| Naked Edison Chen and Friends Light Up the Web |
| Written by Our Correspondent | |
| Sunday, 10 February 2008 | |
|
Page 1 of 2 A scandal over racy pictures in Hong Kong proves that obscenity laws are ineffective In June 2007, according to media reports, a Hong Kong actor and singer named Edison Chen took his pink Apple Powerbook laptop into a Central district computer shop called eLite Media to be repaired and inadvertently set off a firestorm that has rippled across the city into China and well beyond. What happened next has demonstrated beyond any doubt the complete inability of anything besides a society as closed as Burma to police the Internet, and rendered Hong Kong’s colonial-era obscenity laws irrelevant, as well as raising questions over everything from intellectual property theft to police overprotection of media stars to the morality of the territory’s Cantopop stars. Whatever else it has done, it has preoccupied Hong Kong’s media to a remarkable degree and presumably galvanized Internet users in one of the world’s most wired cities into a full-on chase for celebrity smut. The 28-year-old Chen is one of Hong Kong’s most popular entertainment figures, having appeared in 25 motion pictures since 2000, including the immensely popular Infernal Affairs series, and recorded seven albums. In his naughty little pink laptop were an estimated 1,300 photos, many of them allegedly depicting Chen in various stages of in flagrante delicto with at least seven* female celebrities. An employee of the shop spotted the photos, said to have been taken between 2003 and 2005, and copied them. From there it was but a short trip to the Internet, to the presumed embarrassment of Chen and certainly the women, some of whom cultivate a public image of chaste cuteness. In the process, a lesson has been delivered: be careful what you film because it will appear on the Internet. The pictures first started to appear on the Internet on January 26. The story has since raced across all of Hong Kong’s newspapers and magazines and onto the web, with the Wikipedia narrative of Chen and his friends Cecilia Chung, Bobo Chan and others helpfully posting an extract from Google Trends showing the popularity of Chinese-language searches mounting into the tens of thousands for the various parties. Chen, a Canadian-born Chinese who dropped out of Hong Kong’s International School before starting his acting career, hurriedly decamped for Boston while issuing public statements apologizing to his fans and pleading with “everyone to stop forwarding the images on the Internet” so that “the innocent can rebuild their lives.” He was reportedly dropped from the cast of a new movie on Feb. 6 because of the scandal. But it was the reaction of the Hong Kong police that was most startling. In a city where casual obscenity, barely concealed prostitution and vulgarity abound, the reaction seems more in line with busting a serial killer or going after triad bosses. The force mobilized a team of at least 19 officers, according to the Assistant Commissioner of Police, and assigned them to crack down on the dissemination of the nude pictures, going after local Internet service providers to eradicate all traces of the photos under the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance, a British-era law that provides for fines of up to HK$1 million and imprisonment for three years for “Publishing or possessing for the purpose of publishing an indecent article without complying with the statutory requirements.” Too late. The story had already metastasized to China, the United States and anywhere else with access to the Internet as websites started publishing the pictures. Rangoon might be safe, since the generals in Burma do not allow any form of free speech. Like governments everywhere, Hong Kong has been unable to define obscenity beyond Article 4 of the ordinance, which describes “obscenity¨ and “indecency” to include “violence, depravity and repulsiveness,” recalling US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s phrase defining obscenity in his 1964 concurring opinion in Jacobellis v. Ohio. Stewart famously wrote of smut, "I know it when I see it.” The court pretty much left it at that, as has Hong Kong.
Comments
(18)
 written by Entertainment Tonight , December 31, 2008
Happy New Year 2009 !
Votes: -5
We are waiting for a surprise in new year. report abuse
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 written by aloyah , February 29, 2008
Must See !
Votes: +16
Click Now To See The Latest Collection of Edison Chen Sex Scandal Movies and 3GP Movie Clips for your mobile phone http://www.aloyah.wordpress.com Hope you enjoy ! report abuse
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written by aloyah , February 29, 2008
Must See !
