Criminal Investigation of Lost Next-Generation iPhone Spurred by Apple Requests

[knewsom]

Yeah, that's how police work. You have something stolen and traded behind your back, you hire a private staff of in-house police officers to do your evil bidding.


I wonder what percentage of Macrumors users are kids in school...

Wow, did you really just call me a school-kid??? Maybe I forgot to use the "sarcasm" font.

...my post was meant to illustrate the disparity in treatment law enforcement affords big powerful corporations vs regular people. If my laptop had been stolen with several uncopyrighted novels and screenplays in it, do you think they'd break out the same task force to help me, even though for me, the stakes would be far, far higher?

 

[coleridge78]

Alright, fanboy.

Keep drinking the Kool-Aid El Jobso feeds you.

I'm not sure what this Kool-Aid is that you speak of.

Is a sign of not drinking the Kool-Aid supporting scummy thieves who lurk around in bars to steal things from a guy on his birthday?

In that case, sign me up for the Kool-Aid, thief.

 

[dejo]

Stand by to be told why it is so much more than a phone and may very well be the key to the survival of the human race.

Hey, if you don't like being told what to post, don't do the same to others!

 

[Arran]

I'm with Gizmodo/Chen on this one but I have to object to this part of your post right here.

It doesn't matter if you leave the keys in your car. It's yours. Nobody can take it. You're basically saying that if I leave my front door unlocked at night, anybody can come in and steal what they want because I "intentionally" (albeit, accidentally) left my door open? You're also saying police bait cars are basically illegal because of the same reason.

I can't believe I just read such stupidity. Wow.

Quite. How is walking out with the phone any different from walking out with the barstool. Other than the barstool is big and obvious and likely to have the bartender in your face pronto.

 

[chembox]

Quite. How is walking out with the phone any different from walking out with the barstool. Other than the barstool is big and obvious and likely to have the bartender in your face pronto.

The barstool is inside the premises of the owner, however, the phone was left from the owner's premises.

 

[dsnort]

Question, who is it that has said the phone was "lost"? Did Gray Powell say he had lost it, or did the guys who "found" it say Gray "lost' it.

iPhones and iPods get stolen all the time. If you lay your iPhone down in a public place, it can get snatched in a hurry.

Just wondering.

 

[Adidas Addict]

From the looks of things, eh? Have you been so concerned about any actions taken that bore on the businesses of any of the other 24 members over the years?

Personally, I'm not a fan of corporate entanglement with government. But that's a red herring here. Someone is a thief, and Gizmodo (proudly and gleefully) offers bounties for stolen goods. I don't care which unit with who on the steering commission is responsible for investigating it: people who steal material goods for any reason other than feeding their families are scum and need to be prosecuted.

Ahhhh, so now its ok for poor people to steal as long as its just to buy food. Now I get ya

 

[eastonaltree]

I am going to go out on a limb and say the the unfortunate Mr. Powell was likely set-up.

Here is why:

He's 26 years old and an engineer at Apple. Most 26 year old people don't have it going on like that. It is likely that someone in his extended social circle figured out that he had the phone and swiped it or had someone they know do so. I find this very easy to to believe considering the rate of deterioration of the moral and ethical code of American society today. I also find it to be very likely to be true since people seem to be getting less intelligent on an almost daily basis, just look at most of the posts on any internet forum.

The perpetrators likely thought that it was going to be easy money, and that there was little risk.

 

[HyperX13]

Apple is the Microsoft of the 90s.

 

[inaka]

Question, who is it that has said the phone was "lost"? Did Gray Powell say he had lost it, or did the guys who "found" it say Gray "lost' it.

iPhones and iPods get stolen all the time. If you lay your iPhone down in a public place, it can get snatched in a hurry.

Yup, makes total sense that his phone was never "lost" at all, but stolen outright.

 

[bigandtasty]

Inaka, that's Awesome! ROFLMAO!

 

[Mike Reed]

He didn't try to return it. He opened a trouble ticket with an outsourced helpdesk which he knew full well (considering he knew where to go to sell the thing) would go nowhere.

He called official representatives of the company to whom he thought it might belong to inform them he found their property. Outsourced? Irrelevant. The fact is he called the number Apple themselves give people to call. It's understandable that the Apple representative didn't have the tools or the facts to be able to deal with the situation but that doesn't make it the Finder's problem.

 

[Mark Booth]

I don't know who is dumber:

1) A thief that takes an iPhone that doesn't belong to him, hangs on to it for weeks while showing it off to friends and neighbors, only makes a half-ass (pretend) attempt to return it, knows full well who it belongs to but doesn't attempt to track down that person with a Google search or take it to Apple, doesn't take the phone to the police, doesn't take the phone back to the bar where it took it from, and then "shops" the phone out to news sites for a big fat profitable payment because it "might" be something special.

Or

2) Someone who believes the thief found it laying on a bar stool.

Mark

 

[coleridge78]

Ahhhh, so now its ok for poor people to steal as long as its just to buy food. Now I get ya

I don't know about "ok", but I do judge it's less damaging than enabling a society that allows children to starve when there is more than enough food.

