In one of the more bizarre happenings in recent memory, the FBI has now stepped in to investigate the claim that a school has wrongfully used the ability to remotely control student webcams.
Student Blake J. Robbins is suing LowerMerionSchool District in Philadelphia allegedly remotely activating his webcam. The remote activation of his webcam was exposed when student Blake J. Robbins was disciplined for "improper behavior in his home" by the Vice Principal, who provided a photo taken by the webcam as evidence.
The school confirmed that it has the ability to control the webcams, but that the capability has since been disabled in response to the recent issue.
The AP reports that the FBI is now investigating the matter to see if LowerMerionSchool District officials broke any federal wiretap or computer-intrusion laws.
Also revealed in the story is that LowerMerion issued an Apple laptop to each of its 2,300 students. Supposedly only two employees in the technology department were authorized to activate the cameras in the event of a missing laptop. The remote activation is only supposed to capture images, but not sound.
Now things are about to get even more bizarre. Robbins' attorney said on camera that the boy was caught on the webcam handling Mike & Ike candies, which could be mistaken for illegal pills.
We have a feeling that this is far from over.
