the plane, so now send them home.; Reply to this comment


by casf1900 January 11, 2008 11:15 AM PST: Motorola should hit them with a denial of service Site-B-Gone and see how Gizmodo feels about it.; Reply to this comment


by TomMariner January 11, 2008 1:39 PM PST: Since the Gizmodo folks feel it is OK to interfere with other's business maybe someone should hack their site repeatedly and take it down. Gizmodo depends on information from the very folks who they attacked. How stupid do you have to be to risk your entire franchise for a technical assault. By the way, we are all assuming it was a prank. Are we sure they were not paid to sully sales pitches by competitors? Yes, CES -- not only no more Gizmodo, but no more bloggers in their honor.; Reply to this comment