Apple Files Lawsuit Against Teenager Who Sold White iPhone 4 Conversion Kits, Settlement Reached?

[praecipula]

Apple is legally required...

Apple is legally required to enforce its copyrights, according to copyright law. If they don't defend them in a legal way, they can be seen as abandoning them.

What this says to me is that Apple is just defending its copyright with a legal document, but they don't really care if this guy sells their parts. Simple.

 

[Tonewheel]

Hi Kids...

The vast majority of responses on this thread leads me to believe that I'm reading the posts of teenagers and 20-somethings who haven't been around the block.

Perhaps if this thief was in his 40's it would be "OK" to prosecute him?

Get a clue as to how business and the laws work. If you think this is an isolated case of big bad Apple picking on a poor teen and his hapless parents, I suggest you bone up on how things take place in the real business world. This happens every day in the biz world, and intellectual property isn't some loosey-goosey term that's taken lightly.

 

[Tonewheel]

Apple is legally required to enforce its copyrights, according to copyright law. If they don't defend them in a legal way, they can be seen as abandoning them.

What this says to me is that Apple is just defending its copyright with a legal document, but they don't really care if this guy sells their parts. Simple.

ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY CORRECT. I'm glad to see someone "gets it."

If you trademark a logo, patent a design, etc., and that registered intellectual property is stolen and used in the marketplace by the perpetrator, and the rightful owner does not prosecute, it can be argued that they have abandoned the mark, or product, etc.

And I am quite certain, however, that Apple cares very much that someone is selling their BRANDED components.

 

[Tonewheel]

oh crap, I just infringed Apple's trademarks by using the  character in my above post! I'm probably going to receive a cease and desist letter in the next few minutes. Oh dang! I did it again...Arn you better remove that character from the smilies, you're infringing on Apple's trademarks.

You do understand trademark law, yes? No.

The character on your keyboard that is available to you was placed their by...Apple! For your use. And your use of it in your post is legal and acceptable. Clear?

 

[2IS]

I don't think Apple cares how much money they got (unlikely that it covered even their lawyers' expenses), but the result is that nobody will do it again.



Please explain what you mean by that. So a teenager manages to get into contact with criminals in China who are selling stolen pre-release parts for the iPhone, imports them into the USA, starts a website, starts a flourishing trade which damages Apple's reputation, so what is Apple supposed to do in your opinion?

Uh, find out who supplied him with parts?

 

[bigsexyy81]

I'm on both sides of this one.

He is just a kid.

But he was selling illegal goods. He was breaking the law. He was STEALING AND SELLING FOR PROFIT.

No idea why people are making Apple out to be the bad guy here.

 

[tundrabuggy]

Have you ever heard of compassion?

What I find most hilarious about this is that if Microsoft did this most of you would be condemning Microsoft from here to damnation. What hypocrites. LOL!

Trust me, I'm a big Apple fan and I dislike Microsoft.

By law, Apple is required to defend its Copyright. So how about this, Apple goes through with the process required under law. The kid gets reprimanded and stuck with Apple's legal fee's for the hassle he caused. Sound fair?

 

[aaaaaaron]

this thread is crazy. why do we care about this so much?

Dagless, DeanSolecki, Stevamundo, saxofunk, i like you guys.

I still maintain he sold trash (which makes him an environmentalist more than a criminal), so who cares. I am not here to really argue about that though, because I am not on his side, nor am I on Apple's side. There is no side to be on.

Regardless of right or wrong, the legal system will do what it does because that what it is there to do. It doesn't seek to produce truth, right, wrong, morality, or ethics. It seeks only to enforce a standard of living according to the law.

Anyway, there is really too much to say about all of what has been said, and we can probably all agree with Praecipula on this one, no matter how this makes us feel about Apple.

And just a side note, I hear if you bite an apple a certain way, you are infringing on their copyrights, but I am too scared to try it myself, don't want to have a lawsuit on my hands

 

[JHankwitz]

Article Link: Apple Files Lawsuit Against Teenager Who Sold White iPhone 4 Conversion Kits, Settlement Reached?[/QUOTE]

This little SOB should have been drawn and quartered. I don't care how young or little he is, stealing is stealing is stealing. Old and smart enough to run such a scam, old and wise enough to be hung.

 

[JHankwitz]

You know, if Apple hadn't created the demand and then dropped the ball on the white iPhone, this wouldn't have ever come up. Lawsuits are completely unnecessary in this case.

Apple dropped what ball? Apple has the prerogative to release whatever it wants whenever it wants. Just because they don't do it when you want doesn't mean they dropped a ball. If you think it's appropriate to develop and release products on a different timeframe, go ahead and do it. (kids today are such business morons... it's unbelievable.. they haven't a clue)

 

[JHankwitz]

What a Microsoft move Apple! You're a multi-Billlion dollar company now, let the poor kid alone.

All that you have to do is say “OK, we will let the first one slide, BUT if anyone ever does like this to any of our products again then we'll sue them to the fullest extent of the law.”

Just let that statement get out to the public.

So, you think every one of the 300,000,000 people in the USA is allowed one "slide" to steal from Apple? I take it you don't own any Apple stock.

 

[Mr Bigs]

I agree with Apple as much as much as it hurts me to say so. This kid was using stolen property to make money and got caught. I hope everyone else gets caught too. This has to stop and in China their are no copyright laws and they think it applies here.