Gossip

Mafia uses 3G phones to cook elections?

You can laugh, if you like; but Hutchison swears it isn't just a plausible way of publicising its "videophone" services - and the BBC has taken the report seriously. Yes, the Mafia thinks 3G phones are a great way to make a bribe "stick" in corrupt voting.

Your packet sniffer has decided that this isn't the moment to be unkind about the usefulness of a video phone. But http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3033551.stm The BBC has published - with an apparently straight face - the report that the Mafia has "come up with the idea of using third-generation (3G) video phones to manipulate the vote in forthcoming regional elections."

The idea is that you go into the booth, draw the curtain, and then expose yourself to the video camera - as a criminal, prepared to desecrate the sanctity of the secret ballot. You send video of your vote to the guy who offered to bribe you to vote for him.

The Hunky Mouse understands, of course, that no honourable corrupt voter would dream of photographing one ballot paper, while secretly putting another in the box - perish the thought! But there is a problem nonetheless: the experiment of taking a picture of a ballot paper isn't conclusive. We tried it, with a document of similar size and frankly, the detail simply isn't up to verification. Actually, it wasn't even clear that it was a ballot paper; one witness thought it might be a five pound note ...

The authorities are apparently going to confiscate camera phones, and foil the villains, but we reckon a simple camera would do the job.

So perhaps the Mafia is going to give digital cameras to the tellers outside the booths, and collect them back when the deed is done? Or maybe the cameras will be the bribe?

Or maybe, it's just a publicity stunt by Hutchison 3g?