Czech art group to stand trial for putting mushroom cloud on TV

CNN Europe reports that members of a Czech art group are in trouble for hacking a television broadcast and inserting a phony video of a nuclear explosion.

On June 17, viewers of a Czech television channel watching a Web cam program monitoring weather in various Czech mountain resorts could see a nuclear explosion taking place in the Krkonose or Giant Mountains in the northern Czech Republic.

Link (Via Spluch)

[#1 posted by C-DUB , January 4, 2008 1:56 PM]

The Mooninites had no comment.

[#2 posted by ill lich , January 4, 2008 2:14 PM]

". . . charged last month with spreading false information. . ."

Hmmm, too bad we don't have that law here in the US, we could impeach Bush AND put Rush Limbaugh out of business.

Interesting bureaucratic dysfunction, the National Gallery of Prague gives them an award and cash prize, the state prosecutor brings charges.

And what? NO charges for the actual HACKING involved?

[#3 posted by jeffjonez , January 4, 2008 2:19 PM]

You use the laws you have to oppress the people. I doubt the Czech's have hacking laws on the books... yet.

[#4 posted by Moon , January 4, 2008 2:37 PM]

Oh, come on.

Did they put the CalTech guys in jail for changing the Hollywood sign to read "CalTech"?

[#5 posted by Brian Damage , January 4, 2008 2:43 PM]

"... and face up to three years in jail if convicted..."

"the project was awarded the NG 333 prize for young artists by Prague's National Gallery together with a cash prize of 333,000 koruna"

Weird things come in threes.

[#6 posted by Cowicide , January 4, 2008 3:13 PM]

The CNN article is pretty sparse... here's more info:

Link to alternative article

Snippet:

Ondracek alleges they tampered with equipment at the station to achieve the effect.

The Prague-based Ztohoven group called the project Media Reality and said it was a commentary on how easily the media can be manipulated.

"It drew attention to the possibility of using images of the world created by the media in place of the existing, real world," the group said in a statement posted on Facebook.

"Is everything we see daily on our TV screens real? Is everything presented to us by the media, newspapers, television, internet actually real?"

In December, the Ztohoven group became the first winners of the new NG 333 prize for young artists from the Prague National Gallery for the project.

A third party nominated them for the award and they attended the awards ceremony incognito.

...And here's more via this article.

Snippet:

"We are neither a terrorist organization nor a political group," a statement by Ztohoven said. "Our aim is not to intimidate society or manipulate it, which is something we witness on a daily basis both in the real world and that created by the media. On June 17 2007, [we] attacked the space of TV broadcasting, distorting it, questioning its truthfulness and its credibility."

They had climbed a TV tower and hacked into the weather camera and broadcast cable with a computer. They also inserted a Web address for Ztohoven in a corner of the screen.

Finally, here is the full statement made by the art group translated to English from their myspace page. For good measure, here is their homepage forum. I didn't find them on facebook, however.

[#7 posted by gquann , January 4, 2008 3:26 PM]

Does anyone have some background information about what happened because of this hoax?

While I think this hack was very cool, I'm also wondering about potential downsides. It wouldn't be so cool if someone died of an heart attack because he thought the third world war was starting...

[#8 posted by Cowicide , January 4, 2008 3:42 PM]

> #7 posted by gquann Does anyone have some background
> information about what happened because of this hoax?

I don't know, but I bet Boston authorities would have imploded on themselves in panic and declared marshall law before even looking out the window.

[#9 posted by Village Idiot , January 4, 2008 6:04 PM]

That would be the TV equivalent of a zen master whacking you with his enlightenment stick. What an intense moment it must have been to see that without any warning- like, whoa dude, wtf?

[#10 posted by Squashy , January 4, 2008 6:18 PM]

It seems to me that, rather than showing people how easy it is to use television to present people with a false reality (the mushroom cloud), the insertion of the mushroom cloud actually creates a more accurate sense of reality than the calm normality of TV weather.

It's no bad thing if people are occasionally reminded that, by golly, there are certain individuals that have been given the power to quite quickly and effectively end all human life in an automated, mechanical process.

And people think Islamic terrorism is scary? Man, back in my day we were scared of global thermonuclear war, which beats bombs on trains and hijacked planes in the terror stakes any day. And even though people aren't really so scared of that any more, it's worth remembering that hey, all those ICBMs are still out there, ready to roll. Just say the word, chief.

[#11 posted by raisedbywolves , January 4, 2008 9:10 PM]

stupid. These people didn't do anything wrong, besides embarass the tv network.

Here's hoping their young artists grant more than pays for any court expenses!

[#12 posted by asuffield , January 4, 2008 10:11 PM]

Contrary to popular belief, the mushroom cloud does not indicate a nuclear explosion, but merely any big explosion. Their most common cause is volcanic eruptions.

[#13 posted by Fortyseven , January 5, 2008 12:20 AM]

Well, at least they didn't interrupt Doctor Who. :)

[#14 posted by gquann , January 5, 2008 2:40 AM]

Contrary to popular belief, the mushroom cloud does not indicate a nuclear explosion, but merely any big explosion. Their most common cause is volcanic eruptions.

Interesting, I didn't think that would be the most common cause.

In this case, however, the presence of long lasting blinding light and later on some interference would seem to me like a sure sign of an atomic explosion. (if it wasn't fake anyway) :)

[#15 posted by myzipis02139 , January 5, 2008 10:20 PM]

stupid. These people didn't do anything wrong, besides embarass the tv network.

You must be kidding. Making people think that World War III may be starting is incredibly cruel. It's a clever hack, but they need to think about the distress this caused people.

[#16 posted by airshowfan , January 6, 2008 8:46 PM]

I guess people are no longer fooled by the "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast...