The showing of a two-minute hardcore porno clip on an outdoor advertising screen in Moscow will be investigated, city officials said on Friday.
"We have received an inquiry and will look into it," a member of the city's advertising committee said, refusing further comment.
The brief screening caused a traffic jam on a section of the Garden Ring road in downtown Moscow at around midnight on Thursday. Eyewitnesses said motorists were "unable to believe their eyes" and slowed down or stopped their vehicles to watch.
There were no reports of any accidents caused by the screening of the clip.
The advertising firm that owns the billboard, 3Stars, said on Friday hackers were to blame for the "attack against our company."
"There was a hacker attack as a result of which a commercial was replaced with an obscene video in the control computer," commercial director Viktor Laptev said. "It is unclear whether it was an act of hooliganism or competitors' intrigues."
The deputy head of the advertising committee, Alexander Minchuk, said in a radio interview later on Friday that pornographic clips were shown not on one screen but two.
"They might be linked to competition on the market, but hooliganism is not ruled out either," he said.
Hackers usually make such "jokes" seeking to demonstrate their "professionalism" rather than commercial benefits. However, hooliganism charges in Russia envision from eight days to seven years in prison.
MOSCOW, January 15 (RIA Novosti)
