iPhone 4 Prototype Finder Gets Probation 334
think_nix writes "Brian Hogan, who found an iPhone 4 prototype last year which was sold to Gizmodo for $5,000, has been sentenced to one year of probation, 40 hours of community service, and a $250 fine. The District Attorney's office was asking for jailtime."
Justice is served (Score:5, Informative)
The right thing to do with something that isn't yours is not to pick it up and sell it. Duh. He will learn a lesson from this.
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If it was just another phone that was stolen, would the punishment be as severe? I dont think so.
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Yes, a Nokia 5160 would have had a different result, you are right. Congrats on the big win, there.
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If it was just another phone that was stolen, would the punishment be as severe? I dont think so.
If it had been just another phone, he would not have been able to sell it for $5,000. IANAL but it seems the penalty for selling stolen goods should be proportional to the value of those goods.
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it seems the penalty for selling stolen goods should be proportional to the value of those goods.
That would make life very tough on brick and mortar store owners, if I could walk out of the store with anything I want under a dollar... Hmm steal a $1 candybar and get 1/5000th which would be a fine of one nickel, 28 seconds of community service, and an hour and 45 minutes of probation.
The problem with a micro transaction economic system is its likely to be extended to a micro transaction justice system, where this kind of punishment might actually happen.
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The penalty should be a MULTIPLE of the value of the goods, thus encouraging you to actually earn the price of the goods and not just steal them. This is, after all, the market-based way.
So for a $1 candy bar, $10 worth of penalty seems appropriate. For a $200 electronic device, $2000 dollars penalty, etc.
And the same for the top end of things. For $20,000,000 worth of environmental destruction, $200,000,000 fine.
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How do you determine the worth of the goods? It was worth $5,000 to a press agency. To Apple, it could have been worth millions of dollars to keep it under wraps. To me, maybe a few hundred dollars; I was able to buy the exact same thing about a month later for no more than that.
Re:Justice is served (Score:5, Funny)
Please let me know where you abandon, I mean park your car each day. Thanks.
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Please let me know where you abandon, I mean park your car each day. Thanks.
So the bar are places now where one can leave his phone for days and pick it up at his convenience a few days later provided he puts money in a meter or something? Seriously?
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http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Dallas-decides-to-keep-cash-found-by-honest-teen-121609364.html [wfaa.com]
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Re:Justice is served (Score:4, Insightful)
What ever happened to finders keepers?
Do you apply kindergarten playground law to all of your moral dilemmas? Shoving people when they're mean to you, crying when you don't get your way? In adult land, we try to hold ourselves to a higher standard than 6 year olds.
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You haven't watched politicians on the house/senate floor (or debates in general) have you? They behave exactly like 5 year olds. (kindergarten age is 5, not 6)
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The right thing to do with something that isn't yours is not to pick it up and sell it. Duh. He will learn a lesson from this.
Well, did he pick it up, remove the SIM card so the owner couldn't just call it and ask about it? Or did he keep it at home waiting for the owner to call and after a few days decided to sell it?
Re:Justice is served (Score:4, Interesting)
The right thing to do with something that isn't yours is not to pick it up and sell it. Duh. He will learn a lesson from this.
Well, did he pick it up, remove the SIM card so the owner couldn't just call it and ask about it? Or did he keep it at home waiting for the owner to call and after a few days decided to sell it?
Completely not the point. (make way for the car analogy!) Hey I found this sweet car, and the owner never once showed up in the few days that I waited for him to claim it. It's totally mine. I wonder why so many people abandon cars at the airport, anyway? Oh well, finders keepers!
Most jurisdictions require public notification of found goods, as well as a 6 month waiting period. Neither of which this guy even came close to adhering to.
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Well, did he pick it up, remove the SIM card so the owner couldn't just call it and ask about it? Or did he keep it at home waiting for the owner to call and after a few days decided to sell it?
Doesn't matter. The proper approach is to turn it in to the police department, just as if you'd found cash or anything else lying around. If the original owner doesn't claim it within a set time (30-60 days IIRC), they'll call you back and it's yours.
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As a hobby, my dad used to go over the school playgrounds and athletic fields with a metal detector. He had some success finding rings and coins. He made some attempts to contact owners of a couple school rings that had identification marks, but ended up selling most of the stuff to a local jeweler for basically scrap prices. It was a popular hobby in the late 70's to early 80's.
I don't think you're sentiment is as cut and dry as you think.
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Here's the lesson (Score:2, Insightful)
If you spot a lost cell phone, ignore it. Don't touch it, don't look at it, don't ponder it, and above all, don't be the one who calls attention to it. Just keep moving. In today's environment of runaway government, chances are high you will be punished for trying to do right, rather than rewarded as one should be.
I'm not just talking about lost cell phones, of course. Unless it is a life-or-death situation, or somebody is likely to get hurt, the smart policy is to stay the hell out of any situation that is
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If he had handed the phone in to the police he wouldn't be in the mess he's in (wrt a conviction). He didn't do that - he sold the phone on to a third party very publicly.
People finding lost phones are in no more danger than they were before, assuming they actually return it or hand it in to the police in the absence of any information on who the thing belongs to.
Re:Here's the lesson (Score:4, Insightful)
If you spot a lost cell phone, ignore it. Don't touch it, don't look at it, don't ponder it, and above all, don't be the one who calls attention to it. Just keep moving. In today's environment of runaway government, chances are high you will be punished for trying to do right, rather than rewarded as one should be.
Holy tinfoil hat... Michelle Bachmann, is that you? This case is not even remotely about someone trying to do the "right thing", by any stretch of the imagination. A guy found some lost property and immediately tried to sell it, which in almost every sane, law abiding nation, is a CRIME. He got punished. I think the protest down at the Crymeafuckin river is missing you sorely, why don't you get back to it?
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Your name is well deserved!
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He even got a call from Steve asking him "OK, you've had your fun, can you please give me my phone back now" after he ran an article on it (or words to that effect).
He told Steve to go jump.
Steve didn't like that.
And to be fair, if i had some property stolen, located someone who found it, and it was quite obviously mine, i'd take them to the cleaners as well.
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What happened to Gizmodo? Were they punished as well in any way?
As far as I know buying stolen goods is also a crime.
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The right thing to do with something that isn't yours is not to pick it up and sell it. Duh. He will learn a lesson from this.
Not sure that's the lesson here: They were paid $5000 for the phone, and only had to pay a fine of $250 each.
That's a cool $4500 profit.
Even if you take into account the 40 hours community service each that the 2 guys have to do - they are still earning a pretty decent rate of $60 an hour.
I guess crime really does pay - even if you are caught.
Here let me fix that for you. (Score:5, Insightful)
If you find a cell phone that doesn't belong to you in a bar and you turn it in to the bar owner, or you turn it into the police, or you turn it into a carrier store that the phone came from you are a finder.
If you find cell phone that doesn't belong to you and you sell it you are a thief.
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What do you do if you find four $100 bills lying on the sidewalk?
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You should leave it alone, same as if you find someone's wallet on a park bench.
I heard in Japan this actually happened; that someone left his wallet full of money on a bench and came back the following day to collect it, and found it had been left undisturbed despite lots of people frequenting the park.
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As someone who lives in Japan, that doesn't surprise me one bit. MOST Japanese people are extremely honest, they may borrom your umbrella from the stand at the convenience store if it's pouring out but they'll return it on the next day.
Re:Here let me fix that for you. (Score:4, Interesting)
So I get to suffer in the rain instead of them... how dishonorable.
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>>As someone who lives in Japan, that doesn't surprise me one bit. MOST Japanese people are extremely honest, they may borrom your umbrella from the stand at the convenience store if it's pouring out but they'll return it on the next day.
A lot of the hotels in Japan have spare umbrellas in the stands by the front door for you to take, on an honor system of returning it later.
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As someone who lives in Japan, that doesn't surprise me one bit. MOST Japanese people are extremely honest, they may borrom your umbrella from the stand at the convenience store if it's pouring out but they'll return it on the next day.
And if they borrow your umbrella when it's raining, what are you supposed to use? That does not sound "extremely honest" to me. An honest person would 1)ask before borrowing and 2) if given permission, always return it.
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The other umbrella in the stand. They (stores, public businesses) have spares in the stand for just such purpose, as they may not get the one borrowed back tomorrow, but they'll get one back tomorrow even if its a different one or from some other store.
That's very pre-9/11 (Score:2)
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Like that electric toy robot they found in some street, I forget the details but the police were called because some kid left his toy robot in the street and they got the bomb squad out there to detonate it.
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Actually you should turn it into the police. If no one claims it after x amount of time it is yours free and clear.
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And what crime is that exactly?
Unlawful finding?
It's not really theft.
