Evan Schuman's StorefrontBacktalk

There does not appear to have been a breach of the store’s wireless LAN. If these communications were riding over the store’s customer Wi-Fi, password protection is not an issue. What does appear to be an issue is allowing customers to post images on publicly displayed devices.

When Wal-Mart this month described a plan for customers to communicate with each other and have those real-time conversations displayed on in-store big screens, an executive quickly added that the chain would be using various filters to try and keep the conversations inoffensive. But by its very nature, text is easier to software filter than images or videos.

Of potentially greater concern in this Best Buy situation is that store managers told Berg the pornographic incident he experienced late on February 12 was preceded by one that morning and another the night before. It’s not at all clear if the two people suspected of being behind the third incident were involved in either of the first two. But the proximity of the incidents suggests that store management didn’t have an immediate way of halting the porn displays. (Note to Best Buy marketing: That’s one way to boost foot traffic and to differentiate in-store from online.)

Having employees review and approve any media before it’s displayed on the TVs seems to be one easy—albeit labor-intensive and, therefore, expensive and disruptive—approach. That would have the downside of taking away the convenience and immediacy of letting customers instantly beam over a family portrait.

Although enabling customers to display their own images is a nice personalization touch, it hardly seems worth the risk. After all, it seems likely that Best Buy can demonstrate the clarity of screen displays with its own high-end images without risking offending anyone.

Berg said the incident he witnessed—along with his mother, his teenage son and an infant—was on a Panasonic television connected to a Sony Blu-ray player.

Best Buy’s official response has been to apologize to all customers and to offer a $1,000 gift certificate to Berg and, presumably, other customers who complained. A police report was also filed. Greenville Police public information officer Alia Urps said on Tuesday (Feb. 21) that “the investigation is in its preliminary stage. It has been assigned to a detective, but right now there is no new information to offer concerning this incident.”

What Best Buy has not said, though, is how it plans on preventing this from happening again, at any of its stores. To do that, though, the chain would first have to detail exactly how it happened—something the chain seems hesitant to do.

Berg, who said his family is still considering possible litigation against Best Buy, was just as upset by how Best Buy employees treated his family during the incident as the incident itself. A sales associate made light of the adult-themed image as it was being displayed and when Berg asked to speak to a senior manager, one associate told him, “You want to see the manager? You go get him. He’s over there,” Berg said.

Like so many other retail problems, training staff on how to deal with customers is a huge issue. Displaying adult-themed images to children is really bad. But having employees give victims of that situation a hard time? Now that’s truly obscene.