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

[LagunaSol]

Why do we have keep beating the dead "thief or not" horse?

CHECK THE TITLE OF THIS THREAD.

Forget it. Anuba already has woven his theory of the events in which nothing that happened is a big deal, it's all ethically ambiguous, we're all repeatedly wrong when we question the guy's actions, and that's that.

Indeed. The amount of rationalization on these threads is astounding, clearly amplified by the fact that Apple is a party to the fiasco.

Had this been Granny Merryweather's cherished cocker spaniel (with Granny's name on the dog collar) that had been found and sold, I'm sure these rationalizers would have been foaming with outrage.

Alas, Apple can do no right - even when being victimized in a crime.

 

[Anuba]

CHECK THE TITLE OF THIS THREAD.

Yeah, "...spurred by Apple requests". Has anyone been discussing that aspect for the last 40 pages? No. The content of this thread is indistinguishable from any other thread about iPhonegate.

- Oh come on, it's just a phone FFS!
- Blah blah California state law blah blah reasonable attempt blah blah zzzzzz.
- It's all a marketing stunt by Apple! Anyone who doesn't agree with me is a naive stupid gullible sheep drinking Obama's socialist kool-aid.
- What time is it?
- Blah blah California state law...
- No, I asked what time...
- Does not compute. Not reasonable attempt. California state law blah blah...

 

[LagunaSol]

Yeah, "...spurred by Apple requests". Has anyone been discussing that aspect for the last 40 pages?

Do you find a victim's involvement in the reporting of a crime to be unusual or noteworthy?

The content of this thread is indistinguishable from any other thread about iPhonegate.

Indeed. It's the same tired logic-free arguments and irrational excuse-making for what this accused criminal did.

 

[Anuba]

Indeed. It's the same tired logic-free arguments and irrational excuse-making for what this accused criminal did.

No, it's not. It's just that many of us are either discussing the event itself rather than the crimes allegedly committed, and others are discussing it from a moral rather than a legal perspective (those don't always overlap).

Unfortunately some people are so obsessed with the wrong having been committed against Apple that they feel threatened by anyone who discusses the matter from other perspectives than "nail the bastards" and doesn't start every post with a disclaimer that reads "yes the finder is a thief yes Gizmodo are hardened criminals yes yes yes can I please talk freely now without intervention by the thought police?". You're apparently one of the obsessed and therefore you see this supposed "excuse-making" everywhere. Just sit back, relax and stop defending the finder's "thief status" like it was your lollipop.

Alas, Apple can do no right - even when being victimized in a crime.

Personally I think they did the right thing, or at least the 'correct' thing. I'm a closet fascist and I enjoy seeing criminals nailed. They don't even have to be criminals, actually, I enjoy seeing wrong-doers nailed period.

As for "right", time will tell if they did the right thing from other perspectives, for instance PR. As The Register noted, "A not insignificant section of the intertubes is holding Apple entirely responsible for a brutal, paramilitary-style dawn raid by heavily-armed cops on the lovely home of peaceful citizen and Gizmodo editor Jason Chen". From what I've seen so far outside the Mac community, the court of public opinion, especially on my side of the pond, has decided that Apple has now been officially downgraded from "cool" to either "not cool" or "gestapo" (the jury's still out on that one).

 

[Cartaphilus]

"A not insignificant section of the intertubes is holding Apple entirely responsible for a brutal, paramilitary-style dawn raid by heavily-armed cops on the lovely home of peaceful citizen and Gizmodo editor Jason Chen"[/i]. From what I've seen so far outside the Mac community, the court of public opinion, especially on my side of the pond, has decided that Apple has now been officially downgraded from "cool" to either "not cool" or "gestapo" (the jury's still out on that one).

Boy, I really hate it that you're right on all points in that post.

You know Apple has lost the hearts and minds when Jon Stewart turns against them. I feel like I'm yelling at the Internet to get off my lawn.

So, is it better in Sweden? If so, there's still that sunless bone-numbing winter thing and the boxy cars, but we could talk.