Courts have rules too you know. They are very much like machines or computing devices in this regard. You can't just make sh*t up because you think it sounds good or it benefits your pet corporation.
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"Courts have rules too you know."
Yes they do. And those rules have a price.
Rule #1 - Rich guy get's more justice.
Rule #2 - please see rule #1 when complaining.
Re:Here let me fix that for you. (Score:5, Informative)
I think you need to actually review a lot of the understanding you are basing your comment on...
One who finds lost property under circumstances which give him knowledge of or means of inquiry as to the true owner, and who appropriates such property to his own use, or to the use of another person not entitled thereto, without first making reasonable and just efforts to find the owner and to restore the property to him, is guilty of theft.
CAL. PEN. CODE 485 : California Code - Section 485
http://www.shouselaw.com/appropriation-lost-property.html [shouselaw.com]
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You mean finders keepers isn't the law of the land! I am so going to take my kindergarden teacher to court.
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It wasn't theft due to simply finding it. He sold goods that didn't belong to him. Since he was in effect claiming ownership when he sold it, he is trafficking in stolen goods. Simply finding it wasn't a crime. Pretending it was his and selling it to the highest bidder is a crime if you don't own the goods in question or you are not authorized to sell the goods in question.
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Courts have rules too you know.
Yes, and in this case those rules state that you must return found property to its owner, or—if you can't find its owner—the police, otherwise it's stealing.
And where is the contention here, exactly?
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It's not really theft.
If you look up California law, which is the one that decided this case, you will find that picking up an item that was lost, and not trying to return it to the rightful owner is theft. In New York, it is a different offence than theft, but treated just as badly. In Germany, it would depend on the situation. If found in a bar, or on a train, or an airport, or a similar place that is under the control of someone else, then it would be theft. When found in a public place that is not owned by anyone it would be
Re:Here let me fix that for you. (Score:4, Informative)
"Unlawful taking" is actually a crime and is exactly what it sounds like - taking something that you don't own, with the intention of making it yours. And it stands quite well legally that his intent to sell the device constituted him making it his own property. Therefore, the selling of the unlawfully taken phone to a third party (a crime in and of itself) signifies the lack of intent to return the device to its owner.
Oh, by the way, even if you're going to assume that the Apple employee left it there specifically so someone would find it, the fact that somebody did pick it up and take it as their own property to sell counts as Conversion, the legal definition of which is taking sole possession of something you have been given control over with no intent to return it. It's like embezzlement, but without money.
The courts DO have rules. They're called laws. And everything I just explained to you IS the law.
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California Penal Code section 485: One who finds lost property under circumstances which give him knowledge of or means of inquiry as to the true owner, and who appropriates such property to his own use, or to the use of another person not entitled thereto, without first making reasonable and just efforts to find the owner and to restore the property to him, is guilty of theft.
VERY easy to prove intent here, as he sold a phone worth, maybe, $800 tops, for $5000. He knew exactly what he had, and he acted criminally in not returning it to the bar owner or Apple itself. Moreover, he clearly tried to profit from his theft. He's lucky he didn't get jail time.
Think what you want about the morality of the law. However, it's clearly spelled out, and he clearly broke it.
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If he finds it or steals it, he must turn it into the police if he doesn't know who it belongs to (let's assume the phone was locked and they didn;t have all of the guy's personal details for a moment), and then after a set amount of time you can claim it as your own if the real owner doesn't claim it first. Then you're free to do what you want with it.
He didn't do that, so he broke those "rules that courts have too" that is very specific in CA.
Apple has nothing to do with this, the guy was a prize idiot fo
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That's pretty much it. He also claimed he "tried to return it to Apple, but the tech support line thought he was a prank caller", and seemingly didn't think to call the press/PR number on Apple's website instead of the AppleCare tech support line.
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Sounds about right (Score:2)
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Yes the DA wants jailtime but I don't see that will do much good. I think at worst this was an E felony. Besides the CA jails are already overcrowded. Putting someone in jail for their first offense (as far as I know) when they are going to release them in 1/3 of their time anyways would not have served much purpose. I hope that the $250 didn't include forfeiture of $5000 that he got.
Its useful to compare to typical shoplifting convictions.
Basically the courts decided on a penalty that locally is only a little harsher than shoplifting an average iphone, much less than he would typically get for stealing $5K.
I have not looked into the guys prior record, if any, which at this low level has a pretty big influence on the court's punishment.
