Gillian Chung sex photos: paying the price of technology

With advanced technology, personal privacy has now been compromised. Mobile phones extended their use from just phones that can be used anywhere (with signal coverage) to phones that take pictures, send e-mails and record videos. With their compact size, these devices become good tools for people with rotten minds to make fun, fantasize and perhaps earn at the expense of other people's (mostly celebrities) reputation.

It's not surprising that many Hong Kong magazines craved for news like this because these news sell. Just last few days ago Hong Kong Headline, a free Chinese newspaper featured Gillian Chung in huge photo and on the other side Edison Chen, and made me wonder what business do they have to be in that headline. Did Gillian slap Edison? Did Edison propose to Gillian? (It's in Chinese so I was just guessing. Behind the Chinese characters lay the answers)

But it turned out to be something that happened quite similar to a news in the past: Photos of Gillian Chung and Edison Chen naked in bed. I haven't seen the pictures myself but I don't think it's necessary. I know a little about the life of Hong Kong celebrities.

Police in Hong Kong said Thursday they had arrested a suspect in connection with bogus pictures of prominent pop stars placed onto internet sites. The pictures - reproduced on the front pages of Chinese-language newspapers - included video shots apparently showing singer Gillian Chung and singer and actor Edison Chen naked on a bed together.

The images were quickly removed from the site, but copies quickly circulated through email and were reposted to some 400 other Websites.

A day later more appeared. These seem to show Chen receiving oral sex from television actress Bobo Chan and others with Chen and Chung in different positions. Still others apparently showing award-winning movie actress Cecilia Cheung at Chen's apartment have slowly been released on various Internet forums in the following days.
Apart from phones that offer multiple functions. The good technology about photo editing brought relief to our designers in the office but other freaks misused them and served something controversial. Edited faces of anyone plastered on any random naked image. Such acts must be punished severely although I think heavy punishments won't deter others from continuing as much as death penalty for drug traffickers did not eradicate the rogue business.

Separately, doctored pictures of Chung's head pasted onto the semi-naked body of another woman were posted online and widely picked up by the city's mass-market newspapers.

The management company for Edison Chen was also reportedly seeking legal advice over the bogus image which a spokesman for the company described as being "more likely a joke in bad taste."

Gillian Chung was embroiled in a controversy in 2006 when a magazine published sneakily-taken photographers of her changing clothes backstage at a concert in Malaysia. After the recent sex photo/video controversy I was joking to an officemate that Gillian may need good feng shui to avoid such thing from happening again.

A rumour in the Hong Kong tabloid newspapers and internet discussion boards is that all the photos were hacked from Edison's PC.

Local media and internet discussion boards have been debating whether or not the images are fakes, with some using old photographs of the stars in question to highlight body features and old images of Edison's home to highlight furniture features, to argue their case in a game of "spot the difference" or "spot the similarity".

A series of obscene photographs that appeared online seemingly featuring various local celebrities has sent shock waves through the Hong Kong entertainment industry.

The incident has political ramifications too. As Police have issued warnings that distribution of such photographs is likely to be in breach of the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance, which could carry a jail sentence and heavy fines, operators of Websites and Forums have moved quickly to delete pictures. But many sites have engaged in blatant self censorship and removed any discussion of the incident. That of course has got the free-speech brigade riled. "Nothing is allowed to be discussed, whatever happened to freedom of speech? When did Hong Kong become China?," one forum user asked.

China recently made a crackdown on pornography but over the border in China distribution of the photos is spreading like wildfire, despite a recent SARFT initiative to crack down on Online obscenity. A file purportedly containing all the photos is reported to be being downloaded at the rate of 10,000 times a minute.