Defcon 15: Undercover reporter flees
I'm guessing this was pretty widely reported, but an NBC undercover reporter fled after being outed in the opening session. NBC Dateline associate producer Michelle Madigan refused press credentials on four separate occasions, choosing instead to pose as a normal attendee in order to covertly film other attendees. Defcon has a long running tradition of playing"spot the fed", where attendees out people they think are federal agents. The feds play along and it's all good fun. This was entirely different though: the game "spot the undercover reporter" was announced and she fled immediately, only to be filmed "To catch a predator" style.
I may just be a blogger, but I'm wearing my press pass proudly.
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Reader Comments
(Page 1)2. "this is for all those helpless predators"
Posted at 1:53AM on Aug 4th 2007 by monster
4. yeah as long as one of the parties being recorded is consenting adults then it's perfectly legal. as for how she thought she could get away with that, come on it's defcon these are not stupid people you're around.
Posted at 3:39AM on Aug 4th 2007 by Marc
5. Okey if this girl would be working for me and she would do this work and just fail at this simple undercover task i would fire her ass, i mean come on!!! just pretend your and enthousiastic journalist.
Yeah ok it is not nice to be a "predator", but hiring hackers i mean what the fuck, you guys could make lots of money. Lets say if the feds hire you, work with them get some stuff you normally woudnt be able to get and leave.
You know some of their secrets and you know how they work, whats the bad part???
Posted at 3:39AM on Aug 4th 2007 by hahaha
7. I love how major media outlets feel the only way to report "news" is by sensationalizing it. Rather than trying to take an objective approach to things and report what Defcon is all about, they instead chose to try and prey on the general populaces ignorance and fear. "Ooooooh scary hackers trying to blow up the world!!!!!!11!! more at 10"
Posted at 6:44AM on Aug 4th 2007 by userjjb
8. The funniest part was all the heavy breathing picked up on the camera as they struggled to keep up with a walking woman.
Posted at 12:03PM on Aug 4th 2007 by Sam
9. love that persons laugh at the end
Posted at 1:22PM on Aug 4th 2007 by rob
10. Tonight on Dateline NBC "When Nerds Attack!"
Posted at 1:26PM on Aug 4th 2007 by DL
11. The laws about consent to record conversations vary state to state country to country
Carrying a hidden recorder is not always allowable even by an undercover reporter, or an undercover cop.
That said, the press have quite a bit of leeway in the courts, if the story justifies the need for subtifuge.
Posted at 1:44PM on Aug 4th 2007 by john
12. Couldn't she have just pretended to be an enthusiastic geek that loves hidden cameras? She kinda gave herself away.
Posted at 2:19PM on Aug 4th 2007 by Ryan
13. HAHAHAHAHA that was the coolest thing ever! what was she expecting? a large group of people with above average IQ's all convening for the same reason and she thought you guys were going to be stupid enough to not notice her?
I love how you guys really turned the tables on the new media! Good Job.
Posted at 7:17PM on Aug 4th 2007 by Dismal
14. reminds me of:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=DNO6G4ApJQY
Posted at 9:45PM on Aug 4th 2007 by The Samurai
15. lol, awsome, serves her right for underestimating them
I gota get to defcon next year.
Posted at 10:05PM on Aug 4th 2007 by Wolf
16. To #14,
and to think, I actually wondered why hackers have such a bad name...
Just sounds like a bunch of selfish assholes trying to justify their own lack of morals.
Oh scary, they can hack your mySpace page, wow, I bet you they've got the mad skillz to drive around beating up little girls too.
Posted at 10:38PM on Aug 4th 2007 by Wolf
17. I don't think there are many laws prohibiting recording in a public place--and even fewer statutes that prohibit video (even if it includes sound!) Most of the laws protect private, not public, conversation.
No one would buy video cameras if using them in public was illegal. And the press has the same rights to take photos/video as any shmoe.
However, any organization sponsoring a public event has the right to prohibit taping/video (which Defcon clearly does NOT do--given the dozens of cameras present.)
There are certain municipalities which try to prohibit video of police officers, etc., even in public (or on private land by the land owners.) But I'd expect those laws to be challenged.
What happened here really was that the Defcon group felt that the reporter was likely to do a typical network hack job on the report, and misrepresenting herself in order get fodder for the network. There was no illegality involved, merely distaste for 'Dateline' style 'reporting methods.'
Yep, that's one funny video...the fact that the audience members used the same hack 'ambush journalism' technique is very cool!
Posted at 10:42PM on Aug 4th 2007 by gmoon
18. It's good these kind of things get taken care of.. ..it looks like she was actually very upset in there.
More details on how she was found?
Posted at 8:44AM on Aug 5th 2007 by Alcoholic007
19. In regards to wiretapping, it depends on the state. Some states are "anti-wiretap" which means all parties have to be notified that they are being recorded, other states are "one party" which means only one party of the conversation needs to know about the recording.
If she's in an anti-wiretap state, someone should teach her a legal lesson, and seeing as how each person she recorded could be a separate felony charge against her, well let's just say it could be interesting to see how she and NBC try to make good.
Posted at 9:29AM on Aug 5th 2007 by ehrichweiss
20. @ehrichweiss:
By definition 'wiretapping' means tapping into private communication. Those laws don't apply to public communication.
There may be other laws that prohibit photographing/video of a minor, etc. And there are uncounted instances of police using convenient laws like 'inferring with an ongoing investigation' to try and prevent someone from taking video in a public place (the police generally lose those cases, if they are challenged..)
Also, many private companies/public municipalities aggressively try to control all information, sometimes because it's embarrassing, often because it's proprietary or potentially lucrative.
For an event like Defcon which is 'voluntary', organizers have the right to set the rules of attendance, and eject whom ever they like. Her threatened ejection (she left voluntarily) had nothing to do with privacy laws...
Posted at 10:57AM on Aug 5th 2007 by gmoon
1. That's what she gets for underestimating the clever minds at DefCon.... btw, shouldn't she get court cases out the wazoo for being bugged, last time I checked that was illegal.
Posted at 1:20AM on Aug 4th 2007 by SpAz!1