Barbie Is Now Pedo-Friendly

[ABMorales787]

The Barbie Video Girl Doll ($50, Mattel, for ages 6 and up) looks just like a regular Barbie, but a closer look reveals a camera in her pendant, and a postage-sized color screen on her back, peeking through her blouse.

“Creepy!” said nearly every boy I showed her to; “Cool!” said the girls, who immediately got the idea of the toy — to make movies from Barbie’s point of view.

Powered by two AAA batteries (one in each leg), the doll can record up to 30 minutes of Webcam quality AVI video, with a three-button interface. You can watch your recordings on the doll’s screen, but with no sound (“Hey — there’s no sound!” the testers complained). Or you can transfer them to your Macintosh or Windows computer by way of the included mini-U.S.B. cable.

Because the doll can be posed, she doubles as a pretty good tripod. One problem: We drained two sets of batteries by accidentally leaving the recorder on. Mattel estimates just over an hour of recording time per set.

This is not the first time engineers have been given the challenge of packing Barbie’s figure with technology. Michelle Chidoni, a spokeswoman for Mattel, said Barbie has been accessorized with speakers, motors, fiber optic clothing and an impeller-pump designed to push glitterized fluid through special wings.

Today, her 256 MB of onboard memory can capture any sight or sound your child desires.

Seems like a very unique and cool toy for kids to play with. Right? Well this little article from Puerto Rico managed to find the darker side of things:

Spoiler

"Barbie Video Girl, un posible método de producción de pornografía infantil". Con este título, la sección californiana de crímenes cibernéticos del FBI ha enviado un despacho de alerta internacional, en el cual advierte de los posibles riesgos que conlleva la Barbie Video Girl, la gran apuesta navideña de Mattel.

Esta muñeca lleva pantalones estrechos, un vistoso collar y un atrevido chaleco brillante. La novedad consiste en el objetivo de la cámara que lleva en el collar y en la pantalla LCD en color, colocada en su espalda en lugar de la mochila. De ese modo los niños pueden usar la muñeca como una verdadera cámara, tal como reza la publicidad, y ver lo que están grabando.

La muñeca tiene un cable USB para descargar los vídeos, que pueden alcanzar los 30 minutos de duración, en Internet y conectarse a la web para editar y retocar las imágenes con herramientas exclusivas.

En resumen: el juguete perfecto para las Navidades, si no fuera por la sorprendente alarma lanzada por el FBI. La agencia de investigaciones estadounidense teme que los pedófilos puedan utilizar la atractiva muñeca como cebo para víctimas inconscientes.

La reacción airada de Mattel ha llegado en un comunicado donde se reitera que su prioridad es la seguridad y el bienestar de los pequeños usuarios y que no se ha dado ningún caso parecido al imaginado por el FBI en ninguna parte del mundo.

También la sucursal española de la empresa ha confirmado que la polémica Barbie con cámara está teniendo una excelente acogida. "El año pasado no tuvimos problemas en retirar del mercado unos juguetes que no satisfacían nuestro riguroso control de calidad, pero en este caso no existe el mínimo riesgo y no hay motivos de preocupación", indicó a este diario Víctor Palacio, responsable de las relaciones con la prensa de Mattel España.

La muñeca, que en Estados Unidos está nominada al premio para el mejor juguete del año 2011, en España se lanzó emplazando a las niñas a participar en un concurso de vídeos en Internet para ganar el título de intrépida reportera de Barbie.

En su 51 años de vida, Barbie, además de haber sido compañera de juego de millones de niñas, ha protagonizado algunas polémicas y ha servido de inspiración para sucesivas generaciones de artistas, desde la mirada sofisticada de fotógrafos de prestigio como David Levinthal hasta la aproximación irónica de jóvenes creativos como E. V. Day con sus Barbie momificadas, Roberto Roseano con las Barbie Suicide Series y Jen McCreight con su Atheist Barbie.

