An Indonesian Man Faces Prison After Screening Porn on a Billboard

An Indonesian man accused of hacking a video billboard in downtown Jakarta to screen Japanese porn is facing up to six years in prison. The video, Watch Tokyo Hot, was viewed by thousands of lucky inner city commuters during Friday afternoon rush hour. It ran for about five minutes before officials were able to cut the power.

The accused man is an unnamed 24-year-old IT analyst from South Jakarta, who police were able to track down via his IP address. According to the Jakarta Post, the man learned the username and password for the billboard and was able to hack into it quite easily, substituting boring advertisements for a little afternoon delight.

If you're looking to pull a similar stunt, apparently hacking into Indonesian billboards—known by locals as "jumbotrons"—isn't particularly difficult. Turns out, if the video system loses internet connection even momentarily, it displays the active username and password on its screen for anyone to see. The man allegedly took a photo of the login credentials when he was passing by the billboard a few days earlier.

The suspect was arrested in his office and could be charged under Indonesia's Electronic Transaction Law. It carries a maximum prison sentence of six years or a fine of 1 billion rupiah—about $100,000 Australian dollars.

The 24-year-old also faces potential charges under Indonesia's anti-pornography laws, with a maximum sentence of 12 years. A predominantly Muslim country, Indonesia totally bans access to pornographic websites. Even sex scenes in popular films are blocked by state censors.

Video billboards have opened up a whole world of prank potential. In 2015, Brazilian hackers were able to turn a bus terminal into a pop up adult movie theatre, hacking into digital screens in the city of Curitiba. They were able to play porn movies for fifteen minutes before authorities cut the power.

If you're curious to experience Watch Tokyo Hot for yourself, a quick Google search should help you out.

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