Finder of Lost Next-Generation iPhone Identified

[Cartaphilus]

Apple is becoming more evil as they get bigger. Shame really.

Yeah, the bastards---becoming victims of criminals and all. What lowlifes.

 

[gwangung]

Well, far as I'm concerned

A) Bet the same people who were saying "Apple didn't do enough! Finders keepers!" are saying "Apple Gestapo!"

B) Sorry, but I think Hogan should do a little community service and some probation. Scummy thing to do, ethically.

C) People who're saying "It's just a prototype. Apple didn't lose any money" are showing their ignorance. Once again. Not all prototypes go into production. Not all prototypes have features that go into the next model--they might be saved for the NEXT model. Can think of plenty of ways Apple could lose big money over that.

 

[Bytor65]

Ici:
Your vilification of this guy (and, in a recent post, me, lol) is becoming tiresome... although maybe it's just the time of night. I must go to bed!

Did they leave contact info, I doubt it, it is nothing more than a half assessed attempt to claim they made an effort when clearly no appropriate effort was made before he started fishing around for a payout.

His actions vilify him.

He took something from a bar he knew didn't belong to him.
He used go betweens to fish for a payout for the same. Clearly shows he knew he was in the wrong.

 

[Munc]

So that's who Steve sent to that guys door, ha ha ha, I hope Shultzy came along for backup.

Hogannnnnnn!

 

[mbh]

just desserts

This guy could have been a hero and probably received a generous reward from Apple for doing the right thing and returning their property to them. Instead, now he gets to hire lawyers and lose sleep over being prosecuted for selling property that didn't belong to him.

Sounds fair to me. Sometimes you get a free phone, sometimes you get indicted.

Think about it. According to Gizmodo, he turned on the phone and saw the owner's name in his facebook account. What, exactly, was preventing him from contacting Gray immediately and letting him know he found his phone?

Anyone making excuses for this sort of behavior should be ashamed of themselves.

 

[Chumburro2U]

Looooooook!!!!!

Let's not tie our panties up in a knot. That's all I wanted to say.

 

[twoodcc]

i don't see why they have to search his place

 

[MyBrainIsSpeakn]

I bet many of you will nail this guy up to a cross... huh?

 

[MyBrainIsSpeakn]

Oh... and here is a treat for you all... I wonder why Mac Rumors didn't post this article yet?

http://blogs.computerworld.com/16026/jon_stewart_rakes_over_steve_jobs_and_the_appholes

 

[Cartaphilus]

Or maybe apple should have made it easier to return the device? Perhaps a direct 1800 number to an exec's office on a sticker on the back of the phone?

Where talking a device worth millions in R&D cost - you'd think Apple would have some method to recover it.

I think this whole thing blew out of proportion - I personally think both Giz and this guy should get off the hook. Apple just learned an important lesson....

Yeah! Apple should have run full-page ads in all the newspapers, and banner ads on all the geek blogs, something like:

APPLE IS GOING TO BE TESTING THE NEXT GENERATION OF IPHONE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD. NATURALLY, IT IS POSSIBLE THAT ONE OF OUR TESTERS MIGHT ACCIDENTALLY LOSE ONE OF THESE VERY VALUABLE TOP-SECRET DEVICES THAT TECH BLOGS HAVE OFFERED CASH REWARDS FOR, AND WHICH OUR COMPETITORS WOULD BE VERY ANXIOUS TO SEE.

SO IF YOU HAPPEN TO FIND ONE OF THESE, THE NUMBER TO CALL IS 1-800-WHOOPEE. BE SURE TO USE THE CODE WORD "EUREKA" SINCE WE HAVE TRAINED ALL OF OUR OPERATORS TO RESPOND TO THAT WORD.

A PHOTO OF THE SUPER-SECRET USTA-PROTECTED DEVICE IS PROVIDED BELOW. OH, WAIT, IF WE SHOW YOU A PHOTO WE LOSE OUR USTA PROTECTION, NEVER MIND. WELL, IF YOU SEE A PHONE YOU'RE NOT SURE ABOUT, JUST CALL THE NUMBER, OKAY?