I apologize for it being in spanish but I couldn't find an article in english. Here's what it says in english (my words):

"Barbie Video Girl, a possible form of child pornography." With that tile the California wing the FBI's "Cybernetic Crimes" (?) sent out an international warning regarding Mattel's Christmas released doll.

The doll sports a nice sparkling jacket a collar long pants. But the dolls novelty lies in the camera contained inside. Just like the marquee says, allowing children to record with a real camera in the collar as well as an integrated LCD screen located in a backpack attached to her back.

Videos can be uploaded to computers and the internet via the dolls USB capabilities.

Mattel claims that the idea is for a secure and fun doll and claim that there has yet to be such a case of child exploitation reported like the FBI warns.

People in Spain, claim the same.

The doll is nominated in the U.S. for "Best Toy Of 2011". While Spain has issued a contest in which girls record themselves and attempt to be reporters using the controversial doll.

Through her 51 year history, Barbie has been the best friend of little girls worldwide. But at the same time it has inspired many suggestive forms of "artistry". From the sophisticated look presented by prestigious photographers like David Levinthal to the ironic interpretations of people like E. V. Day with his "Mummified Barbies" to Roberto Roseano and his "Barbie Suicide Series" and Jen McCreight and his "Atheist Barbie". (You're kidding me)

In the newspaper version of the article, many people from Puerto Rico were asked about the dolls and they responded with rather negative thoughts. "Why does a doll need a camera" was one that stuck out for me. I mean, really. With all the stuff carrying cameras these days, like phones and such and regular cameras being easy to access, why put it in a freakin' Barbie doll? You could say, there's no real difference, but there is. The camera is all her's. It belongs to the girl owning the doll. Not the parent. Yeah, maybe it's a bit ridiculous, I mean why would a kid be allowed to play with a camera unsupervised. The FBI implies the possibilities of child pornography and I'm pretty sure a lot of people are gonna ask"who do you pull that one off?" Well, let's face it. In this day and age, for every responsible adult, there are 12 idiots with kids. We've seen teddy bears with webcams used to spy on people. Now Barbie can do it too.

Thoguhts? Agree? Disagree? Atheist Barbie?

 

[Ultra Awesome]

I did a bit of googling right now on this barbie girl doll shit and I could not stop but laugh when I watched a video where they showed a press release of the Barbie Video girl doll in which it stated: "Lights, camera Barbie. Everybody’s favorite fashion doll Barbie is going under cover this summer with the introduction of new Barbie video girl. Featuring a camera video in her necklace, unsuspecting subject won’t know that Barbie is watching their every move."

Seriously. "Unsuspecting subjects won’t know that Barbie is watching their every move"? They straight out tell you right there how this so-called innocent toy can be used and for what it IS going to be used for.

I guess, ideally, what these guys had in mind when they made the toy was for a girl to jizz her pants knowing that a Barbie doll would have a video camera in it – and thus, make the ultimate toy for little girls. But when you start to think outside of the box, you begin to see how easily this Barbie doll could be manipulated into being a tool for pedophilism. Let alone the simple logic of: Why in the world would you give a little 6 year old girl a webcam? What purpose could they have for it? Yeah, nothing.

It's true what they say: People will do anything to get money…even invent pedophile toys...

 

[DirtyJosé]

Why not come down on candy as simple tools for pedophiliacs? This is actually already old news over here. And it's not a big deal. It's a fucking camera. It's not going to make people into sex offenders. It's not going to change girls into webcam ****s. I'm actually waiting for any sane explanation as how this presents much of threat than simply being a cool techy-ish toy.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I think its a cool idea, I would have loved my Action Man figures to have a camera in so I could film the battles between the good guys and Dr X, but that technology wasnt around then, sadly.

99.999% of people who use this will just be using it for genuine fun, but sadly it todays' society there will be freaks who use this for sexual reasons. Its pathetic that we even have to consider something like that, and in the vast vast majority of casies it will not be an issue. But, it just shows the world we live in, with people using cameras/webcams/the internet to take advantage of little kids that this sort of thing even has to be discussed.

