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UK Taxpayers Footing the $500K Bill for PlayStations in Prisons

U.K. Tax-Payers Buying Playstations for Prisoners
One would think that when you go to jail, luxuries like PlayStation and Xbox would have to be left behind, but quite often in the UK, video games are finding their way into prisons, sometimes on the British taxpayer's dime.

A recent audit of the Prison Service found that it had spent £221,726 (almost $432,000) on consoles and video games for prisoners. Most of the roughly 13,000 consoles found in the country's jails were paid for by the inmates themselves, but 1,700 were purchased with taxpayer money.

The program has turned into a bit of a scandal and officials are already taking steps to quell the furor. Spending on video games and consoles for prisoners has been frozen and all titles rated for 18 and older only have been removed. The revelation that hundreds of thousands of pounds have been spent on entertainment at a time when rehabilitation programs in prisons are struggling for funding has many up in arms. As one British Justice said "Offenders should be learning and preparing for the world of work, not idly playing Grand Theft Auto and preparing to return to crime." [Source: Daily Mail]

UK Prisons Restrict Video Game Use

nintendo!

Prisons in the UK and Wales banning prisoners from playing any video games rated 18.

The ban accompanies a group of new restrictions placed on an increasingly overcrowded prison system. Now, only those who show good behavior or who are suicidal will have access to video games, but they have to purchase the gaming consoles themselves. The Prison Reform Trust stated that video games were "no substitute for purposeful activity like work or education classes." Well and arrogantly said, ol' chaps!

We get it, they are trying to implement a system where good behavior is rewarded and bad behavior is punished. Seriously, though, how much of an incentive/punishment is this really? You have an environment that is overcrowded and full of career criminals. They spend every day either in fear of their life or fighting to protect it. Drugs are rampant, violence is the norm, and each jail is rife with corruption. Yes, let's take away their video games.

That'll show 'em. [Source: BBC]







Cassettes Still a Big Seller in Prisons



One music retailer in California has cornered the music cassette sales market. Big deal, you say? Well, it is when you consider that, in jail, digital music players are useless and CDs are dangerous contraband. But, for some reason, cassette tapes and players are allowed, which means that millions of people in this country are forced to use an outdated method of music distribution that many labels no longer cater to. That's why Bob Paris of Pack Central started stocking up on cassettes a number of years ago and has developed a burgeoning business that caters specifically to the incarcerated.

While the rest of the music industry struggles to stay afloat, Paris's business has remained flat with more than a million dollars in sales for the last five years straight. "I have dodged every conventional bullet that has hit most music retailers," Paris told the New York Times. "I don't have to worry about downloading, legal or illegally." [Source: NY Times]

Cell-Phone-Sniffing Dogs Unleashed on Jails

Cell Phone Sniffing Dogs Unleashed on JailsOne of the most problematic items of contraband that are sneaked into prisons are cell phones. More than drugs or weapons, cell phones cause headaches not just for the corrections officers, but also for law enforcement on the outside. With a cell phone, criminal masterminds can continue to direct actions outside the prison walls and have unmonitored communication with potential suppliers of additional contraband. Cell phones are even sold and rented by prisoners for sky high prices.

But in Maryland, prisons are fighting back with a trio of dogs trained to smell out cell phones instead of drugs. In a recent demonstration for the press, two dogs were charged with finding cell phones stashed in cells. In all but one of the trials, the dogs tracked down the phones in under 30 seconds.

Like drugs and people, cell phones have a unique scent the dogs are trained to pick up. Even so, it's still more difficult for dogs to sniff out a cell phone than, say, a brick of marijuana, 'cause phones just aren't that smelly.

Gosh, being a prisoner just keeps getting harder -- first they took away their pigeons, now they're taking away their cell phones. You'd think they did something wrong. [Source: Washington Post, Via: Textually]

Video Game Victory Call Leads to Gamer's Arrest

Video Game Victory Cry Results in ArrestIts easy to get excited about video games, especially when playing online. After a long, difficult match against tough opponents sometimes you just want to jump up and proclaim your success to your friends. But, if you do that, be careful how you phrase that statement of greatness or you might find yourself in a very real jail.

29-year-old Thomas Ballard of Delhi, Louisiana had just ended a marathon gaming session victoriously and called a friend a little after midnight to gloat. He told his friend "I have killed them all" and, apparently, not much else. His simple statement scared the friend enough to call the police who, using caller ID, determined who had made the call and went to investigate. Ballard explained that he was just talking about a video game.

Here's where the story gets even more interesting: In the process of checking out the scene, the officers determined that he was wanted on a 5-year-old warrant due to cocaine possession. He was promptly taken into custody.

So, game as hard as you like and feel free to celebrate, just watch who you share those celebrations with -- especially if you're on the run from the law.

From The News Star

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Porn Spammers Get Prison Time

Pornographic Spammers Get 5 Years in Jail

About the only creature lower on the totem pole than the nefarious telemarketer is the spammer. With these creeps, you can't even take solace in the fact that they're only doing their job, which is why it fills us with a sick sense of giddiness every time one of these obnoxious mass-e-mailers gets tossed in the clink.

The latest bozos to get nailed for filling our In-boxes with junk e-mail are Jeffrey A. Kilbride, 41, of Venice, California, and James R. Schaffer, 41, of Paradise Valley, Arizona, who should be spending roughly the next five years for e-mailing graphic porn images advertising hard-core sex sites. Anyone who received the e-mail was able to view them.

Kilbride was sentenced to 72 months behind bars, while Schaffer will be spending the next 63 alongside him. The difference in sentences is due to Kilbride being charged with obstruction of justice for trying to prevent a witness from testifying against the duo. Otherwise both men were charged with sending spam messages with forged headers and domain names, conspiracy, fraud, money laundering, and obscenity -- all under the Can-Spam Act.

In addition to their jail sentences, Kilbride and Schaffer were fined $100,000 and ordered to pay $77,500 to AOL (Switched.com's parent company). They also had to cough up $1.1 million in illegal proceeds.

Anything that prevents more spam from coming to our In-box is a-okay with us.

How about you? Do you think these guys got what they deserved, or is the sentence too harsh? Let us know.

From Information Week

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1,000 Cell Phones Smuggled Into CA Prisons

Inmate Swallows Cell Phone
Cell phones are dangerous, not because of radiation or electric fields, but because they can help prisoners organize. In the last year, the state of California has confiscated over 1,000 mobile phones from prisoners, and one can only guess how many are still in circulation.

Law enforcement officials are afraid that inmates could organize simultaneous riots in all of the state's 33 correctional facilities, or hatch an escape plot via text messages or the internet.

Having a cell phone can also be very lucrative for a prisoner, potentially more lucrative than drugs. Inmates can rent the phone to other prisoners for up to $20 for 5 minutes. A perk of this business for the inmates is that it's not a felony, so if they get busted (again), there will likely be no additional jail time.

That said, selling drugs does have one advantage: Its hard to look slick trying to inconspicuously palm off a Nokia N76.

From Textually.org

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