 

[Anuba]

He took something from a bar he knew didn't belong to him. He used go betweens to fish for a payout for the same.

Yeah, but did he ask the go betweens to do so? Did he suggest it, did they suggest it? We'll know in due time, but you're extrapolating a lot from very little info.

According to Wired, it wasn't primarily about the money:

News of Apple’s lost iPhone prototype hit the web like a bombshell, but it was apparently an open secret for weeks amongst the finder’s roommates and neighbors, where the device was shown around mostly as a curiosity. According to the source, who has direct knowledge of the Gizmodo transaction, the group of friends suspected this might be Apple’s new phone, but no one knew for sure.

“There was no effort to keep it secret,” the source said. “There were a bunch of people who knew.”

The finder attempted to notify Apple and find the owner of the device but failed, even going so far as to search alphabetically through Facebook, the source said. Thoughts then turned to contacting the press about the device to confirm its authenticity and help locate the owner, but early attempts to drum up interest went unanswered. After a few days with no response, the finder expanded the search.

“The idea wasn’t to find out who was going to pay the most, it was, Who’s going to confirm this?” the source said.

The finder at one point attempted to restore the phone by connecting it to a roommate’s Apple computer, but was unsuccessful.

News accounts depicting the $5,000 payment as a “sale” are incorrect, this person said. Rather, the agreement with Gizmodo was for exclusivity only. “It was made very explicit that Gizmodo was to help the finder return the phone to its rightful owner or give it back,” this person said. “Gizmodo said they could help restore the phone.”

 

[Munc]

Kinda funny after that 1984 Superbowl commercial

Oh... and here is a treat for you all... I wonder why Mac Rumors didn't post this article yet?

http://blogs.computerworld.com/16026/jon_stewart_rakes_over_steve_jobs_and_the_appholes

 

[Liquorpuki]

No but he sold it. The drug dealer is committing a bigger crime than the drug taker.

So which part of the iPhone do I stick in my pipe?

 

[cmaier]

Yeah, the bastards---becoming victims of criminals and all. What lowlifes.

Haven't given up yet? I'm afraid I've lost my will.

 

[Fran-tastic]

When I find something that is not mines I just ask for the Supervisor or owner and notify them of found object and give it to them so they can hold on to it.


Why was it so difficult for this individual who found it to ask for the manager and say "Hey someone left this off, they will probably come back for it..." Give it to the (Business owner or Manager) and move on?

This would never have even ended up in the news.

I smell foul play here.

Actually true.
In my restaurant when there are items lost they are kept in the managers office until claimed.
The boy kept the phone and that was not a smart move.

 

[Cartaphilus]

What?!?!? If this statement is true Apple Inc. has some explaining to do. A private corporation cannot go in and attempt a search without law enforcement and a search warrant. Either this is a false statement or Apple believes they are above the US legal system. Scary!

You know, this guy from the Fuller Brush Company showed up at my door and asked to be let in. He didn't have a search warrant either. I really wish I had read your post sooner, I would have really given that guy a piece of my mind. Imagine him thinking he was above the US legal system!

Oh, and that Bissel carpet cleaner guy too!

 

[realeric]

Thief

I usually don't believe thief's story.

Bornstein(his attorney) said “He made a mistake. He should have just immediately turned that phone in.”
Hogan’s family has relocated to an undisclosed location in anticipation of a media frenzy.

 

[awmazz]

Assisting his aunt to fundraise for orphans in Kenya. What an angel. I suppose there's not much difference between an attorney and a public relatons consultant when there's media attention. They need to fine tune their message though:

"the kind of young man that any parent would be proud to have as their son.”

followed by:

Hogan's family has relocated to an undisclosed location in anticipation of a media frenzy.

Ha ha, such proud parents.

 

[Cartaphilus]

I wonder how much of the $5000 is left now that he's hired a lawyer...

From what we've heard from his lawyer so far, I think he still has $4,999 left, or should have.

 

[pdjudd]

Oh... and here is a treat for you all... I wonder why Mac Rumors didn't post this article yet?

http://blogs.computerworld.com/16026/jon_stewart_rakes_over_steve_jobs_and_the_appholes

They did - this morning - it just didn’t make page one.