Sad really, as little girls could have a lot of fun with a Barbie with a camera, but these things have to be considered which is a damning reflection on our society, caused by a tiny percentage of fucked up weirdos, who deserve their balls cutting off.

 

[ABMorales787]

Why not come down on candy as simple tools for pedophiliacs? This is actually already old news over here. And it's not a big deal. It's a fucking camera. It's not going to make people into sex offenders. It's not going to change girls into webcam ****s. I'm actually waiting for any sane explanation as how this presents much of threat than simply being a cool techy-ish toy.

It doesn't change the fact that there is a general concern over it and that Mattel simply says that "nothings happened yet". Like the description says, it makes for a nifty tripod and it's not the first time we've seen toys used in such a manner. It reminds me of those wired teddy bears. Normally something thats used for security purposes has been incorporated for more inappropriate use like spying and stalking and such. Maybe it's not something that happens commonly, but it's something that can happen and that is pretty much aided by a major toy company.

 

[DirtyJosé]

It doesn't change the fact that there is a general concern over it and that Mattel simply says that "nothings happened yet". Like the description says, it makes for a nifty tripod and it's not the first time we've seen toys used in such a manner. It reminds me of those wired teddy bears. Normally something thats used for security purposes has been incorporated for more inappropriate use like spying and stalking and such. Maybe it's not something that happens commonly, but it's something that can happen and that is pretty much aided by a major toy company.

It's a camera. If I cover an otherwise normal camera with a pretty pink bow and some glue on googly eyes, is it now a danger? What I'm getting at is that no real extra danger exists that wasn't already there. There are a 101 ways to hide a camera that are more effective than relying on one built into a Barbie doll. And a pedophile setting up a hidden cam is going to set up that cam whether it's a Barbie camera or not. How is this Mattel's fault?

 

[#hamler]

What the fuck? People tend to overreact to the dumbest stuff these days. Having the police or FBI warn parents of a fucking doll with a video camera inside is ridiculous.

So a pervert wanting to use the Barbie to capture some child pornography would have to go through a lot, just to see maybe two to three minutes of children undressing or whatever. First, the pervert would have to get the doll to the child. 2. Make sure that it's somewhere with a good view. 3. Hope the child engages in activities that the person finds arousing. 4. Get the barbie back from said child 5. Watch the footage which may take a good while.

If a pedophile/pervert wants this, they're not going to use a Barbie which you can obviously see the hole in the Barbies torso. Instead, they can go to ebay and search "spy camera" for something the child wouldn't even be able to see. They're pretty up front that it's a Barbie Doll with a video camera inside it. It isn't that big of a deal. Until they make a shower Video Barbie which you can play in the tub, I'm not so worried about it.

 

[LSN80]

Why not come down on candy as simple tools for pedophiliacs? This is actually already old news over here. And it's not a big deal. It's a fucking camera. It's not going to make people into sex offenders. It's not going to change girls into webcam ****s. I'm actually waiting for any sane explanation as how this presents much of threat than simply being a cool techy-ish toy.

This right here.

Look, creepy teenage boys arent going to stop being creepy teenage boys, and girls are going to continue to be ****s. Pedophiles will continue to be pedophiles, irregardless of the vehicle that is used. On the same note, a doll isn't going to turn a normal human being into a pedophile. It's too simplistic a read into human behavior, to be honest. A doll isn't going to make someone they're already not, nor is it going to change them into something they aren't already.It's just another vehicle, nothing more. This isn't going to change a normal 12 year old girl into a ****. I see no problem with this doll whatsoever. You said it, Killjoy, 12 year olds have camera phones these days. And they spend plenty of time with those, unsupervised. This Barbie doll is and will be irrelevant to determining behavior until miserable parents make it into more than it is. Technology. Anyone who thinks otherwise is thinking way too hard here.

But this is really, really funny!