Viewer Prank: Police Raid Justin.tv

The right stuff for tv. Congrags.

Oooh, sounds like the guys at Justin.tv are NOT happy about this post!

Personally, I don’t find any of the pranks from the audience amusing — and neither should you, Michael. I don’t know about you, but I personally wouldn’t want the police drawing their weapons on me just so some sick f*ck can get a chuckle.

Justin and his crew are using Justin.TV as a proving ground for technology they’ve developed, and just because the general public is invited to view their lives doesn’t mean it’s an invitation for distasteful — and potential harmful — pranks.

Don’t play with fire, Michael, because given your visibility, you could encourage others to repeat similar pranks. Let’s not join the ranks of the psychos calling the police and ordering pizzas. Instead, let’s appreciate what this is all about: new technology that can be adopted for mass consumption.

Ronald - consider my hand slapped.

(but I bet you watched the video)

“I’m not very technical, I just shoot people.”

Very poor to see the emergency services’ time wasted in this way. People die every year because of things like this.

“All of this was shown live to hundreds of amused viewers.”

At this rate Nielsen will have no choice but to start tracking Justin.tv. Viacom look out!

Ow! My tax dollars!

At first I thought someone dressed as a cop and “raided” the Justin.tv shack. But this prank is so WRONG.

Oh come on now….lighten up. That is hilarious and it is publicity for their site too. At first, I thought they may have even known about it. Probably not the last prank that will be played on these guys. Does anyone have other ideas for pranks?

Re: bdb

Yes, call Homeland Security and tell them that Justin is harboring a dirty bomb.

Okay before anyone jumps on me…I am JUST KIDDING.

What’s funny about calling the emergency services for by the boredom of some idiots and potentially risking the lifes of people who cannot be helped, because some prank-morons are being served at this time?

Have those Justin.tv-idiots drive one whole day with the fire department or the police and see, if they understand their “fun” at the end of the day.

It’s not hilarious when these departments are played on. I wish they could find other forms of entertainment to amuse themselves.

Yeah, that’s not exactly a prank, it’s more of a crime.

I still think that it is pretty funny to see the police barge in on a bunch of half awake geeks.

It’s just so amusing to celebrate the abuse of city emergency services.

Yeah, it’s funny But.. perhaps it’s time for the US to develop some telecoms standards so that pulling spoofs like this is impossible and that all numbers are trackable. At least, that’s how it works here (admittedly I only know this because I wanted to pull a April Fool’s trick on someone ;-))

It isn’t a case of “lighten up”. Emergency Service time is valuable. A video of some fool(s) wasting that time and putting lives in danger (drawn guns) is just not amusing. And to have it done twice - ridiculously stupid.

“The best so far?”… well done for publicising this and giving other morons the idea - exactly how many copycats are we expecting now?

“Does anyone have other ideas for pranks?” Here’s one…cut halfway through the cords on a parachute and jump out at 10,000 feet. We’ll all have a hoot watching to see if you make it down with your pants dry. How funny would that be?

“Instead, let’s appreciate what this is all about: new technology that can be adopted for mass consumption.”

Frankly I can think of a few web trends over the past 10 or so years that I wouldn’t have minded being shut down by the cops.

I don’t think it is funny this was done, but I did find the part whee the guys were like “uh, yeah, hi, can I help you?”

Guys, These Justin.tv guys are playing you! They wanted publicity, and they are getting it…have you considered that they may have spoofed the number themselves?

**Bob

going to repost David’s mention of the transcript…

“I’m not very technical, I just shoot people.”

ummm, i’m not okay with that SFPD statement. i love my city but damn.

So your blog is comfortable covering dangerous pranks on a site that only appeals to folks with no life? What’s next? Live DNA tests for Anna Nicole’s daughter? Are you forgetting your audience or is this content actually reflective of your target?

What kind of camera/technical setup does this guy have? Anyone know?

mountain - I write about what interests me and let the rest sort itself out.

Michael,

I’m sure this *is* very funny to you, considering you make over $100,000/month and can afford your own private nurses, hospital room, and care, but for us “normal” people who rely on the police and medical departments, things like this can mean life or death to us. I demand you write an official apology, in a NEW POST, to all of us with whom you’ve offended.

I smell a setup … the justin.tv guys appeared a little un-surprised. They probably did it so they could get coverage like this.

There must be a way to convert feeling guilty about emergency services and time wasting into positive action, like watching the video (I did) then donating cash to the San Francisco police department ( I’ve got as far as sfpd.org but can’t find a donate button).

Jaquater - Ok, I’ll do that. keep checking back at the site until it’s published.

were waiting on that post to be published mike!….lol

I guess he read #4…

I’m not sure, but I think this guy called me a couple months ago. I was too busy to call back but if I had, I would have given him the following advice:

1. If you want to attract mainstream advertisers, keep it clean. I remember my publicist wanting to quit when I turned down an interview from Howard Stern, yet a few weeks later when I landed UPS as a sponsor, they confirmed that had I interviewed on Stern, they wouldn’t have become a sponsor.

2. Sell as much advertising in advance as possible. We sold about $1,000,000 before I entered the house. The next 12 months the “sales” team sold about $200,000. (At the time, we paid Yahoo! about $100,000/month for the streaming video so you can see the problem we had.)

3. Don’t skimp on the video. Use a video camera not a web cam.

4. Find something to build hype. For us, it was Y2K. You would have thought I was plannign to go to the moon. People were genuinely worried that the Internet would go up in flames before I entered the house at noon on 1/1/2000. But since situations like that are once in a lifetime (unless daylight savings time is changed and Microsoft doesn’t patch their OS) don’t expect too much media attention.

5. Partner with traditional media. Invite the journalists to “walk in your shoes” for a day. They have a larger viewing audience and they are too conceited to think you’ll glean any viewers from them.

6. Bands, bands, bands…. Local bands are always looking for exposure (myspace anyone?). More importantly, people always want to find a fresh sound that hasn’t been jaded by the industry which = more viewers.

7. Blog! I had a “Daily Journal” (wish we’d thought to call it blogging) built on a Lotus Domino platform I had created. Fortunately now you can blog with free software and even video blog and interact with your viewers as they blog their responses.

8. Don’t sign with CAA. I was told it would make us more money but it was one of the biggest mistakes I made. They did nothing but prevent me from breaking the actor’s strike in commercials at the time. But what more do you expect from an “interactive media” agency with a website like this: caa.com.

9. Don’t “be the guy” if it’s your idea. Anyone can be the guy but only you can run the business with the passion and integrity it needs. You can’t always trust people to run your business for you. They might not pay payroll taxes they withheld from employees, use their salary to support a drug habit, or spend all the money before you see a dime. Not that any of that happened, but I’m sure it’s possible

10. And most importantly keep it clean. (See #1) There’s enough trash online. You actually will stand out more from the noise with clean, educational, and compelling content. My favorite moments were the US premier of the Wiggles, the launch of eHarmony, and a sunrise service on Easter Sunday by Watermark.org.

PS

Justin-
I’m sorry I didn’t have time to call you back.
Mitch

I think thats really hilarious!
Nice find mike.

And for all the offended ones.
ITS A JOKE!!! Only carried out a few days earlier. Hint Hint…

Hot damn, and April Fools’ day, the only holiday some celebrate religiously — is rapidly approaching

Mike,
Techcrunch traffic killed this site also. It doesn’t load live video anymore. Says site full.

Congratulations, another one bites the dust / fails the traffic test.

You forgot to tell everyone who did it! (both times) Justin knows…

from irc:
[04:20] My IP Relay: exactly what happened qq ga
[04:21] jessicasmith486: i need to report a fire Ma’am
[04:21] jessicasmith486: im trapped in my bathroom with flames coming from the other side ga
[04:21] jessicasmith486: theres no possible way out ga
[04:22] My IP Relay: tell him i ll send the police
[04:22] jessicasmith486: no ? ga
[04:22] My IP Relay: out there and just deal with him
[04:22] My IP Relay: ga
[04:22] My IP Relay: i m sorry
[04:23] My IP Relay: to help now they
[04:23] My IP Relay: will evacuate his building ga

@ Jaquater - You are insane. To claim that anyone can afford not to care about 911 services? I like Mike and I like this blog and I don’t always agree with him but it’s just stupid of you to think that Mike has some sort of private emergency service access or anything of that regard.

To everyone else who is offended - grow up. This is Mike’s blog. Yes, this prank may have been a bit over the top but Justin.tv’s crew should understand this is the only compelling reason to watch.

Remember the problem of start-ups having a target market of TechCrunch readers? Well guess what? Without stunts/pranks like these, Justin.tv’s target market would be even smaller than all of the geeks like us who read this blog. There’s not much that is particularly compelling about a 23-year old Yale graduate eating at overpriced San Francisco cafes, having mundane conversations with founders of other Web 2.0 companies, and lifting his head up while he urinates to keep it G-rated.

Furthermore, it would be smart for Y-Combinator not to completely underfund their start-ups to the point that they crash with 145 users. The site is currently showing rainbow lines.

I respect what they are doing but I think there is no business model here. A couple of problems:

1. Not a Compelling Product - No offense to Justin, but his life isn’t particularly compelling. He’s going to keep it mostly G-rated. That’s boring but that’s the only way for him to get sponsors.

2. Small Target Market - The target market is too small - Web 2.0 entrepreneurs with an hour to burn or bored employees wasting time in the Lingr chatroom that barely functions properly.

3. Sustainability - Justin himself is going to get annoyed doing this. It must be really stressful for him. He’s 23. He wants to be dating, out having fun, saying things that are inappropriate. Even a 40-year old married man would not want to be wearing a camera around at all times. Ali G already taught famous people they have to be careful what they say on screen. They certainly aren’t going to agree to appear on Justin.tv and say some hilarious things. No offense to Justin again, but he’s no Sasha Baron Cohen.

4. No Moat/Defensability - Some claim the real model is to have hundreds of cameras like these. Okay so what? Unless you get a super model wearing these around in NYC and taking it to all of her shoots and parties, no one really cares. Even if this does happen, why would Justin.tv reap the benefits? A smart super model (and yes, they have brains, some of them at least) will have an agent and business manager who will just buy Justin.tv on eBay for $100,000 and plug her stuff into it. Why give Justin.tv a major cut? If the cut gets too high, someone copies them. This is not proprietary stuff by any means.

5. Branding - they named it Justin.tv. That’s great for now, but that allows for no brand extensions and expansion.

6. Revenue - severs crashing at 145 viewers. Ads are likely to turn people off and product placement is not likely to work. The target market here (25 - 35 year old men with undergrad if not graduate degrees and high tech careers) doesn’t pay attention ads - not banners, not TV ads, not product placement, not anything.

7. Lack of True Social Aspect - this isn’t going to spread like wildfire. As I already mentioned, the Lingr chat is cool but chats turn into b.s. very fast and this one is already going that way. Furthermore, Justin.tv is about him, not about you - that’s not very social.

I won’t say cost/expenses because we all know that bandwidth (hardline and wireless) keep getting cheaper so while the model may be negative gross margin right now, that could change.

That being said, good luck to the team. I’d really love for you to prove me wrong and I’d be happy to admit I was wrong

This is bullshit. Fuck those viewers who did this. These geeks wouldn’t last one day at my fire house.

this is an embedded ad for the sfpd.

Good stuff. So they broadcast their lives and phone numbers on the web 24/7 and don’t think that this could possibly happen? Makes you wonder how well the entire concept was planned out in the first place.

After this venture fails why don’t they chronicle the effects of identity theft? Post your social security number and birthdate on a website, then provide your bank account number and pin so users can log in and monitor how fast your bank account is depleted “live”. That’s sure to give ‘em another 15 mins of fame.

“Unless you get a super model wearing these around in NYC and taking it to all of her shoots and parties, no one really cares. Even if this does happen, why would Justin.tv reap the benefits? A smart super model (and yes, they have brains, some of them at least) will have an agent and business manager who will just buy Justin.tv on eBay for $100,000 and plug her stuff into it.”

At least somebody else agrees with me that the only chance in hell anything like this would work is if you strap it onto somebody who is either really interesting to the average person (not Justin, sorry) and/or pretty on the eyes.

