IJMC - Furby's Banned As Spys!

I wonder if this could become the selling point for new toys for this 
year. Books used to garner huge sales if they printed "Banned in Boston" 
on their covers so I wonderf if "Banned by NSA" might work as well for 
toys. Think of the curiousity stirred!                             -dave







 Furby toy banned from spy agency, Washington Post reports

 Copyright 1999 Nando Media
 Copyright 1999 Associated Press

 WASHINGTON (January 13, 1999 12:42 a.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com)

 - First, they foiled thousands of weary parents, desperately scouring
   store shelves to buy their kids "the" holiday toy. Now, the
   government's spy agency has said Furby toys could threaten the
   national security.

   The National Security Agency has banned the popular pets from its Fort
   Meade premises in Maryland. In an internal message to workers, the NSA
   issued a warning about the toy, which is embedded with a computer chip
   that allows it to utters 200 words - 100 in English and 100 in
   "Furbish."

   "Personally owned photographic, video and audio recording equipment
   are prohibited items. This includes toys, such as 'Furbys,' with
   built-in recorders that repeat the audio with synthesized sound to
   mimic the original signal," the Furby Alert read, according to
   Wednesday's editions of The Washington Post.

   "We are prohibited from introducing these items into NSA spaces. Those
   who have should contact their Staff Security Office for guidance."

   The Furby resembles an owl, with tufts of hair between its huge pink
   ears.

   Because of its ability to repeat some of what it hears, NSA officials
   were worried "that people would take them home and they'd start
   talking classified," one Capitol Hill source told the Post.