ID Sniper rifle
Encyclopedia
The ID Sniper rifle
is an art project, a fictional, hoax
weapon devised by Jakob Boeskov
, a Danish artist and Danish industrial designer Kristian von Bengtson
on a suggestion of Danish journalist Mads Brügger
. The ID Sniper supposedly shoots GPS chips, and the police
force may tag persons with this rifle for later easy retrieval. It was produced by the fictional company Empire North.
According to its specs, "It will feel like a mosquito-bite lasting a fraction of a second. At the same time a digital camcorder with a zoom-lens fitted within the scope will take a high-resolution picture of the target. This picture will be stored on a memory card for later image-analysis."
at the China Police exhibition. Boeskov created an artistic project, "My Doomsday Weapon", a travelling exhibition of the ID Sniper rifle, in which he humorously describes his "infiltration" of China police. Boeskov says that a Chinese company offered venture capital
and a location for manufacturing.
The news about the weapon was spread over the internet. When the news was "slashdotted", the Empire North website was hit with about 1.6 million viewers. Even Computerworld
was hoaxed although they quickly withdrew the report. In the spring of 2004 the news and work of the company reached Washington, DC, in the Homeland Security newsletter published by the Congressional Quarterly Group.
Engadget
published a brief comment about the hoax, together with a picture of the "weapon" shortly after the Computerworld article was released. Nevertheless on March 7th, 2007, Engadget posted further images and news of the "weapon" under the title "ID Sniper Rifle fires GPS tracking chip into unwitting humans" despite having denounced it as a hoax three years before.
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
is an art project, a fictional, hoax
Hoax
A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
weapon devised by Jakob Boeskov
Jakob Boeskov
Jakob Boeskov is a Danish-Icelandic artist and filmmaker .His work has been shown in museums such as New Museum and Stedelijk Museum. He is best known for infiltrating a Chinese weapons fair in his ID Sniper project. Boeskov's work includes drawings, paintings, video and film. His work has been...
, a Danish artist and Danish industrial designer Kristian von Bengtson
Kristian von Bengtson
Kristian von Bengtson is a Danish architect, specializing in manned spaceflight, a resident of Copenhagen and married with animation director Karla von Bengtson...
on a suggestion of Danish journalist Mads Brügger
Mads Brügger
Mads Brügger is a Danish filmmaker and TV host.His Danes for Bush and The Red Chapel are ironic documentaries filmed in United States and North Korea.On Danish DR2 channel he has been host on the talkshow Den 11...
. The ID Sniper supposedly shoots GPS chips, and the police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
force may tag persons with this rifle for later easy retrieval. It was produced by the fictional company Empire North.
According to its specs, "It will feel like a mosquito-bite lasting a fraction of a second. At the same time a digital camcorder with a zoom-lens fitted within the scope will take a high-resolution picture of the target. This picture will be stored on a memory card for later image-analysis."
Unveiling
The design was presented in 2002 in BeijingBeijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
at the China Police exhibition. Boeskov created an artistic project, "My Doomsday Weapon", a travelling exhibition of the ID Sniper rifle, in which he humorously describes his "infiltration" of China police. Boeskov says that a Chinese company offered venture capital
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
and a location for manufacturing.
The news about the weapon was spread over the internet. When the news was "slashdotted", the Empire North website was hit with about 1.6 million viewers. Even Computerworld
Computerworld
Computerworld is an IT magazine that provides information for senior IT leaders. It is published in many countries around the world under the same or similar names. Its publisher is International Data Group. Computerworld serves the needs of IT management via print and online...
was hoaxed although they quickly withdrew the report. In the spring of 2004 the news and work of the company reached Washington, DC, in the Homeland Security newsletter published by the Congressional Quarterly Group.
Engadget
Engadget
Engadget is a multilingual technology blog network with daily coverage of gadgets and consumer electronics. Though on appearance Engadget functions much like a blog and may be defined as such, much of its editorial content takes the form of an online magazine...
published a brief comment about the hoax, together with a picture of the "weapon" shortly after the Computerworld article was released. Nevertheless on March 7th, 2007, Engadget posted further images and news of the "weapon" under the title "ID Sniper Rifle fires GPS tracking chip into unwitting humans" despite having denounced it as a hoax three years before.
Further reading
- "Abuse Your Illusions - The Disinformation Guide To Media Mirages and Establishment Lies", edited by Russ KickRuss KickRuss Kick is an American editor and publisher. He is editor of the website The Memory Hole which published and archived U.S. government documents, including scientific studies and reports, civil rights-related reports, intelligence and covert action reports, consumer safety reports, and images...
(2003) ISBN 0-9713942-4-5 - "Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID", by Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyre (2005) ISBN 1595550208