As a technology play, there is nothing compelling about having to wear this gear on your head. I doubt that a supermodel, for instance, is actually going to do that. Want to do a show (online or on TV/cable) where you follow a supermodel around? They will have a professional camera crew. And even if they wanted to do this for some strange reason, do the investors in this really believe that the people with resources to create a viable video venture of a similar nature would not be able to put together a setup of their own? The only people who are really likely to use this product are geeks and/or people who will attract a marginal audience (just like Justin). Note to fanboys: many celebrities, models, entertainers, etc. already have reality TV shows. I know, I know. Television will be dead by May 1 and the Justins of the world will take over. But until that happens, I guess several hundred unfortunate souls will be forced to watch a preppy Yale graduate putzing around doing nothing useful and even worse, nothing entertaining.

# Michael Arrington

March 23rd, 2007 at 5:42 pm

I still think that it is pretty funny to see the police barge in on a bunch of half awake geeks.

—

Michael,

Even though I’m just someone who reads your articles and makes comments on occasion, this is the first time I can say I’ve been disappointed — not that this makes a difference, either.

Here’s the idea, in simple terms: You have great influence, so why not use it to your benefit and that of others? Seeing how your own community can behave at times, consider yourself being pranked upon by the TechCrunch community.

Would it be a laughing matter then? It’s one thing to pull off an elaborate joke, but it’s something entirely different when we place one’s life at stake, thus, it’s simply tasteless to find any humor in this — those guys were put at extreme risk for the sheer enjoyment of a sick few.

Lead by example, for you know you have thousands of followers. Be well.

Signed,

Mr. Humility

For those of you who attack Michael for posting this, you must be forgetting the definition of a blog. For a blog you don’t write to please a certain audience. You write what you find funny/entertaining/interesting, and those who agree subscribe and come back to read more. There is no obligation to an audience like other forms of media.

I do find this prank to be pretty serious, and someone could have gotten hurt. It would have been funnier if someone had like 20 pizzas delivered to the house, someone dress up as UPS guy and deliver a friend in a box, etc.

It’s interesting to see such passionate responses on all sides.

ronald and jacaufer - don’t be gay.

drama2 - you’re always right-on.

as for mike and TC - it’s the booommb, lol

Ryan,

While I cannot comment for other posters in disagreement, I can say that my disagreement isn’t an “attack” at all. I respect Michael for what he does, and I do not disagree entirely with this post, but I do find his insensitivity to the prank a little troubling.

Again, everything in the universe is “interesting” and “funny” until we’re subjected to it ourselves. Then, it’s no longer fun and games. I’ve seen Michael attacked several times by the envious and the usual trolls here on TC, and it’s never been an amusing experience.

I too am a blogger, but it doesn’t grant us a license to disregard compassion and consideration for others. If anyone made the wrong move that morning, the SFPD had every right to use self defense given the nature of the call. Think about it, and again, picture yourself in that scenario — it’s far from pretty.

Mike, Apologies for the blantant Plug - though it may be relevant to some

“Debbie Davies

March 23rd, 2007 at 7:01 pm

There must be a way to convert feeling guilty about emergency services and time wasting into positive action, like watching the video (I did) then donating cash to the San Francisco police department ( I’ve got as far as sfpd.org but can’t find a donate button).”

Well, anyone who feels that way can certainly visit Heart of a Hero - an organization Michelle and I started to raise money for Families of Fallen Firefighters by selling a cd of the song I wrote and Michelle sings (Heart of a Hero). Fully produced in Nashville and costing only $6.00.

We also hope to hold more benefit concerts in the near future - our first was help in December and thanks to good friends like Big & Rich, Brooks & Dunn, Aaron Tippin, and many others, we were able to raise over $14,000 for the 5 families of fallen firefighters in the Esperanza Wildfire that took place in October last year.

We’re currently sold out of cd’s, but if you become our friend and write me a note, I’ll put you on the list to be notified when we begin selling them again.

Paul King
http://www.myspace.com/heartofahero
or
http://www.nashvillehype.com

This is _exactly_ what you Americans should be doing to deal with the stress caused by Islamic fanatics and their fcuked up ideologies. I suppose it lets the stressed-out cops & firemen laugh it off a little too.

Reminds me of the Howard Stern show where some asshole was making jokes live about the WTC attacks even as they were underway!

Not a prank.

A boneheaded crime that’ll make our protection services less responsive in the future.

Idiots

I could not agree with Michael more - I too found the pranks amusing.

Of course you guys are right - it is a waste of police time etc - and indeed the thought went through my head as I watched it, as I am sure it went through Michaels.

But life is too short, and if you laugh at it, that is not bad.

This is also Michaels blog, and he is being legitimate and honest, and telling us what he likes and dislikes - respect for that.

He highlighted pornotube the other month - are you are going to get upset about that as well?

He is not a school teacher. As long as he does not break the law, all is well and he can say and highlight what he likes in his blog.

Then it is up to us whether we look at it or not…I know I shall…

Ian

IanG wrote: “He highlighted pornotube the other month - are you are going to get upset about that as well?”

And what exactly does porn have to do with this?

The whole thing’s not a matter of morality, it’s a matter of common sense.

I think it is sad that you’re giving attention to pranks like this that waste the time of dedicated emergency workers, police and firefighters. I was really bothered by your comment:

“The next day, someone reported a fire at the apartment. Six big red fire trucks showed up to deal with the situation. Sadly, this occured off camera.”

“Sadly”?????? I think it’s sad that these guys get of on this stuff, and sadder that you’re publicizing it. And you left out an “r” in occurred.

And no, I did not bother to watch it.

A river of tears flows from this comment section. Yeesh.

Michael

You wrote…

“Ronald - consider my hand slapped. (but I bet you watched the video)”

You have great influence on the net and by linking to this type of activity, you are thereby supporting their actions… I have a friend that works in Emergency Services and he’ll be horried to read this….

Pulling pranks on emergency services is not only wrong, but it’s also illegal.

Michael — If you best friend died because some fool pulled a prank 911 call..

By even linking to this, you are as bad as they are… STOP GIVING THEM PUBLICITY and reasons to do stupid sh$t like this…

Pulling pranks is not “creative”, it shows they will put people’s lives at risk, by breaking the law and making calls to police…

This is not funny and Michael you are just as bad for posting it…..

Your response about it even shows a total lack of regard for people’s lives.

STOP linking to these fools, nothing new and nothing creative… There are tons of other startups that deserve the mention over these clowns.

SPONSORS of Justin.tv — You are subsidizing illegal activity and so is your brand… 911 prank calls are dangerous, expensive and could cost somebody their life… Just plain irresponsible and I hope the local police lay charges……

Seriously, Michael I hope you take your responsibilities of running this website with a higher set of ethics — Read your comments, some find it amusing, most find it troubling that you would even link to something like this…

Maybe they’ll call in a bomb threat next… Funny stuff! Not…..

way to go, assholes -
my grandma died b/c support services were at your place instead of ours saving her life.
fuck you all and please consider suicide

Does anyone else find it odd that he immediately says that someone spoofed his number? I think the first thing I would say is, whats going on? Then he starts to talk about relay calls, when asked how he knows about relay calls he says he just found out about it. Sorry excuse for a person who would abuse the fire and police department to get fame for his site

Wonder how much traffic Mr. Arrington brought in today as a result of this post - $$$$ is the only thing that matters by the looks of it…

Screw the good people that run EMS and the people that need them..

I think I’m going to call in a terrorist threat - that should bring in alot of traffic too … I lost a ton of respect for techcrunch.com today….

Can’t people seperate “wrong” from “funny”?

Yes, it was a very stupid, ignorant idea, and a waste of people’s time, and bla bla bla bla bla…but it occured; and it was really entertaining, so why don’t we enjoy the moment rather than playing moral patrol?

Once when I was a kid, I pulled a fire alarm just to see what would happen… as much as I feel bad about the poor people who might have burned up while the firemen were lecturing me about people possibly burning up because of my false alarm… I can only imagine how bad I would feel if people had really burned up… This kind of crap is funny until… did I tell you about the time I put my mother’s eye out??? Oy Sheeze for Sure !

“Sadly, this occurred off camera”

Six fire trucks show up for this prank and the only thing that you mourn is that it wasn’t captured for your amusement. Pathetic….

It would be bad in any city, but in San Francisco? Earthqukes, narrow, winding streets, traffic congestion. What a terrible prank to pull: the person that perpetrated it should be hunted down and punished severely.

pretty sad day when jerks looking for something to do on spring break create this idea as entertainment. the idea to “spice things up” (prank call the police and later the fire dept) and create more buzz was juvenile and did put others at risk. reading your laissez faire comeback only shows how juvenile this is and how desperate you are for viewers (money). a previous poster was right….why not do something useful or at least take a little responsibility for your actions when you decide to go “live”

Who cares aoout justin.tv? Just a bunch of grad doing nothing useful. That’s why the Indians, Chinese will overtake US in technology and productivity.

Since its on TechCrunch and Michael Arrington has proven to be a fucken idiot over and over again this article can be safely ignored. The worst part is Michael, whom we’ll refer to as the fucken idiot from this point forward, sits there and laughs about the whole thing through out the comments on his site. Perhaps the fucken idiot finds it funny to waste city resources which could be put to better use, but when that fucken idiot needs emergency services he won’t be laughing because the police are out serving prank calls instead of him. I can’t believe that fucken idiot would help promote this type of criminal behavior. Someone tell that fucken idiot that there is a higher respect for people who protect and serve than his stupid ass blog. To sum it up…

YOU ARE A FUCKEN IDIOT MICHAEL ARRINGTON!

What would be great if somebody from justin.tv was man enough to fess up to it with a video apology to all of the people that work in emergency services and how stupid and dangerous that was…

Demanding a video apology should have been the post on techcrunch today, not glorifying the event..

It would be soooo funny if we looked up Michaels address and did the same thing. I’m sure you would be running to TechCrunch to laugh and tell us how the police just showed up at your 20,000 sq ft, $5 million mansion with their guns drawn, wouldn’t you, Michael? No, you wouldn’t, so give these people the RESPECT they deserve and TAKE THIS POST DOWN, AND WRITE A FORMAL APOLOGY.

Filthy sense of humour.

http://www.tekno-world.blogspot.com

While I don’t necessarily encourage the pranks on the guys with Justin.tv, you must admit, that some how, they may not be as made as everyone thinks.

This sort of controversy, at such a young age for their site, will definitely prove to be strong for them. Imagine all of the viewers they have now - as opposed to what they would’ve had if the pranks hadn’t happened.

The pranks, ironically, were doing them a favor.

I agree that this should not have been amusing, peoples lives were dangered in an act of idiocity, now if anything happens at that address that needs assistance its going to be a case of the boy who cries wolf.

all’s fair in love and war…

these stupid, justin.tv geeks had it comming.
though i am kind of surprised how calm they are in this whole ordeal - makes me think it was premeditated by everyone. either way, justin.tv sucks - it’s boring as hell.

mike, these people are just hating on you simply because: they’re jealous they don’t make nowhere near as much as you do on their blogs - lol

Wow, must be something in the air that’s making everyone so stiff. Lighten up people. It’s not like Mike pulled the prank (unless he did, then mad props to him on that), he’s just reporting on something notable that to some geeks in the Web 2.0 scene. It’s not like he’s posting clips of old ladies slipping and falling on ice (which is also funny :P).

If you guys seriously don’t like the content, just ignore it.

Michael.

This blog is obviously much more than a place for you to express what you find interesting. You have created a very profitable channel and I suggest you define and protect what has made this brand successful: providing exposure and commentary on interesting new technology that actually adds value. Find the funny stuff in stories that embrace your brand. Comparing this site to the thousands of other hobbyists that use their blog as a soap box is idiotic; this is a business with accountabilities to your audience. If you feel compelled to indulge in juvenile content, create another brand.

It has nothing to do with being jealous about how much money Mike makes. I applaud anyone who can make a good living online — I’ve been a long-time reader here and love TC…

I’m not a Michael Arrington hater by any means… But, in this case something has to be said about the ethics involved here.

If not justin.tv — what will the next start-up do, when encouraged by the attention this stunt received? Will Michael endorse that too?

If you set a good example by not glorifying potentially dangerous stunts, then perhaps the next startup will think twice before trying to replicate it.

Calling 911, having emergency crews, fireman and police rushing over to protect innocent lives and then broadcasting it - has nothing to do with marketing… When somebody has a gun drawn in my face….

.. and certainly nothing to do with how jealous we are about how much money Michael makes…

Go have a beer.

Quit whining! It was a prank and it was f*&kin funny!

No one was hurt. No one died as a result of the 2 officers showing up at justin.tv. The “prank call to EMS flood gates” have not been opened by this incident or the coverage here.

Please get off your high-horse and go somewhere else if you dont like it. It is not breaking news that this site is operated to generate revenue. Most of us do not come here because the main contributor is a saint.

Go hang out with your lonely brethren!

the funniest part was: “dude, i’m not technical, i shoot people”

Justin TV reminds me of a 2001 site called WeLiveinPublic. It was started by the founder of one of my former companies, Pseudo.

He wired up his NYC Loft with 30+ camera for a few months. The streaming costs were insane back then…

I’ve given this some more thought after reading all these critical comments as well as a couple of private messages saying this is irresponsible.

And I still find it really funny.

here is yet another valuable lesson for the techcrunch kids. character doesn’t count anymore. things must be judged by their entertainment value first. and this story clearly is entertaining for some.

as long as this kinda thing doesn’t piss off the advertisers - why not insert a little jackass 2.0 every now and then?

diverting police attention from serious crimes is funny. FUCKING HILARIOUS!! YOU GUYS SHOULD GET A SENSE OF HUMOR LOL!!1

It would have been funnier if the prankster had placed a bloody knife and two keys of coke in the apartment.

I kid, I kid ;).

Great find Michael. Never a dull moment here on TC. What’s even more interesting than the prank itself…is the comments here. People really don’t get it do they?

If it’s real…good work. Nice prank. And great publicity for Justin.tv

Although, I’m not fully convinced.

Unless you all are watching a different clip than I am. Who’s to say that those are actually police officers? The majority of the video is pointed at the window. The few glances you do see of the police, they look more like security guards to me.

We don’t know. We won’t know. Just enjoy it.

And to those upset with TC for posting this, why not spend some time looking into if there actually was a call made. Emergency service calls are public information the last I checked. I’m sure you can dig something up.

@80 Greg

Good points. If a story like this was posted on a message board, it would be written off as a troll.

Somebody ought to order them a sh!t load of pizzas and have them delivered to them

First of all, I’m not the Jay in 69 and 72 - the only previous post on here was #36 which I made last night.

I’m quite shocked by how high and mighty all of you have become. You sound like the obese girl who is going on a hunger strike until that Sanjaya kid from American Idol gets kicked off. For those of who you who are too geeky and too high and mighty to know how normal Americans find their entertainment - please turn on the TV and watch American Idol. It looks like Drama 2.0 is the only other person on here who gets that.

The rest of you really need to calm down. We’ve all been young and done stupid pranks. Mike and TechCrunch represent the media. I don’t recall a time when the media has really had “responsibility”. We had embedded journalists in Iraq during the taking of the country. You don’t think that put US troops lives at stake? The media is first and foremost a business. It reports on what is exciting. By having such insane responses you just make Mike’s point valid - you care and read this article and contributed to his advertising revenues.

Get a sense of humor please. How many of you did stupid things in school and in college? Heck, many of us still do stupid things today. We live in an era of paranoia (Cartoon Network in Boston anyone?) and need to be less hypocritical. Mike owes you nothing. Don’t like this blog? Post on it, comment on it, but don’t expect an apology.

To Mike - keep up the good work and ignore these snobs. All I can say is that it would be nice if you reported on web companies that actually make an impact on people and aren’t just another cool mash-up or inane Web 2.0 company. Then again, that wouldn’t get you hits so I understand the reason you feature the companies you do. Also, props to you for not apologizing and holding your ground. I respect that.

Many comments mention that it is a waste of valuable emergency services time and that this is not funny. Well, I do totally understand that but I found this funny and should it not be a wakeup call to the services to put in better equipment that can track people who made the prank call in the first place or prevent such incidents from occurring again in the future?

What bullshit that it’s a waste of tax dollars. These cops are being paid whether they’re cruising the mean streets of SF or hangin’ with the Juntin TV crew or (more likely) sitting in some late night cafe munching doughnuts and drinking bad coffee. The tax payer overhead is the same either way. And if there’s a genuine emergency these cops would be called away pronto. No way is this a waste of tax dollars…it’s all just fixed cost that will be spent anyway.