 

[LagunaSol]

and others are discussing it from a moral rather than a legal perspective (those don't always overlap).

Yet often they do.

Unfortunately some people are so obsessed with the wrong having been committed against Apple that they feel threatened by anyone who discusses the matter from other perspectives

"Obsessed?" And who "feels threatened?" There has been excellent debate from both sides, along with a healthy dose of trolling and anti-troll defense (this is MacRumors, after all).

You're apparently one of the obsessed and therefore you see this supposed "excuse-making" everywhere.

"Obsessed?" And yes, there has been a ludicrous amount of "excuse-making" on every thread related to this story, from classic "blame the victim" to "what's the big deal?"

From what I've seen so far outside the Mac community, the court of public opinion, especially on my side of the pond, has decided that Apple has now been officially downgraded from "cool" to either "not cool" or "gestapo" (the jury's still out on that one).

I wouldn't read too much into that. I don't think Joe Q. Public knows anything about this nor cares - and they certainly wouldn't think less of Apple for going after someone who stole their property and revealed their trade secrets.

The outrage you're seeing is mostly from the usual suspects: the Apple Haters Brigade, the blowhard punditry, the astroturfers, and the trolls. All of which the Internet is awash in.

 

[Anuba]

So, is it better in Sweden? If so, there's still that sunless bone-numbing winter thing and the boxy cars, but we could talk.

Hmmm, let's see.

- When you're looking at the midnight sun in June you sort of forget that there ever was a long winter
- If this last winter in the US is any indication of what's to come, the Scandinavian winter is a cakewalk
- You've seen the girls
- Widely available 100 Mbit fiberLAN is $40/month
- 3G broadband is $5/month for 2 GB traffic / 2 Mbit, up to $35 for 20 GB / 10 Mbit
- 4G has been launched. As this map shows, the worst you get is basic 3G/EDGE but that's only way up in the mountains, all urban and rural areas have turbo 3G/turbo 3G+ (and 4G in Stockholm).
- Call centers are local, not outsourced to India
- Name 20 of your favorite US TV shows and chances are that at least 15 of them are airing here as well (albeit a couple of weeks late)
- No FCC-style bleeping/nudity masking on TV
- The food is spectacular and surprisingly devoid of meatballs
- 5 weeks of fully paid vacation / year is guaranteed
- If you go to France or Germany you'll have to look for people who speak English, if you go to Sweden you'll have to look for people who don't
- You'll be living on solid, age-old rock where earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, twisters and hurricanes are unheard of (the worst we get is a storm every 10 or so years that knocks over a couple of trees, followed by 2 weeks worth of headlines about said "disaster")
- Traffic is one of the safest in the world, with ≈500 motor vehicle deaths/year, which would correspond to about 16,000 in the US (not 33,963 as the number was in 2009).

 

[cmaier]

Hmmm, let's see.

- When you're looking at the midnight sun in June you sort of forget that there ever was a long winter
- If this last winter in the US is any indication of what's to come, the Scandinavian winter is a cakewalk

It was quite pleasant here in California.

- You've seen the girls

yeah. "seen."

- Call centers are local, not outsourced to India

Wait until they start teaching those guys swedish.

 

[LagunaSol]

- Widely available 100 Mbit fiberLAN is $40/month

I could definitely get into that.

The food is spectacular

Hence the worldwide proliferation of...Swedish restaurants?

 

[gnasher729]

As for "right", time will tell if they did the right thing from other perspectives, for instance PR. As The Register noted, "A not insignificant section of the intertubes is holding Apple entirely responsible for a brutal, paramilitary-style dawn raid by heavily-armed cops on the lovely home of peaceful citizen and Gizmodo editor Jason Chen". From what I've seen so far outside the Mac community, the court of public opinion, especially on my side of the pond, has decided that Apple has now been officially downgraded from "cool" to either "not cool" or "gestapo" (the jury's still out on that one).

