[ISN] DMV tells pranksters Get photo IDs redone

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http://washingtontimes.com/metro/20061220-104443-6261r.htm

By Zinie Chen Sampson
ASSOCIATED PRESS
December 21, 2006

RICHMOND -- The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles said yesterday it 
is ordering two men to get their license photos retaken -- this time 
without the red-painted skin, spray-on hair and fake teeth -- or lose 
their driving privileges.

Will Carsola and Dave Stewart posted Internet videos [1] of their 
pranks, which included scenes of Mr. Carsola spray-painting his face and 
neck bright red and Mr. Stewart painting the top of his head black and 
sticking a row of fake buckteeth in his mouth in an Asian caricature. 
They each enter the DMV office and return with real licenses with photos 
of their new likenesses.

In another video [2], a shaved-headed Mr. Carsola comes out of the DMV 
with a photo of his eyes crossed, and another friend obtains a license 
after spray-painting on a thick, black beard and a single, continuous 
eyebrow.

"We have sent letters to the individuals that basically require them to 
appear at DMV to reapply for their driver's licenses and surrender any 
previously issued licenses" within 15 days, DMV spokesman Bill Foy said.

Mr. Stewart and Mr. Carsola, both 27, said yesterday they will get their 
"real" photos taken, and were surprised at how easy it was to get their 
driver's licenses, outlandish getups notwithstanding.

The independent filmmakers did the pranks as part of a new movie, "and 
it escalated from there," Mr. Stewart said.

"We were like, 'There's no way this is going to work,' " Mr. Stewart 
said in a telephone interview. "Even when I did the kung-fu guy, it 
surprised me how little they laughed. Will had red skin, and they didn't 
even tell him to come back when it was normal."

The videos, which appear on YouTube and Break.com under "DMV Drivers 
License Prank" and "Getting over on the DMV," have prompted the state 
agency to review its current ID-photo policies, and to consider 
tightening its rules regarding customers suspected of being in disguise 
or distorting their appearance.

But Mr. Foy acknowledged that it is walking a fine line to have DMV 
employees determine whether a customer "looks right."

"Would we ever ask a cancer patient why her wig doesn't look right, or 
ask a teen with severe acne if that's the way he wants to look?" Mr. Foy 
said. And, though DMV workers may encourage people not to cross their 
eyes or scrunch up their face in photos -- which people purposely do -- 
"there's nothing to say that if they want to use that on their 
identification card, they can't."

Mr. Stewart said it was obvious that the oversized plastic teeth and 
spray-painted face weren't physical disfigurements, and speculated that 
apathetic DMV workers probably just didn't feel like questioning their 
appearance.

"I think now they're embarrassed and probably are going to be [ticked] 
off," he said. "I think their card was pulled."

Mr. Foy said the men's actions weren't illegal, because they didn't 
obscure their appearance with hats or sunglasses, but they did abuse the 
system.

"Using a disguise while obtaining a driver's license is not a joke," he 
said.

But someone must think the pranks were funny: The videos have logged 
more than 500,000 views.

[1] (NSFW) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jOFf_KB3lI
[2] (NSFW) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owvO640ODwA

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