Will anyone at Gizmodo be charged? (Score:5, Insightful)
For buying and destroying goods that were obviously not the property of the person selling them?
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Steve said "can i please have my phone back". As CEO of apple, it was his phone. Lam wanted Steve to publicly out it as being "Apple's" for the purposes of a scoop. Steve already claimed it was HIS. That should have been enough.
Lesson: if you are on extremely shaky legal ground, and attempt to fuck with multi-billion dollar megacorps, expect them to fuck back. Even if you are on a first name basis with the CEO.
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The DA's already decided that they're not pursuing criminal charges against Gizmodo, but that doesn't preclude a civil action.
Re:Will anyone at Gizmodo be charged? (Score:4, Informative)
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Disassembling an iPhone is destroying it? I'm sorry, I missed the part where Gizmodo tried to blend the phone.
Any 'destruction' was Apple remotely disabling the hardware after they realized the phone was missing.
Gizmodo disassembled the phone to identify the chipsets used, as it was highly likely the phone was some sort of Chinese clone.
Gizmodo is a news organization, previews about a new iProduct are huge news so yes, they bought the story and tried to contact Apple multiple times about it, Apple denied a
Gizmodo: Handling stolen goods (Score:5, Interesting)
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Gizmodo didn't buy the phone. They paid the guy for the story and access to the phone.
Lucky to get probation (Score:3)
Seems like *knowingly* selling stolen items could turn into a sh^Htstorm of legal charges very easily. Especially if you can prove intent; and it wouldn't be too hard to prove with a $5k pricetag.
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Seems like *knowingly* selling stolen items could turn into a sh^Htstorm of legal charges very easily. Especially if you can prove intent; and it wouldn't be too hard to prove with a $5k pricetag.
I agree completely! Now, what's a ststorm?
A man walks into a bar (Score:4, Insightful)
On leaving the bartender notices that he has left his iPhone on the table.
Bartender: "Charlie, you left your iPhone again."
Customer: "sorry Phil, but it's cheaper than buying commercials."
Bartender: "Maybe, but my customers customers keep ending up in jail."
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Customer: "well, perhaps your customers should stop breaking the law."
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Perhaps the judges & prosecutors should stop selectively enforcing laws for the benefit of giant corporations that make more money per minute than this 'criminal' will in his lifetime.
When Joe Schmoe can call down a police taskforce to find his keys every time he drops them when he's out drunk, I'll start feeling like there was a crime here.
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Well, maybe he shouldn't have made such a prize fool of himself. He effectively stood in front of a cop and said "I'm going to break the law, do you have a camera on hand to record the evidence".
He self-incrimintaed, and as a bonus had Gizmodo back it up with printed information. The PD and court never had it so easy to get a "case solved" marker for their stats.
It's amusing how it's "selective enforcement" when it's a company you dislike, but it's "justice!" when it's against that same corporation....
There
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Don't recall saying it was justice or that Apple somehow was asking for it, or that I hate Apple. Weird how you insert facts that fit your own version. There's a description for that.. oh yes, Weird Liar.
I did say that 99.99999% of times that this situation happens, the police wouldn't even bother writing down a report if you did bother reporting your phone stolen. The only reason it's gone this far is because Apple pushed it. They could have quietly gotten their phone back dozens of other ways, before
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Customer: "In fact I have, which is why I left the phone. My personal phone number is on there." *winks*
Prototype MacBook Pro 3G dude gets some gear back (Score:5, Interesting)
Quick summary timeline...
Dude sees an old MacBook Pro on Craigslist listed by Seller as broken.
Dude buys it thinking maybe he can fix it.
Dude does indeed fix it, requiring reflowing of parts, adding parts (ram, HDD, etc.), chronicles it at Anandech, noting that it seems to be no ordinary MBP.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2165252&highlight=macbook+antenna [anandtech.com] - Prototype Macbook Pro with 3G: In my shop now!
Dude then sells it on Craigslist himself as he has no use for it and doesn't yet realize its uniqueness.
Buyer takes it to an Apple Store for some service, Apple Store Genius bar says "This is not an Apple product." on account of weird things in there.
http://www.macrumors.com/2011/08/30/apple-genius-bar-didnt-recognize-macbook-pro-3g-prototype-apple-now-wants-it-back/ [macrumors.com] - Apple Genius Bar Didn't Recognize MacBook Pro 3G Prototype
Buyer sues Dude, wins (in part based on Apple Store findings), Dude is out moneys.