Not amusing at all. In the UK between one third and a half of the 22 million emergency calls made every year are estimated to be hoax calls. People die due to this.

It would have been so much funnier if the cops had opened fire

If you did think this was funny, then i’m guessing you’re the type of person who ends up being nominated for Darwin awards. Here’s hoping your death ends up on Digg or Youtube so others of your ilk can mock you.

What a bunch of morons. What if there was a real emergency when those idiots were distracting the police and fire department with crank calls and somebody died? What is wrong those people? They are hella stupid.

Holler at that, Jay #83.

someone should really be prosecuted for making a false statement to the police. you can’t shout fire in a crowded theater for a reason. i didn’t and wouldn’t watch the video. it’s not funny. it’s sophomoric. would it be funny if while enroute to the “stabbing” the police ran over a homeless person or a young couple on a date. HAHA that’s hysterical. if you think this crap is funny, you’ve got a big L on your forehead.

now, sending over a bunch of hookers would have been funny.

I wonder what the new CEO thinks of this post and the comments.

So, what was so funny about the video, Ithought it sucked, guess I’m not missing anything by not watching this crap.

“Mike and TechCrunch represent the media.”

Mike and TechCrunch don’t represent shit except being a jackoff. Have you ever read the bullshit Mike writes? It’s not limited to just this story, its all of his stories. Its someone’s blog, blogs are pretty useless much like the TechCrunch site itself.

Damn you, pranksters. You’re taking valuable time away from these police officers. I’m sure you just caused at least 5 or 6 people to avoid speeding tickets, parking fines, and harassment by the San Fransisco police.

THINK ABOUT YOUR ACTIONS NEXT TIME!

I think this has the potential of losing a lot of viewers unless you come up with the appropriated comments.
The problem is your attitude. .
By calling it a prank that shows that you think thats all it was.
Wrong

Holler back at Jay 89.

to #91

robert jones, “I wonder what the new CEO thinks of this post and the comments.”

lol…mike can give himself the title of website tech support guy - and he’ll still have more power than the ceo of TC.

Lol….that’s hilarious. FREEZE!!! BAHAHAH!!!

that sucks for justin.tv, seriously uncool of someone to do that. I was wondering why they put up the cell # in the first place..

This could have ended very differently.

I doubt any officer who has had to pull his weapon would find little humor, and any cop who has had to fire his weapon, even less so.

after reading some of the comments, I don’t get why you’re all blaming Michael ..it’s not like he did it, he’s just posting about it. It’s a little funny the way these guys kept so calm, but again yes it was a waste of San Francisco police/fire resources. But why are you yelling at the author of this post - he’s only reporting it, not actually condoning or claiming he did it.

WTF is with the loud grunt sound every 30 sec or so WTF

Uh, Jay is apparently a very generic Name on here. Michael — how about sucking in some avatars

live tv - i think people are angry that I find it funny and that others may try something similar because of that. I do find this kind of thing really funny. I think the last two paragraphs of my post show that I don’t condone getting the police or fire dept involved so thanks for pointing that out.

I have my own ideas for things that would be funny. They are more elaborate and far less dangerous. I won’t write them here, but it isn’t difficult to think up funny things to do when you know a camera is pointed somewhere and lots of people are watching.

HI,

That’s quite sad. What’s wrong with being a geek? Why some jealous bullies have to bully them again and again? I just don’t understand. If I would have to choose to date a geek versus a hot hunk, I’d really date a geek, there’s a bigger chance for a geek to become a millionaire before we retire.

The hunk may end up a meth addict in just 5 years….. and wander in Tenderloin San Francisco.

that’s all

kyla
http://marksmotos.com

*scratches head, gets a beer*

I think this stuff is really funny as hell.

I’m 12 years old.

Michael,
There is a lot of stuff that can be categorized as ‘funny’. I think people are surprised that you would publicize something of this nature (i.e: juvenile & anti-social) over here. Whether it made you laugh or not really isn’t the point.

Arrington, you’re an ignorant, pathetic little twat.