 

[chembox]

I hereby rest any accusations or assumptions from now on until I hear the entire side of the story, Powell hasn't even given out a statement about this incident.

Post of the year.

 

[inaka]

Inaka, that's Awesome! ROFLMAO!

[Elvis voice]Why thank you, thank ya very much...[/Elvis Voice]

 

[JasonDBagChen]

It's a computer and technology crime squad, not Apple's private army. The prototype phone is technology, no? And you think it's just a phone---no value beyond a used cell phone?

Though, Apple does operate so efficiently and does a great job at everything they get into... I actually would love to see a Police force managed by Apple. Criminals might actually,...i dunno... be swiftly punished an minimal taxpayer cost.

 

[Arran]

The barstool is inside the premises of the owner, however, the phone was left from the owner's premises.

But how do we know the phone was left? It may have belonged to the bartender; it was on his premises after all.

Was the bartender asked? Wouldn't he have been the obvious person to consult first?

 

[thejadedmonkey]

I parked my car as I went into Starbucks. I stayed in Starbucks for an hour and came out to find my car gone.

I left the bar and after realizing I forgot my phone I called the bar to discover my phone is gone.

My property left the premises of both examples by a third party.

That's theft.

No. You're wrong. When parking your car, you have an expectation that it will be there, and the car cannot be considered "lost" as it belongs in a parking spot. Nor can it be considered abandoned unless it is apparent that the true owner has no intention of returning to claim it.

So unless society has began routinely keeping cellphones in bars for safe-keeping, your car analogy fails.

I suggest you read up on
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost,_mislaid,_and_abandoned_property
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Receipt_of_stolen_property

and you will see that, even if it should be considered stolen, Grokster Media isn't accountable as they spent not more than $5,000

 

[JasonDBagChen]

And how was Apple hurt by a journalist publishing information about a lost phone?

It provides information to allow their competitors to start copying them at an earlier date in relation to the product's life cycle.

 

[JasonDBagChen]

Wow, did you really just call me a school-kid??? Maybe I forgot to use the "sarcasm" font.

...my post was meant to illustrate the disparity in treatment law enforcement affords big powerful corporations vs regular people. If my laptop had been stolen with several uncopyrighted novels and screenplays in it, do you think they'd break out the same task force to help me, even though for me, the stakes would be far, far higher?

That's because of Apple's large impact on our economy. Yours is miniscule in comparison. The only novel writer that would have any arguement here would be the Harry Potter woman.

 

[coleridge78]

He called official representatives of the company to whom he thought it might belong to inform them he found their property. Outsourced? Irrelevant. The fact is he called the number Apple themselves give people to call. It's understandable that the Apple representative didn't have the tools or the facts to be able to deal with the situation but that doesn't make it the Finder's problem.

1. You are, like your brethren, contradicted by the plain language of the statute. If "Apple" didn't reply, the allowed action is to turn the item over to the police. In California, it is not yours to sell unless the owner *explicitly* transfers title, or three years have passed from the finding. That's it.

2. Secondly... care to back that up? I'd be interested to see your evidence that anyone who works for or is contracted by a company in any fashion whatsoever is considered competent to respond to legal notices.

 

[Mystic385]

I believe that Jason Chen was only doing what he thought was right.

I believe Giz and Jason had the best intentions and did return the phone.

I believe in the tooth fairy.

Nope, those affirmations didn't help. After reading pretty much all these posts and wasting 3 hours of my life I've come to the firm conclusion that Giz and Jason are...

And this my last post on this matter.

So it's overcast here, warm, we're just ending one of our best summers. I'm in love and my wife love's me too. The grass outside on the front lawn looks like it needs a mow and the real world beckons me.

Time for a flat white. And maybe phone a friend. Cafe time for those of you who haven't found our favourite coffee in NZ.

Cheers.

 

[knewsom]

That's because of Apple's large impact on our economy. Yours is miniscule in comparison. The only novel writer that would have any arguement here would be the Harry Potter woman.

It's called the "JUSTICE Department", not the "Economic Protection Bureau", or as the Republicans would say, "the military".


...and who's to say that said laptop doesn't contain the "next big thing"?

 

[Anuba]

I don't know who is dumber:

1) A thief that takes an iPhone that doesn't belong to him, hangs on to it for weeks while showing it off to friends and neighbors, only makes a half-ass (pretend) attempt to return it, knows full well who it belongs to but doesn't attempt to track down that person with a Google search or take it to Apple, doesn't take the phone to the police, doesn't take the phone back to the bar where it took it from, and then "shops" the phone out to news sites for a big fat profitable payment because it "might" be something special.

Or

2) Someone who believes the thief found it laying on a bar stool.

Mark

Probably 3) the dumb crackers who are convinced that the guy is a lying thief, yet accept his account of the event as facts and then use these to point out plot holes.

- Ha! He's a thief because he only made a half-assed attempt to call Apple. I don't believe a word that sneaky bastard says.

- Who says he tried to call Apple?

- Um... the thief does, so it must be true.