Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 19, 1990 TAG: 9004190678
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/6 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
But the manufacturer of the "Spy Tech" Long-Range Microphone says there's only a "remote possibility" the toy could be used for eavesdropping.
"We've developed a toy line that is totally non-violent . . . it's safe, it's fun and non-violent," said Jim Alley, senior vice president for marketing at Tyco Industries Inc., the nation's fifth-largest toymaker.
Peggy Charren, president of Action for Children's Television, said Wednesday the group would ask the Federal Communications Commission to investigate the toy.
"We want them to investigate the legality of selling a listening device to children," Charren said.
ACT said it also would ask the Federal Trade Commission to review print and broadcast advertisements for the microphone.
Tyco's "Spy-Tech" toy line includes the microphone, an undercover vest, binoculars, an intruder alert, periscope, fingerprint kit, walkie talkies and a hidden camera. The toys, each sold separately, are designed for children 8 years and older.
"Part of it is just a pretend spy kit," Charren said, explaining that the group doesn't object to the complete line. "The problem is that the listening device works. It is not then a toy; it is an eavesdropping device."
Such criticism is "amazing," Alley said. The television commercial for the toy "does not depict children using any of the Spy Tech toys in any anti-social behavior," he said.
The advertisement shows two children using the microphone to home in on the sound of a man's whistling, but Charren warned it could be used for other listening.
"That message of listening to somebody when he doesn't know you're listening is one anybody can get from the advertisement," she said.
The company is "providing the means and encouragement to young children to surreptitiously spy on their unsuspecting playmates, friends, families and neighbors," Rudolph Brewington, a privacy advocate and Washington-based free-lance journalist, said in an April 10 letter to Tyco President Richard Grey.
Alley said there is little chance the microphone, which sells for under $20, could be used for eavesdropping.
"It's a toy," he said.
by CNB