Despite what the guy above me just said, you are not guilty of any criminal offense. You're an innocent, good faith buyer. If the original owner finds it, you'd probably have to give it back, but if you actually bought the laptop in good faith, you certainly would not be charged with any crime.
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You have no idea what you're talking about. Learn some actual property law if you're going to be giving legal advice. Even if the seller knew it was a stolen good, this poster, if he purchased the laptop in good faith definitely would not have any legal liability.
If the item is purchased in good faith and there is no idea the item is stolen, then you're right. However, once the buyer becomes aware the item is stolen, or is likely stolen, then there is a legal liability. In some jurisdictions, it is an offence to do nothing if you become aware a crime is taking place - doing something could be as simple as phoning the police and informing them.
If the recipient becomes aware the item is been stolen and they attempt to discard the item - either by giving it away or unselling it, they are can be found guilty of a criminal offence.
If the OP is a third party who has a friend who 'bought' a computer and the OP is aware that computer is stolen but proceeds to assist his friend to bypass security features (such as those outlined in this thread), the OP can be found guilty of a criminal offence.
As it sits now, OP has received quite a lot of input that the computer very likely could be stolen property, and therefore OP has a responsibility to either report to the police with the potentially stolen item (and in most jurisdictions, if it's not claimed a few months after being handed in, the item becomes the property of the person who handed it in), or strongly encourage his friend to do that.
There's certainly no way the OP can say "oh...I had no idea it may have been stolen..." because there are many people in this thread advising him of just that fact.
Am I a lawyer? Nope. Am I a cop? Nope. Am I someone who works in a profession where we have to study multi-jurisdictional law regarding offences - specifically property, liability and fraud? Yep.
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This thread is old....
Oh, yeah...it is.
That's what you get when you don't look at the date of the original post.