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Net Gains (Jul 28, 98) |
The Internet being what it is, it was just a matter of time before
someone decided to do something to outshine that event. A few
weeks after the live birthcast, the Internet went berserk with
email messages and news reports talking about this site called
Our First Time (www.ourfirsttime.com). A very suggestive name,
this site planned a live webcast of a young college going couple
losing their virginity live on August 4th.
I can already hear those shouts of disbelief of some people reading
this column, "What ? This is nothing but pornography!",
"I knew this Internet thing was just a corrupting western
influence", "VSNL should filter sites like these to
stop young impressionable minds from getting corrupted".
But just hang on a minute - that was not the entire story - you
haven't got the complete picture as yet. There's more to come.
According to OurFirstTime.com, Mike and Diane were two 18 year
old students who would be unfolding the story one day at a time
on the site. Visitors to the site each day would have an update
of how things were leading upto the "big day".
But last week hell broke loose when investigative reports on the
Internet uncovered the fraud that OurFirstTime.com really was.
Mike and Diane are not 18 year olds, neither are they virgins.
Mike turned out to be out-of-work actor Ty Taylor, 23, while Diane
would not reveal her age, but did say she was Michelle Parma from
Texas. As actors in this Internet Soap Opera, they had a script
they had to stick to - the daily updates on the site were just
that - a script. The company hired to provide the computers needed
to make the event happen, Internet Entertainment Group, said the
plan was a hoax, since there were plans to charge viewers for
logging on to the site on August 4th - and the act
would not be shown as the couple would decided to abstain as per
the script. The site was also sponsored by a condom manufacturing
company who were looking at marketing mileage through the script
that propagated the use of their condoms.
After this hoax was uncovered last week, the site has changed.
Large condom banner advertisements are all over the site. Now
that the cat is out of the bag, the site no longer puts up daily
updates, but has the entire 18 day script up. The mastermind behind
the "Our First Time" affair, is Ken Tipton, small-time
actor, and self-described filmmaker, who used the name Oscar Wells
in promoting his scheme. Tipton, said he never intended to make
money off the project and never lied to anyone, even though he
used a false name and issued misleading press releases.
For those interested in how the story ends, here's the final bit
of the script …
MIKE : "I've got a better idea."
DIANE : "What's that?"
MIKE : "I fell in love with you the first time I saw your
pigtails in sixth grade."
DIANE : "And I love those baggy jeans you had."
MIKE : "From that moment on I knew I'd be with you the rest
of my life. I love you so much...that I can wait another four
years, can you?"
DIANE : "That's the most romantic thing you've ever said.
I would wait for you forever."
This is where the camera was to fade out on Mike and Diane sharing
a warm and loving kiss.
The Internet is a mirror that reflects the real world, and like
a good mirror, reflects the good and the bad. The Mark and Diane
affair was just an Internet reflection of our real world frauds
that we keep reading about daily …