Support NeoGAF

[Tripon]

According to Yomiuri Online, two men have been arrested for performing "improper acts" in hotel rooms with the same 12 year-old girl on multiple occasions earlier this year. The girl met both men, aged 49 and 36, through her 3DS. Yomiuri Online doesn't specifically mention SwapNote. A Mainichi News report, however, does.

Mainichi reports that charges for child pornography have also been filed against another man, 44, who had allegedly two girls - then aged 11 to 12 - send nude photos through SwapNote, or "Itsu no Ma ni Koukan Nikki" (いつの間に交換日&#35352 as it's called in Japan. This man has confessed to the acts.

SwapNote was a free Nintendo-made app that let users create and share hand-written notes and drawings. Users could connect the program to the Internet and, with SpotPass activated, transmit and receive notes. It became available in December 2011. The service ended on October 31.

In the above articles, both Yomiuri and Mainichi note that parents had initially turned off the 3DS's internet function, but the children had turned it back on.

http://kotaku.com/child-predators-were-using-nintendos-swapnote-service-1459304126

The articles in question, both in Japanese:

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20131105-00001107-yom-soci [Yomiuri Online]
http://mainichi.jp/area/ibaraki/news/20131106ddlk08040158000c.html [Mainichi]

So Nintendo shut Swapnote because its been compromised.

 

[KHlover]

And I thought it was due to regular pornography first. Silly me.

 

[Visualante2]

Makes me wonder what kind of trouble kids are finding themselves in via Snapchat

 

[KHlover]

Makes me wonder what kind of trouble kids are finding themselves in via Snapchat

Sexting is getting out of hand, so...much trouble I'd guess.

 

[ArkkAngel007]

1) If you're a parent and put parental controls on a device, don't give them the password if it's intended to remain locked down in the state that you intend it to be used in. If you're a parent who doesn't do this already, you probably should (within reason).

2) It's a bit ridiculous that the entire app was put out of service. This should have been an expected issue, and ways to mitigate the risks should have been put in place.

 

[travisbickle]

I was just going to complain about the grammar, but Kotaku changed it.

Accused Child Predators Used Nintendo's SwapNote Service.

OP should change it too.

 

[shadyspace]

According to Yomiuri Online, two men have been arrested for performing "improper acts" in hotel rooms with the same 12 year-old girl on multiple occasions earlier this year. The girl met both men, aged 49 and 36, through her 3DS.

I get Friend Codes now

 

[Proven]

So, now everything is out in the open.

 

[Kingbrave]

People are fucking sick.