Dude thinks 'wtf', though, and takes a closer look at the MacBook Pro, asking around on forums.
Dude learns that the red motherboard implies it's a prototype.
Weeks pass and Dude does what anybody who isn't a fanboy would do - puts it up for sale on e-bay.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-20092180-248/3g-equipped-macbook-prototype-pops-up-on-ebay/ [cnet.com] - 3G-equipped MacBook prototype pops up on eBay
e-bay bids go up to $70k, listing is pulled due to request from Apple.
Dude then hears nothing, sits around waiting for some manner of official explanation for days on end.
CNet, however, now wants to know what happened, so arrange an interview, in which they of course also call Apple.
Apple suddenly takes very keen notice.
http://m.cnet.com/Article.rbml?nid=20099494&cid=null&bcid=&bid=-248 [cnet.com] - Apple wants its 3G MacBook prototype back
Dude gets call - Apple wants their hardware back and they can have somebody stop by Dude's private residence that evening.
Dude says 'I think not, my lawyer will be in touch'.
Lawyer says Apple have no case.
Lawyer and Apple chit chat.
Lawyer says having no case matters shit all when you're Apple, so give up or incur huge costs.
Apple thus sends over a PI to pick up Prototype MBP.
Dude hands over the MBP.
Dude then sits around again wondering wtf just happened while waiting to see if he gets compensated in any way at all.
Apple does nothing.
Dude then petitions to Apple to get his shit back.
Apple says nothing, but does send an unmarked FedEx box with parts back.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-20117512-248/prototype-3g-macbook-buyer-gets-parts-back [cnet.com] - Prototype 3G MacBook buyer gets parts back
Dude now left with little option but either go "oh well", or sue the original Seller for incurred costs. Seller however says he received the MBP in earnest.
It would have been nice of Apple if they had arranged an exchange for a shiny new MBP and cover Dude's costs, as there's no reason to believe that this prototype was stolen and - as of the latest reports - Apple never filed it as such either.
The 'best' part? Being on IRC, watching a guy go from not being a fanboy but certainly an admirer of Apple, to being completely disenchanted.
Re:Prototype MacBook Pro 3G dude gets some gear ba (Score:4, Interesting)
why? Keep in mind that this was an old prototype from years ago. Not a prototype of a model not yet released (like the case in TFA). I have several prototype things, ebay is also full of them. There isn't a law saying you can't own or sell prototype things. There may have been such a stipulation in an agreement between Apple and the original Seller (or whoever they got it from) but that's something Dude couldn't possibly know.
He also couldn't have suspected the Seller of being a fence (and I'm not saying Seller was) as it wasn't being sold in a shady way or well below market price. In fact, Dude didn't know what it exactly was at the time of purchase.
No actually he repaired it, because that's what he does. He chronicles this, and it's reported on several mac-centric sites.
He doesn't really want to keep it, so he sells it on, himself, on Craigslist. He gets a few hundred dollars for it.
That could well have been the end of the story right there if not for the fact that the Buyer took the thing to an Apple Store who then stated that it's not an Apple product.
Yes, later on, once he learns it may have some value to collectors, he puts it up on e-bay. However he only expected to get maybe $2000 - never in a million years would he have thought it'd go up to $70k.
He wasn't trying to 'cash in'.
Matter of contention and certainly wouldn't have been known to him.
Except that he wasn't, not even after the ebay listing got pulled. Only once Apple heard from cnet did they start taking a closer look.
Those two are obvious, yes.
You may not know who the phone belongs to... (Score:2)
But you know it's not yours.
California Penal Code 485 (Score:2)
IANAL, but it's spelled out pretty clearly in black and white. He's lucky he didn't get jail time.
Not THAT kind of Finder (Score:2)
I thought someone wrote a Finder for iOS.
People can get jail time, corporations can't... (Score:3)
However.
Realize that had another company done something like this, NO ONE GOES TO JAIL. Thomas Jefferson (who was kind of a big deal) showed quite a bit of distrust and disliking of them: "I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country."
Abraham Lincoln too (specific to banks):
"As a result of the war,
corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places
will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong
its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth
is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed."
So as you're lobbing your scathing remarks at this stupid man, also realize that the company whose interests are being protected by this legal act would itself not be held to these same standards.