The article is at http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/28/gizmodo_crimewatch/ and what you quote is an introduction for what turns out to be a very balanced report on the situation. Very different from Nick Farrel on www.theinquirer.net whose reporting, by macrumors standards, doesn't even reach troll level but can only be described at "he's lost it big time".

 

[SAPPete]

Hmmm, let's see.

- [...Sweden is teh awezome[...]

How much is a beer ? 10 bucks ?

 

[Anuba]

Hence the worldwide proliferation of...Swedish restaurants?

No no, I didn't say Swedish cuisine. There's really none to speak of and therefore nothing to export. What I'm saying is that the food, be it pizza, sushi, Chinese, pasta, salad, is very high standard. I've been to places like the UK and Germany assuming their pizzas or sandwiches would be no different from ours, but man... after you've had a Scottish pizza with a hole in the middle (due to "oops", according to the waiter) and inexplicably served with ketchup-drenched fries on the side, an English roastbeef sandwich so dry it would soak up moist in the Sahara desert, or German tenderloin that would serve better as a trampoline, you can't wait to go home.

 

[MorphingDragon]

and inexplicably served with ketchup-drenched fries on the side.

Classic Kiwi Dish.

 

[gnasher729]

I see; and since Gizmodo have handled the situation in a stupid way, the Apple support call never happened? Is that your logic here? When you jump from A to Z, please elaborate on B to Y.

The support call may or may not have happened. I tend to believe it happened; if I had intended to sell a phone prototype and wanted an alibi, I personally would have called Apple support and chosen my words carefully to be entirely truthful and not give the support person a chance to figure out what is happening. Like "I have your iPhone and I want to return it" which probably every customer who is unhappy with this iPhone would say. I'd like to know what was _exactly_ said. In court the finder of the iPhone would have to explain to a jury that the person he talked to _actually understood_ the situation correctly (which is what I doubt 100%) and if he understood it, whether that person had the legal power to tell him "keep the phone". On top of that, the finder could not possibly know that Apple was the legal owner of the phone and not Powell, so whatever AppleCare said, he couldn't rely on that.

When theregister says Gizmodo handled this in a stupid way, what they are actually saying in their article is that it looks very, very clear to them that the phone was stolen, and it looks very, very clear to them that Gizmodo knew it was stolen, added to that a strong likelihood that the $5000 didn't come out of Chen's pocket so someone else higher up must have agreed to paying for stolen goods, and (here is the stupidity) they didn't cover their tracks. Stealing or buying stolen goods is unethical, bragging about it on the internet where everyone can read it, that is stupid.

 

[LagunaSol]

I've been to places like the UK and Germany

Heh, I imagine comparing one's home country's food to that of the UK or Germany is a no-lose proposition.

Stealing or buying stolen goods is unethical

Illegal even.

 

[Anuba]

How much is a beer ? 10 bucks ?

About $6 in a popular bar/club, $4 elsewhere.
Then again it's not customary to leave much of a tip, not on beer anyway.

Any other crucial, debonaire items on your check list?
Hookers, strip clubs, grass, hitmen...?

Awesome prices on those in Bulgaria and Romania. The beer, too (50 cents). Just bring gun, helmet, body guards and dictionary and look for the guy handing out cards that read "HERE AR BEAUTIFUZ GIRLS WEITING FORE YOU".

 

[Hal Itosis]

No, this call was confirmed by an Apple support tech, who recalled the action(s) of the finder of the iPhone 4G.

But you failed to answer my question: i.e., what did the caller say exactly? Or, do you simply prefer to make up that part as you go along? Do you honestly contend that the caller identified themselves as the "finder" of a phone "lost" by an Apple employee, or what (exactly)? Pfft.

So long as you continue making silly statements, i will continue to slap them down.

BAM! POW! ZAP! BIFF! SPLAT! ZOWIE!

Moreover, he had no way of knowing it was a prototype.