Votes: +9
Click Now To See The Latest Collection of Edison Chen Sex Scandal Movies and 3GP Movie Clips for your mobile phone Hope you enjoy ! report abuse
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He probably read the secret sex technique book by the italian author Gianni Venice. It's called "lasting longer and harder". Gianni shares his secret advice to keep an erection longer and harder. check it out under lulu.com/giannivenice
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 written by an american proud of china , February 20, 2008
Hey, lets compare this to paris hilton. Do you think it is better for the children of the world to see people get rewarded for sleaze (whether they intended to release the vids/pics or not)with movie and tv show contracts, fame, fortune,etc or as in China for society to rise up with one voice and denounce all people involved and make sure their careers fade into obscurity. Which is better for the children that make up the future society?? the answer is crystal clear. oh and shame on us....lets learn something from China
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what the...
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http://hotcelebrityscandalnews.blogspot.com that's too small ya know... report abuse
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 written by PP009 , February 17, 2008
Seems like world all hates Edison. I Disagree. He didn't point a gun to any of those girls to be involved or take pictures. Those girls who willingly spread their legs and bent themselves over all did it with smiles. They're all old enough to be their own judge and know that if you take any sort of pictures, they can be leaked out and who knows who will see it. IF you take pictures like that then expect the worse outcome. Second of all why are people hating? Not like they dont watch porn or have sex. They all have kids, and some spread their own legs last nite. When the girls took those pictures they basically should have thought of the worst case scenario. As for Edison, good job buddy, you're a pimp!--HK and the rest of asia needs to evolve and catch up to hollywood. Sex tapes and photos are old news and just lame scandals for publicity. Life goes on! You all are horny bastards out there, so what's wrong with having sex, some are just less discreet about it. Hahaha!
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so far there is no video released, but edison is scared of going back to hong kong as news reported.
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Yo, it's realy funny)))
Votes: +2
I found in the web video with her, i think you should look at her boody http://vsj-news.com/video.php?vid=mandy_chen report abuse
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 written by Maggee , February 16, 2008
the scandal is very overrated highly publicized, couldn't agree more.
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MORE HERE report abuse
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 written by scandalous , February 14, 2008
i dont think he meant to let this happen either i mean this totally ruined his career and he is now blamed for everything...everyone hates him even more than the person who originally stole these pictures and posted them... the media should leave them alone. this is very normal between young couples especially in the states... why are people saying he is wrecked and the girls are whores now??? everyone could just leave them alone this guy is probably gonna get killed/ or kill himself soon.....
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 written by MouMing , February 11, 2008
it is up to 11 females? I cannot keep up with. so many possibilities.
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 written by nameless nobody , February 11, 2008
I guess you have to remain within certain bounds, being a journalism site... but you could have gently hinted at just who and what Albert Yeung really *is* and why young Edison had very good reason to head for the hills in a hurry.
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"with at least 11 female celebrities"-- this has been widely published on all Hong Kong local newspaper and magazines. And does Edison Chen really feel sorry for the sex photo scandal?
Votes: +4
Look at the specially made video, he didn’t really mean to make an apology, what he is doing is trying to get rid of the trouble for the future when the starlets are going to sue him for money as he is careless about keeping the photo as showing off to his friends. here's a hot debate over his video: http://www.littleoslo.com/eng/home/?p=115 And now the photo of his current girl friend Vincy Yeung is leaked too, what do you think? Everyone says Edison is in a deep trouble… that’s why he had to leave Hong Kong ASAP. report abuse
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The person drawing a comparison to Paris Hilton would you PLEASE think about what you are saying. These woman were already famous. Ad do you actually know the number of people that unintentionally or unknowingly become involved in such scandals. You better look out for a secret camera while you are having sex. There are apparently no efficient privacy laws anymore.Stop suggesting that these peoples posed for public attention. I am sure that they are all super naive and unknowing. If they knew it could ruin their career would they have done it? If they knew they images can just leak and there is apparently no effective law- would they have done it ? I think not!!!
Oh and please people get over people having sex. It is always regarded as super dirty but how did out world population end up at 7 billion?Because thats what people do all the time! Do these people have to loose their career over sex? Its the Asian government too concerned over their image ,or what is the reason? Or is it the conservative Asian population?Surely these are very capable people , why do they have to loose their lives over this? I am sure many of these girls were suicidal after this . I hope that somebody will go to jail for ruining their whole life. I hope even more that the public stop ridiculing people for sex, and regarding it as indicent when they do it everyday!I Its just such a hypocritial as well as outdated way of thinking I feel.