back to article Russian jailed for 6 years for smutty billboard stunt

A Russian man has been jailed for six years for putting smut on a streetside video billboard. Igor Blinnikov, 41, hacked into the systems of an ad agency 3StarsMedia in January 2010 in order to stream images of hardcore muck onto a billboard on the busy Garden Ring road, close to the Interior Ministry building in central …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    lucky

    In the UK he'd probably go on the sex offenders register for exposing children to pronz, and a long ass prison sentence.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Apparently Russia has almost caught up with the USA

    in terms of the proportion of their population that is in prison. You can see why, if that's their idea of a sensible punishment.

    Still, they're letting him out in time for him to prepare a similar stunt involving any giant screens that will be used during the World Cup.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      WTF?

      It occurs to me...

      ...that sentences like this aren't about proportionate punishment as much as reminding people that embarrassing 'establishments' (be they government, corporate or otherwise) will not be tolerated. *sigh*

      I remember when life was fun... What happened?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        from experience

        I should mention that the outdoor advertising market in Russia is heavily criminalised and is characterised by high levels of corruption, being (as it is) concerned both with physical control of territory and with local government planning/regulation issues.

        Not saying anything against the company which owned the billboard in question, as I know negatve nothing about them - just pointing out that a (perceived) attack on an industry in which senior political/administrative figures have an interest and a thousand humiliating press stories can provoke a completely disproportionate result, as happened here. A relatively skilled person is banged up at public expense, not paying tax, and will suffer years of imprisonment in colonies with a terrible rate of TB, HIV and sexual assault. It was a stupid and antisocial thing that he did, and he should have been punished, but the punishment here does not fit the crime.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What?

    "a year before Russia is due to host the World Cup"

    Non-sequiter?

  4. Sir Runcible Spoon

    Sir

    20g is only just over 1/2 ounce. In the UK, unless this was bagged up into 1/8th's it would be considered percy. How draconian is Russia? What's the limit to be considered percy?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      @Sir Runcible Spoon

      To be pedantic: 20g is nearer 3/4 an ounce than "just over half" (28g to an oz so = 0.71 oz)

      In the UK you can go down for 5 years for personal possession. Granted you probably won't unless you are a serial offender but you try playing hardcore loving on a public billboard, getting caught with 20g of pot and see if the UK filth let it go as personal use.

      Also, you can go for 14 years for giving some to your mate, even if they don't pay you anything.

      Might want to think about all that before accusing other countries of being draconian.

      1. Sir Runcible Spoon

        Sir

        Blimey, I wasn't actually in the market for any and it's close to 1/2 than to 1, so up yours :P

        I didn't know about the 5 years for personal, so I consider myself educated on that point.

        Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition, except on here of course :)

      2. Sir Runcible Spoon

        Sir

        Whilst we are on full pedant alert..

        "Might want to think about all that before accusing other countries of being draconian."

        I actually asked a question if you care to read my post again. No accusations. Perhaps an inference, nothing more.

    2. Citizen Kaned

      actually

      its almost 3/4 of an oz. oz=28 grammes (or 4 2p coins :))

      i guess most people dont know their weights any more. hence the shit deals many people seem to be happy with.

      i agree though - harsh penalty for a few nights weed!

      1. Dan 63
        Happy

        wow

        It's been a long time since i weighed anything with 2p coins...

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Very, especially on cannabis

      Russian criminal gangs have long learned to create concentrated forms of THC, both natural (collecting pollen) and artificial (various extracts). The sh*t they bake out of it is rumored to be at least as addictive as heroin if not more.

      As a result cannabis is not viewed as a "soft" drug there because where cannabis goes, the boosted stuff usually follows.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    So, what got hacked

    Sounds like it was the ad-server that was attacked. Presumably it was set up so that ad agency could easily change the ad that was running if someone paid a bit more to get their advert shown at prime time.

    Hmm, wonder how Sky's ad server is configured? Could you get something like that broadcast across the whole of Europe from the Astra birds?

    Paris, well it's obvious ain't it !

  6. DAN*tastik
    Thumb Up

    Same guy who did this?

    Maybe just a digital ( can i say non anal-ogical? )

    http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/831458-giant-penis-protest-hits-st-petersburg

    1. frobnicate
      Headmaster

      No, this is an "art"

      group "Voina" ("War"). Incidentally, they also ended up in a jail (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12645902).

  7. This post has been deleted by its author

  8. Mr Grumblefish

    It was probably a Ron Jeremy clip

    Anyone exposing RJ's naked body to the world deserves serious porridge.

  9. iMess
    Joke

    Hmm..

    Quite a stiff sentence. No srsly. Straight up.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @Lee........

    You may want to factor in that Russians probably go to Prison both as and for punishment. I doubt very much your Russian jail is going to be as nice an establishment prefixed with HM.

  11. The Real Tony Smith
    Joke

    Blimey!

    What would have happened to the guy who sculpted the Wote Street Willy in Basingstoke then?

    http://www.basingstoke.me.uk/lgwillie.html

  12. HMB

    Sloppy Seconds

    It always amazes me how people who can figure out how to do stuff like that sometimes manage to leave a trail right back to them.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Yeah?

      Just go and read some of the comments on encryption on The Reg's article about the BA software engineer who just got sent down. They're prime examples of bight people not understanding that they're not good enough at that particular subject to understand that they're not good at it.

      Or look at Jamie's celeb school (or whatever it's called) Lots of very bright people, PhDs etc not realising that because they know how to learn, they don't automatically know how to teach.

  13. lerietaylor

    stupid..

    You would think with such a lofty sentence in the balance he would have chose to put up something more useful than some pron he watches everyday. I bet he didn't even hack into it, I bet he simply had the login info.

  14. JeevesMkII

    28.8bps modem.

    "What are you, stoned or stupid? You don't hack a billboard across state lines from your house, you'll get nailed by the FSB. Where are your brains, in your ass? Don't you know anything?"

    "Stupid, man. It's universally stupid."

    1. David Barrett

      HAHA

      Not seen that for years!

      Angelina Jolie .. MMMMNNNN

  15. Johnny Canuck

    This is not a title

    Here in Toronto, one of our billboards at Yonge and Dundas (aka the centre of the universe) crashed a couple years ago. Displayed on the screen was good old Windows 98 with pcAnyware in the task bar. This was in 2009!

    1. LaeMing
      Happy

      Now THAT...

      ... is an offesive image!

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Joke

      Re:

      So how stiff was the sentence for that!?!

      Don't tell me this was covered-up and the culprits escaped justice!

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