Turner's funny money

TURNER BROADCASTING System has bought its way out of any civil or criminal claims related to last week's placing of suspicious devices around Greater Boston. For some executives, such settlements are just a cost of doing business.

Turner and its vendor, Interference Inc, will pay $2 million in restitution to the public agencies affected last week when electronic devices advertising a cable cartoon show were mistaken by authorities as possible explosive devices. The ill-conceived publicity stunt led to road closures, traffic tie-ups, public transit delays, and redeployment of public safety personnel.

It's a classic case of damage control. The company apologizes and pays $1,000,000 up front to cover the out-of-pocket expenses of the state, MBTA, and local police forces that responded to the perceived emergency. Turner also offers up an additional $1,000,000 in "good will" funds to be used to support homeland security efforts in Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville. Turner's Cartoon Network may even wind up benefiting from an incident that became joke material for comedians catering to the late-night crowd. Turner received far more attention from the homeland-security scare than it would have from, say, a 30-second Super Bowl ad -- which cost some advertisers $2.4 million.

The settlement leaves two would-be "artists," Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens, as the public faces of the debacle. For short money, they installed the devices on bridges and other transportation infrastructure. The same devices installed in out-of-the-way nightclub districts in other cities attracted little or no attention from authorities. Public safety officials in Boston, however, didn't have the luxury to ignore flashing devices connected to battery packs once they were discovered in sensitive areas.

The two installers have clowned for the cameras and reveled in their new celebrity. But a felony charge of placing a hoax device that causes a panic is not a lark. However, given what is known, it is hard to see how jail time for the pair would serve justice. A steep fine, probation, and a hefty community service requirement would be a fitting resolution for the cut-ups.

The settlement, unfortunately, closes important areas of inquiry. A criminal investigation or civil suit might have revealed if any of the players in the board room had speculated on whether the devices could be mistaken for bombs. Also unresolved is the question of whether marketing executives might have moved more quickly to inform public safety officials about the supposed lighthearted nature of their scheme.

Unless such matters are explored in the cases of the men still charged, they are likely now buried forever in Turner's deep pockets.