It was in 1998 when the Japanese electronics giant Sony released 700,000 560X Handycam camcorders that had the ability to see through people’s clothes. As soon as Sony realized what havoc it had wreaked, the $700 camcorders were immediately recalled. It turns out that the devices were equipped with a lens that used infrared rays to allow people to take videos in the dark using night vision. Dark clothing like swimsuits went transparent in front of the Sony camcorders, and it wasn’t long before nude photos of women were trending on the Internet. At least 12 websites featured pictures of women who looked almost naked, even though they were wearing clothing or swimsuits. The see-through power of Sony’s camcorder was discovered Greg Hunter, who was a correspondent at Good Morning America. He demonstrated how the camcorder was able to peep inside the clothing of two volunteer models — a man who had the tattoo “Sosa” under his shirt and a woman who was wearing nothing under her black patterned skirt. Questions about the legal offenses as a consequence of widespread use of the Sony camcorders were raised, but the judicial system was unable to deal with such situations, as no law could be used to charge such offenders.