$250 is a great deal for an iPhone 4 (Score:2)
I've been shopping on craig's list for an iPhone recently and $250 is a killer price, especially for a 4G model. He got a great deal. True, he does have to do 40 hours of community service, but with the power of the iPhone and super fast 4G LTE network speeds, he can totally multitask, so it's really only like about 10 hours. I think I'll be on the lookout for misplaced prototypes now too. WAY cheaper than retail.
Apple Justice (Score:3)
Note to Apple: If you want to keep your secrets, keep them on your campus and don't let them out into the Real World.
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I think that if you look it up, you will find that F. Keepers v. L. Weepers is not, in fact, a Supreme Court case, and the law in the real world is slightly more sophisticated on this matter than a handful of ten year old children would have you believe.
Re:For contrast. (Score:4, Interesting)
In China, these are called hero's of the people.
In early America they were called heroes as well. In fact, Samuel Slater is known as the the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution" because he illegally smuggled in textile plans from the textile leader of the time: Britain.
"Stitched into the lining of his clothing were his indenture papers, which would prove to any prospective employer that he knew his job. More importantly, in his head he carried all the secrets of the water frame and the continuous spinning process that Arkwright and Strutt had perfected."
Oh... and by today's standard the forefathers of America were also dirty terrorists.
Re:and in china loseing a prototype = faked suicid (Score:4, Interesting)
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Even if you tack on the 40 hours of work that's damn good pay.
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Why did you shoot your own theory in the foot?
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It's more convincing if the theory has a limp.
Re:not a felony (Score:4, Insightful)
Leaving something in a location does not mean it's no longer your property. Even if he did trust it to the hands of a "tech junky", it's still Apple's property. By selling the device, the "finder" illegally converted the phone to HIS sole possession and control. Why? Because you can't sell something that's not yours, so obviously he took the phone to be his own property.
When you maintain control over something that is not your property and you make it your property with no intent to return it to the owner, that is a crime, and it's called "conversion". It's like embezzlement, but without money - you've been trusted with something and you misappropriated it. The fact that he then SOLD the goods that were unlawfully converted constitutes a second crime, the sale of stolen property.
Nice attempt at spinning it into a harmless "finders-keepers" bit, but you failed miserably. Don't believe me? Ask a lawyer.
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What crime was committed? He found some prototype in a bar and sold it to some news website. What crime was committed, exactly? The guy didn't sign an NDA or anything.
Theft? Selling stolen property? If you lost your phone and the person who found it decided to sell it instead of return it to you, would it be a crime then? Or does it only become okay when it happens to a company you dislike?
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What crime was committed? He found some prototype in a bar and sold it to some news website. What crime was committed, exactly? The guy didn't sign an NDA or anything.
It would be like finding a $100 bill on the sidewalk and being convicted of theft because you didn't turn it in to the police. Who knows? Maybe that is a misdemeanor.
Sure, it wasn't the most ethical thing to do. An ethical person presumably would have turned the device in to its presumed owner, if there were any ownership markings on it.
The whole thing is kind of sleazy and it leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth about Apple. Come on, you're already a rich corporation; how much could this guy have possibly hurt you? Did it stop even one person from buying one of your products?
Correction, it would be like finding a $5000 bill (or its equivalent of 100's) and keeping it instead of notifying the local police, which in the US is *not at all different with stealing $5000 (or an iphone) out of someones wallet/purse and having no intent of giving it back*. You can understand that stealing $5000 from someone would meet with severe consequences, can't you?
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He sold a phone that was not his. Even if he "found" it in the bar instead of actively stealing it from its owner (say, by pick pocketing or grabbing it from the table while the guy was looking the other way), the law in CA is very specific on what you can do with that item once you have it - if you found it you must inform the police, and then a period of time then passes after which you can claim it as your own if the rightful owner does not come forward. This supposes that you do not know who the owner i
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Selling stolen goods. If it was YOUR phone i'm sure you'd be pissed.
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And he did, remember?
He contacted Apple several times and they disavowed all knowledge of it. Even if he contacted the wrong people there, how much due diligence should one expect?
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Well, he clearly did - since he sold it for $5000.
It doesn't matter though, even if he found it rather than stole it, the law in CA is clear about what you must do. He did none of the things specified, and instead sold it on to a third party by his own admission. Law broken, regardless of how he came by the phone in the first place.
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So if someone finds my lost phone and doesn't return it, I can send him to jail. Good to know.
Only if, behind your AC tag, you are a huge corporation. Otherwise you'll be lucky if they don't fine you for wasting their time.