 

[cmaier]

You know, this guy from the Fuller Brush Company showed up at my door and asked to be let in. He didn't have a search warrant either. I really wish I had read your post sooner, I would have really given that guy a piece of my mind. Imagine him thinking he was above the US legal system!

Oh, and that Bissel carpet cleaner guy too!

When my iPad 3G arrives tomorrow, I'm going to sue the Fedex guy for violating my Fourth Amendment rights when he rings the doorbell.

 

[Bytor65]

Yeah, but did he ask the go betweens to do so? Did he suggest it, did they suggest it? We'll know in due time, but you're extrapolating a lot from very little info.

According to Wired, it wasn't primarily about the money:

That isn't According to Wired. Those comments are reported by Wired from "a source" who is clearly one of the buddies/roomates trying to defend themselves now. What the heck do you expect them to say? "Yes sir, we were hunting for the highest bidder"?

Actually according to Wired, Wired were offered a look for money:

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/04/iphone-finder/
Wired.com received an e-mail March 28 — not from Hogan — offering access to the iPhone, but did not follow up on the exchange after the tipster made a thinly veiled request for money. Gizmodo then paid $5,000 in cash for it.[/B]

 

[wovel]

What?!?!? If this statement is true Apple Inc. has some explaining to do. A private corporation cannot go in and attempt a search without law enforcement and a search warrant. Either this is a false statement or Apple believes they are above the US legal system. Scary!

To me a private citizen coming up to my house to discuss something that was stolen is different then a Corporation asking to search my house. They already knew that someone else had the phone at this point so why would they need to search the property? They weren't searching for a phone they were trying to search for evidence. To me that should be left up to law enforcement with a search warrant.

I would probably do the same if I thought someone had something that was mine, but I am not convinced they were there to look for a stolen phone.

. . . in regards to apple requesting to search the home . . .

Indeed creepy - i imagine that they were at the edge of the law with a request like that.

However i wonder if they wanted to keep things quiet (prototype phone) as bringing in the local police makes it public. What an interesting window into to how locked down and secret protecting Apple is.

This is just way out of the line. Shame on you Apple. A bunch of arrogant pricks.

I'm not so sure about that. In order of 'bitchability', I would place them as follows:

1) Apple's men in black conducting house searches
2) The REACT team kicking down Chen's door and seizing equipment
3) Two cops knocking on Hogan's door

And who said they asked to search the home? Isn't it more likely that they asked to speak to Hogan?

"Apple representatives attempted to search Hogan's home, but were turned away by a roommate" (MR/Wired) can be interpreted multiple ways, the nicest being that the "attempt" was merely implied, or simply conjecture on the reporter's part.

Wow, do you see in the future or only the past? Unless you were there, ease up on the assumptions on exactly how is happened

See below for the actual quote in the article instead of the unfortunate use of "attempted" by the MacRumors poster.

people identifying themselves as representatives of Apple appeared at Hogan’s home seeking permission to search the premises, according to a source involved with the iPhone find. A roommate turned them away.

Not quite as scary as everyone makes it out to be...

Good, but the San Mateo deputy D.A. isn't so sure yet:

"Assuming there's ultimately a crime here. That’s what we're still gauging, is this a crime, is it a theft?" (source: Wired.com)

If the DA is "still gauging", is it really that hard to understand that forum pundits with no law training are doing the same?

I think a reasonable attempt to find it's owner is asking others in the bar. I don't see how returning it to a bartender is required by law. It's not like the bartender is the owner of the phone. As far as this kid knew (particularly at the time) it was just any old iphone. Heck if I found a new generation iphone I wouldn't know if it was an old or new version. You could show me a generation 1 right next to a 3gs and I wouldn't be able to tell you which one was the newer one if they were both in the same condition. I'm not a iphone owner (I do have a touch) and this kid that found it may not have been one either.

You think wrong? I am a reasonable person and if we were on jury together after seeing all the facts in the case you and I would have to come to some kind of agreement

If you loose something, do you not have a responsibility to report that to the police ? Cause frankly unless the lost item has your name on it, how will the cops know who to return it. So did Apple report this?

