Hidden Spy Camera & Mic Found Inside Digital TV Box

Im just presenting the article and video.
Im on the fence as to what i think,so im putting this up for you guys to decide.
If this is true,than 1984 is here!

(PrisonPlanet)-A popular video circulating on You Tube shows the discovery of a spy camera and a microphone hidden inside a digital TV converter box. Such devices are part of a government and industry surveillance program that is undoubtedly connected to the forced digital TV switchover being rolled out in the UK and US.

www.prisonplanet.com...

"A popular You Tube Video"...

There is no way to know who put that camera in there.

Maybe somebody wanting to make a "popular you tube video"

reply to post by elevatedone


I agree,it is possible.
Does anyone have any blue prints of the device?

Its kinda fool hardy to just brush this off cause its a Youtube video.

There's one way to find out folks. Get them screw drivers out and start your bodging. About that video, if true, that's some freaky stuff right there I don't want to even begin to understand.

Do you really believe this? What purpose would it serve for the government to have a camera and mic in a digital TV box? All they would see is people staring at their TV scratching themselves. What useful information would they get from this. This is a hoax to get everyone to crack open their digital converter boxes.

However since I am paranoid and do not trust the govermment I am going to open one of my converter boxes when I get home later this evening just to make sure..

[edit on 2/18/2009 by Erasurehead]

Ill say this for the 400th time here on ATS.

Converter boxes have no way to transmit a signal

but why is that you ask? a converter box hooks up to your antenna. you might have rabbit ears, you might have a larger antenna on the side of your house, which in my experiences works ALOT better. those setups are the only ones in which you actually need a converter box.

antennas work GREAT in picking up a signal, but it is not physically possible for them to TRANSMIT a signal without MAJOR altercations, meaning they can read, but not write. even if they have a camera and mic, who would they send that info to? i see they didnt find a Wifi card in there, which would be the ONLY way to get the video from the box.

----------------------------

If you ask me, a CABLE BOX is a far more likely candidate for Spycams because it interfaces directly with a feed from a larger cable provider hub.

The video is bogus.
My observations:

1. It appears the camera is mounted onto a transformer. I'm not an engineer, but I would imagine putting a sensor so close to a transformer would not be a good idea.

2. There appears to be no 'window' for the camera to see through. When he removes the front facia, you can clearly see a round "window" in front of the IR sensor. I could not see one where the camera was.

He bought two of the digital boxes , and only spoke about finding a device in one.


Are there others ?



Is it possible that the camera and mic are in the boxes with some later web/cam internet surfing application planned for the future ? ... unlikely i suppose.

Finally a conspiracy I could test myself! I just took apart the same exact model ,also purchased from walmart, and there was NO camera or microphone. So let me be the first to say, HOAX!!!

Ah damn and I thought that was for my remote control to flip thru the stations.

reply to post by Razor1


Thanks for testing this and giving feedback.

reply to post by elevatedone


FYI My father is a senior man at intel right now, when the tivo box was being tested and developed in the r&D Lab it was confirmed that there was an adio input device and a color camera in the unit. The manufacturer had installed it based on the blue print provided to them, the reason sighted was for testing observation puposes, ie how idividuals reacted and used the tivo system. Here i where it gets wierd, after all the r&d was done and all the system bugs were worked out aT INTEL the box went into mass production, a few weeks later when the unit for purchase was sent back to intel for final verification, and retesteing just prior to product launch in the consumer sector, my father's cheif guy in the lab came to him very upset, and dishoveld, teling my father qoute TIVO CAN WATCH AND HEAR YOU!!!
He was completely shocked and frantic, you see they never removed either device from the units as the camera and mic were supposed to only be for the initial prototype testing phases. In closing the gentleman no longer works for intel, my father recieved a memo stating tonever mention these facts and that the man who had stubled on to it, the head of rd for this project had tenderd his resignation. I swear to this story and completely belive my father as he has been involved in tech contracts fro every one from mcdonald douglas to the us airforce and NSA. So I find it completely plausible that the converter box is a observation tool of the elite copr money mongers and also the government. To [put it inot perspective, what do you think you could learn about some one if you were able to view and hear themwith out their knowlage in their comfort zone, or think of what all you did and said in you living room last night.

Why would they need an antenna to transmit? Satellite box transmit information about pay per view movie purchases all the time through the satellite link and your phone lines. Who knows what new technology is out there that we have no knowledge of..

And as BeyondBelow asked, do you remember what all you discussed last night in front of your own cable box? I'm sure some of it you wouldn't want repeated outside of your home.



[edit on 18-2-2009 by LLoyd45]

It is possible they can watch when the box is not on. It's still plugged in. Perhaps they are trying to get dirt on you so they can use it against you at a later point they need to.

There is actually product line development for set top boxes to be used as "home video conferencing."

Company's like Comcast are bundling their services into one box which provides your internet, cable tv, and phone service. They're trying to take it step further and allow you to do video conferencing right from your TV as well- one stop shop really.

Now I suppose "they" could be using this for spying, but honestly I think it's just kinda cool and certainly there is a demand. I dont see how this is any more dangerous than a webcam built into your computer. But I'm sure someone will educate me otherwise.

I believe this to be true.

Its just a matter of time for others to take apart their boxes and take pictures for evidence. The more people that do this the more evidence we have to confirm or deny the existence.

Thank You BeyondBelow for sharing your story. I would not be surprised if it is true.

Beware!

We have many paid agents crawling around here on ATS that will deny this and try to convince you that its all bull. In saying that:

Razor1,

Your going to have to show us pictures of your box as proof of what you say. But even then how do we know that you did not remove the camera or photoshop the picture to not show the camera.

Only time will tell on this one.

Much of the data from Neilsen is low-resolution in that they never know how many people are actually sitting in front of the TV. They complain about this alot in the world of million dollar TV advertising and "impressions".

So I mention this simply because it provides an easy fob-off excuse to stupid engineers who have not any grasp of conspiracy. They might see a camera on the blueprint or schematics and ask what's up and then they could be told, "Oh, that's just for neilsen customers who opt-in for it. They need to know exactly how many people are watching a particular show." ...There needn't be any other explanation to the stupid; they'll buy this reason.

Even if this one's a fake, and even if another one just like it doesn't have a camera, this disproves nothing because the veils which hide this sort of tech from the public. Also the non-questioning mind of well-paid and obedient engineers means that these kinds of things can be done. Even if it's only 1-in-100 that gets the camera package, it's practically irresistable and as I mentioned, deniable/explainable.

Oh and I didn't even watch the video because it doesn't matter for the reasons I mentioned above.

The point is for everyone to be like Gene Hackman in "The Conversation" where he must know if he is being surveilled or not. He essentialy rips the whole house apart. Such paranoia is self defeating, but perhaps it's also theraputic? I say rip everything apart and you will find cameras and bugs.

But what then?

Originally posted by drsmooth23
Ill say this for the 400th time here on ATS.

Converter boxes have no way to transmit a signal

...erm, telephone lines?

Second line........so it is

IP

I saw this on Myspace to lol. I think its a hoax.. I mean, its in myspace

Originally posted by InfoProvider

Originally posted by drsmooth23
Ill say this for the 400th time here on ATS.

Converter boxes have no way to transmit a signal

...erm, telephone lines?

Second line........so it is

IP

My converter box doesn't have a telephone line but my computer modem has a bunch of led's but not all of them work so maybe everybodys modem has a camera