Leaked videos: WHO IS TO BLAME?

Female singing duo Four-Mod were filmed secretly while taking a shower at a hotel in Khon Kaen last year. The video clip was reproduced onto thousands of video CDs available at underground CD stands and found its way into cyberspace almost simultaneously.

Not long after that, Thai audiences were stupefied by TV star Sarawut "Aon" Martthong's explicit online video clip featuring his "private activity" in the bedroom. His lost mobile phone, which he used to film himself, was partly to blame.

Early this year the World Wide Web again spread a clip of a cat fight between two female students and also another one showing high school students busying themselves with oral sex in the back row on a bus.

Such are only a few examples of people falling victim to clipsters - prying clip shooters who are keen not only to make money but also to make one person's private business everyone else's. Their victims are not just celebrities but also anyone who, unfortunately, fails to protect his or her own privacy.

According to Ladda Thangsupachai, director of the Ministry of Culture's cultural surveillance group, the production, distribution and download of explicit video clips has become part of the sex trade, not just a social trend these days.

"Nowadays many internet entrepreneurs only think about how to make a profit. They only want to generate high incomes and member registrations. They do not care about morality or negative impact on the society at large," Ladda comments.

The leaked video clip industry, the director continued, has become one of the more lucrative businesses among many internet service providers. Despite the fact that people are well aware that it is an unethical practice, clip-makers are proud to provide while many internet users enjoy downloading, viewing, saving or forwarding the explicit footage. The question is why?

"When it comes to online content, sex and violence are most appealing to human beings," says Sombat Boongamanong, president of the Mirror Foundation.

IT Watch, a centre that monitors technology-related crime and danger, has conducted a survey on a community website over a period of one year. According to the statistics, on average there are almost 300 posts of explicit video clips and pornographic photos per month. In some months, the number rises to over 400 posts.

The statistics also state that in only one day there is an average of 13 posts, while some days the total climbs to 40.

A message hidden in the statistics is that a large number of internet users in fact consider sex-related content merely as a source of entertainment and they apparently have a good time watching and sharing them. Worse, footage that is the talk of the town will become the most sought-after item in no time.

Speaking from a legal standpoint, however, Ladda and Sombat are both of the opinion that the production, reproduction and distribution of explicit video clips, regardless of the media channel, is considered a crime.

"Some internet service providers may argue that there is a grey area between crime and freedom. They may wonder why the production and distribution of video clips is illegal, because to some extent it is a freedom of internet users to do things in the cyber world. Of course there is a grey zone. But for me, such video clips are considered a crime, specifically when they are those presenting, first, children being sexually abused; second, people who are filmed secretly; third, rape scenes; and finally leaked personal footage of any person," Sombat remarks.

"These four types of video clips, to me, are in the black zone," he adds.

According to the Mirror Foundation's president, the spread of explicit video clips goes hand-in-hand with the development of technology. As technology itself is a double-edged sword, those who are victims of clipsters are actually victims of technological advancement, be it video recorders, mobile phones, digital cameras, the internet, to name but a few.

Prior to the era of digital technology, people who wanted to make and disseminate video clips were required to have a lot more equipment than those in the present day. Techniques for file duplication were limited, thus sharing porn video clips with the like-minded was not easy.

Today camera phones play an extremely significant role in the making and leaking of explicit video clips: Most people have one and it is very simple to use. Also computer-savvy clipsters have a lot of know-how to restore even already deleted files from any gadget. The file restoration techniques go so far that a file in a personal computer can still be retrieved even if it is deleted. Once the clips are brought back, they eventually end up on the internet where anyone can have access to them.

"It is important to remember that when your personal video files are uploaded to the internet, there is no censorship," Sombat warns.

And for the clip-makers themselves, where there is demand, there is supply. An incredibly large number of internet users, Sombat says, are in fact loyal fans of porn video clips. This may sound untrue but, like it or not, many of us are too ashamed to admit that one of the things we do on the internet is search for leaked video clips and have fun watching them.

In the online community, video clip producers and posters gain sincere acceptance and appreciation from those who watch the footage. "For them, it is the community of sharing," Sombat remarks. "If somebody ever dares to blame or criticise them by claiming an ethical stance, that person will be condemned and severely disapproved of."

"They [video clip makers] often say that they have done nothing wrong. They like to raise a question such as 'If nobody likes to watch video clips, will clipsters still want to sell and spread them?' I think they say so just because they want to save face, and it is an unreasonable excuse," Ladda adds.

While self-absorbed clip shooters still insist on hanging on to their thirst for making money by letting out leaked video files, at the same time every one of us should be more careful and protective when it comes to any "activities behind closed doors".

"Filming or recording one's sexual activity is not regarded as a freak action as long as the couple is happy with it. But it is crucial to bear in mind that this is not a risk-free action," Sombat comments.

The director of the cultural surveillance group expresses a similar point of view. Those who shoot themselves should be fully aware that there is a high chance that their personal movies can be leaked and be made public.

"It is not wrong if you as a couple film yourselves and watch it yourself. But once somebody steals and distributes it, then it is a crime," says Ladda.

But in the world today, where danger can be anywhere on the street and where more often children become targets of intrusive clipsters, families and schools must take immediate action to protect the children from being harmed by those who want to take advantage of them.

Parents should exercise their rights to protect their own children. They have the right to monitor and to take care of whatever their children are up to. Schools can also help raise awareness and create a better understanding regarding the dangers of cyberspace and of technology if used in an illicit way.

Although it seems like there is yet a practical and effective solution to solve the problem of the spread of leaked video clips, Sombat says that for now the best weapon against the crime is people's attitudes towards and reactions against such malpractice.

"When people receive and view sex-related video clips, many of them even act as a media channel by forwarding the clips to other people. They do not care how the people in the clips would feel or how much they suffer. So I think this matter is all in the hand of internet users. Once they receive a clip, they must think twice about what they will do with it: Save and forward it, or ignore it," Sombat concludes.