How are they supposed to "know" it's an Apple product that they found. It's not announced by Apple and since Apple keeps things so tight-lipped, they could just think its a chinese look-alike/fake.

Someone finds something, sells it to someone else. What's the big deal?

They knew the engineers name. They could have just returned it to him. Or let the bar know they had it, since the bar owner indicated Powell returned "several" times looking for it.

Well fanboy, Apple hired an ass hole. That ass hole chose to bring a million dollar phone to a bar. He knew it was HIS birthday, and most likely was drunk of HIS ass and LOST the phone. It's apples fault this entire thing happened.

So it is ok to steal from him? I fail to see your point...

ruining a persons life through legal troubles (by FINDING their prototype, not deliberately stealing it) is enough reason to say apple is in the wrong!!!!! the guy was in the wrong as well, but two wrongs dont make a right.

shame on apple, they dont care about peoples well being really, they care about not losing money, making more money... buussiiineeesssss as usual.

apple messed up by letting one loose in the wild, letting their engineer take it out in public.

If I was this person, I (and MANNNY OTHERS) would have done the same thing...

gizmodo = bonafide purchaser? not exactly... but definitely shouldn't suffer criminal punishment either...

edit: this should be only a civil case, not a criminal one. and because of that, i say, screw you apple. It makes me sad b/c i love their products so much, but makes me really reluctant to buy another one (i dont want to help out their business after this fiasco)

The guy ruined his own life through legal troubles. All he had to do was leave his name with the bar and he would have probably ended up with a nice itunes gift card...

Oh, certainly. Proof? Engadget posted pictures of the exact same phone before Gizmodo did. It's unclear whether these were sample pictures taken and submitted by Hogan, or if he stopped by and let them photograph it, but either way, Engadget were the ones who broke this story. Engadget were the first to ruin Apple's surprise by showing the phone to the world. Yet after Gizmodo took it one step further and bought/disassembled the phone, all eyes were on them, Engadget's name was completely wiped from memory and Gizmodo somehow retroactively got the entire blame for the whole shebang. Lesson learned: Just take pictures, get off scott free.

You made the point of the person you were responding to. Good job.

I have but one question:

If my iPhone were lost, would the Santa Clara and San Mateo Police Departments and District Attorneys be conducting a similar investigation? What if it had been stolen? What if I had been robbed?

What would it take for me to get the same level of support from these officials? Could I even get the same level of support?

If some moron published a detailed description of the crime for them and made fun of you for allowing them to steal, yeah they probably would.

i love apple products, but i won't support any kind of legal action they take in this matter. they may be a "legal juggernaut", but that doesn't mean they get to bribe law enforcement (yup, i said it cuz that's wut i think happened) and push people around for their own appeasement.

i hope the EFF finds the smoking gun here to stop what's going on with Chen.

this whole ordeal is beyond ridiculous. the phone's been returned. enough is enough.

NM, not worth responding to these absurd arguments anymore.

 

[awmazz]

Actually true.
In my restaurant when there are items lost they are kept in the managers office until claimed.
The boy kept the phone and that was not a smart move.

And either was shopping it to Wired and Gizmodo for money. It pretty much confirms they knew what they had and who it belonged to and they wanted to gain financially from selling someone else's property (they being him and his friends).

That Wired turned the offer down first reinforces it as they simply looked for another buyer instead of returning it, and as well makes Gizmodo look far less ethical than they're trying to paint themselves because there's now a direct contrast with proper journalism ethics in the same case.

 

[Garion]

So Apple knew his identity all along? This statement seems odd.

It only sounds odd if you have bought into the idea that the recent police raid against Jason Chen, was in order to find the identity of the "finder". As we can all see now, it was not. Yes, they've known his identity for some time, so that's not who Apple is after. They'll let the police take care of that guy.

Gizmodo/Gawker Media is who Apple is really after here. They are the ones Apple can really make pay dearly for their part in this "iPhone saga". And they will use every which way they can to make them pay. Literally.

Our young friend Brian? He'll probably only get the kind of slap on the wrist one would normally get for stealing a cell phone in a bar. Nothing more.