Then why shop it around to Wired, Engadget and Gizmodo for thousands of dollars? Is that what you would do if you <cough> found some "regular old" cellphone in a bar late at night? And why call the manufacturer at all? You ducked my earlier question (in typical chicken-poop fashion), so i'll ask it again: if someone encounters a lonely Nokia sitting in a drinking establishment, do they turn it over to the manager... or start dialing overseas to Finland?

So sorry Mr. Joker, but i'm forced to call you out: either you have some sort of mental disability or you're deliberately playing the fool.

 

[Cartaphilus]

Any other crucial, debonaire items on your check list?
Hookers, strip clubs, grass, hitmen...?

Awesome prices on those in Bulgaria and Romania. The beer, too.

Yeah. No offense to anyone, but I've seen Elin Nordegren, and I've seen the Bulgarian women's shot-putter. If they're representative, Bulgarian strip clubs may still be overpriced. (And, come to think of it, if my wife picked up my golf club in anger, I'd prefer she weren't the Bulgarian.)

You left out that Sweden apparently has unbelievable foreign language schools.

 

[LagunaSol]

You've seen the girls

Every country has great looking girls, especially in magazines and on TV.

What I really want to know is, what do Swedish girls look like...at Walmart.

Yeah. No offense to anyone, but I've seen Elin Nordegren, and I've seen the Bulgarian women's shot-putter.

Me, I'll stick with Paraguayan javelin throwers, thanks.

Wait, am I off topic now?

 

[Anuba]

Classic Kiwi Dish.

Ah, so that's why Peter Jackson used to look like a bearded cannonball.

It was fries on the side with everything - pizza, pasta, even salad, I think even the furniture was made from cholesterol. I went into a Scottish supermarket and all I found was a candy wall, a deep-fried snacks wall, a soft drink wall and a frozen pizza aisle, no vegetables or fruit in sight. But the worst part was that everyone was still thin, which scared the crap out of me in an alien takeover sort of way.

 

[MorphingDragon]

Ah, so that's why Peter Jackson used to look like a bearded cannonball.

It was fries on the side with everything - pizza, pasta, even salad, I think even the furniture was made from cholesterol. I went into a Scottish supermarket and all I found was a candy wall, a deep-fried snacks wall, a soft drink wall and a frozen pizza aisle, no vegetables or fruit in sight. But the worst part was that everyone was still thin, which scared the crap out of me in an alien takeover sort of way.

My Cousin sits on his lazy ass drinking coke, eating god knows what and playing Runescape all day. Yet hes still skinnier than me.

 

[Cartaphilus]

Okay, I'm going out into the desert for 40 days.

Rush Limbaugh agrees with me. Jon Stewart disagrees with me. How did I ever go so wrong?

I'm going to drown my sorrows in a bottle of Brannvin.

http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201004270030

 

[Anuba]

Every country has great looking girls, especially in magazines and on TV.

What I really want to know is, what do Swedish girls look like...at Walmart.

They're probably hideous, I don't shop at whatever-Sweden's-Wal-Mart-is.

When you're living in the middle of it you don't really pay attention, it's usually American guys who come over here and go "WTF? *ALL* the girls are hot, I hate this €%=)(#" country!". If you ask me I think they're overreacting because there are so many blondes (and available too, since they're so overrepresented and thus not very exotic), because they're slightly taller than American women on average (≈1.5 inches according to Wiki) and weigh a bit less (Sweden = 9.7% obese population, US = 30.6% etc). Otherwise I doubt there's much difference.

 

[Hal Itosis]

I'm going to drown my sorrows in a bottle of Brannvin.

Try the brännvin instead, it's stronger (and easier to find ).

"Whiskey löser inga problem, men inte mjölk heller."

 

[Cartaphilus]

Try the brännvin instead, it's stronger (and easier to find ).

"Whiskey löser inga problem, men inte mjölk heller."

I really need to learn how to do umlauts.

So I think my Swedish is getting pretty good. I'm pretty sure that one means, "you can lead a horse's ass to water, but you can't make him think", right?