As for the REAL value of the phone, it WAS worth more than it's over-the-counter price tag. That is UNTIL Gizmodo thought that it was a good idea to buy stolen property and do a public autopsy of it. After that, it basically becomes just another piece of hardware.
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Finder of Lost Next-Generation iPhone Identified
- Thread starter sravana
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As for the REAL value of the phone, it WAS worth more than it's over-the-counter price tag. That is UNTIL Gizmodo thought that it was a good idea to buy stolen property and do a public autopsy of it. After that, it basically becomes just another piece of hardware.
OK. Swedish law:
Petty theft/shoplifting (=theft up to a monetary value of 1000 SEK, ≈138 USD): Min. pay a fine, max 6 months in jail
Theft (>$138): Min. pay a fine, max. 2 years jail
Grand theft - Min. 6 months jail, max. 6 years jail
The difference between theft and grand theft is characterized by circumstances rather than monetary value. If there was considerable damage done to property etc, if you used weapons, explosives or otherwise raised hell, it's considered grand theft.
I don't think that Apple is after this kid -- though Mr. 2 and 3 are still to be investigated. Gizmodo, though, knew exactly what it was doing. They're the ones who solicited any new prototypes months before, drawing the Apple letter. It's not necessary to do anything against the finder or the middleman to really whack the Gawker organization, whatever the criminal investigation yields.
Once again, nobody's going after Engadget or Wired, who also published pictures but refused to take possession of the stolen prototype.
Though, come on. Don't you think this kid is kind of selected from central casting to make Apple look like the bad guy? Should we believe the full sob story this lawyer's account of the matter gives?
True, he had the name (something he didn't have to admit, since it was remotely wiped/disabled hours later – it would've made him look a little better). A name isn't exactly a homing device, though. What if there are multiple Gray Powell in the white pages? What if the right one is unlisted? What if two of the Powells both claim they lost a phone?
I'm assuming by "identifying the owner" he meant address, phone number or similar. Facebook accounts, well, you can call yourself Seymour Butts on Facebook.
Really? I am a Christian myself, but was that sentence necessary? Obviously, he feels bad about it, and while it may be wrong what he did, it's not like he bought the iPhone for $5,000.
Well, then, he's nominally Christian, but he committed an act of theft, which is not Christian. I think we in the United States have become rightfully very cynical about so-called Christians in politics and life. God may forgive him. The law may be quite different. And Steve is an angry god.
Oh come on now. Don't be an apologist and make excuses for the guy. What he did was wrong. Now it's his turn to be ridiculed just like the Apple engineer. What do you expect? I agree we shouldn't judge or ruin the guy's life but puhleeze. All of the excuses and explanations provided by his lawyer are just too ridiculous. Yes, I praise him for helping orphaned Chinese children. That's great. But he still did wrong and used poor judgement. I wonder what he did with the $5000. Hopefully he donated it to the charity he does so much work for.
If I had found an Apple iPhone prototype, I would have been in my car driving to Cupertino demanding to see Steve Jobs and return it to him personally. I'm sure Steve would have been mighty grateful and maybe even reward me with a MacBook Pro!!! LOL.
He could have searched for that name on Facebook and sent a friend request. Or sent a message to the Gray Powells. I believe the Gizmodo story also said that "Apple employee" was also discovered at the same time.
Well....Qwestdex gives no listings for a Gray Powell, but gives a link for a paid service that lists only one Gray Powell in California.
And you COULD ask Apple for a Gray Powell.
Or you could use facebook to send a message to the two Gray Powells on facebook to ask if they lost something.
This is what I think happened.
Hey, that guy left without his Phone. I guess I'll...
1) Give the phone to the bartender, because he'll surely be back looking for it.
2) Hold on to it, but give the bartender my information so he can contact me to get it back.
3) Get the guy's identity from his Facebook app and contact him directly. Boy will he ever be relieved to get his phone back!
4) Make a half-assed attempt to return it then keep it for myself.
5) Crap! The phone has been bricked! I'll sell it and make a few bucks
6) Oh wait! It's a prototype of the next iPhone in disguise? Well in that case it's worth more than a few bucks if I offer it up to the right people! Maybe even get a bidding war going! Kah-Ching!
This story isn't as much about Apple, as it is about a guy who stole a sought-after prototype phone and then sold it for monetary gain. The last time I checked, that was against the law. The guy is in trouble as I would expect is Gizmodo.
Hey, that guy left without his Phone. I guess I'll...
1) Give the phone to the bartender, because he'll surely be back looking for it.
2) Hold on to it, but give the bartender my information so he can contact me to get it back.
3) Get the guy's identity from his Facebook app and contact him directly. Boy will he ever be relieved to get his phone back!
4) Make a half-assed attempt to return it then keep it for myself.
5) Crap! The phone has been bricked! I'll sell it and make a few bucks
6) Oh wait! It's a prototype of the next iPhone in disguise? Well in that case it's worth more than a few bucks if I offer it up to the right people! Maybe even get a bidding war going! Kah-Ching!
This story isn't as much about Apple, as it is about a guy who stole a sought-after prototype phone and then sold it for monetary gain. The last time I checked, that was against the law. The guy is in trouble as I would expect is Gizmodo.
Kid commits, let's say, what we call a misdemeanor, if he really did not know it was anything special as a phone. As far as he knew, it was a normal iPhone with a cash value under $400. He's still obliged to return it. Does he have to know the law to know that?
Second and third parties, let's say, discover that it's something special, a prototype. At some point, they must have tried to revive it. This is a couple of weeks or more. They speak about what to do. Did this dumb kid consent? Somebody (who?) offers it to Gizmodo, knowing how special it is. They tell the full story to Gizmodo, who decide to buy what is obviously a prototype new iPhone. The criminal responsibility is going up, based on the actions of the principals.
Now comes this weepy account of a nice, young boy who was just too naive (sob) to know anything! And Gizmodo was just going after a story! And Apple runs the police department! And Gizmodo is the hero of the people!
I call ********.
Yes, Apple did try to recover it but were turned away by his roommate. Did you miss that part of the story. And now Apple is taking heat for trying to recover their own property. If I lost my iPhone and used MobileMe to find it and knew where it was, I certainly would try and retrieve it. Problem is, this is a very dangerous world we live in and I wouldn't take that chance.
My perspective wasn't "he could have done X, Y, Z".
See the other 6 million posts that begin with "he could have..." for that.
It was "in general, does first+last name on a Facebook account amount to a bulletproof identification of an owner?"
Key phrase: In general.
It was sufficiently bulletproof for Gizmodo to plaster his name and face all over the internet.
Novel theory of theft. It's not in any way true, of course, except in one way: it can be used to put a cash value on the damages for Gizmodo after the criminal investigation is done. A prototype has a very high value. What would the first iPhone prototype have been worth 6 months before the unveiling? To Samsung or Motorola or HTC? To Blackberry? Millions.
Did Gizmodo just play their silly prank, or is the delay between the finding of the phone and the fencing-- er, sale of access to it -- also expose it to competitors?
Hello new iPhone, goodbye ethics
Hello new iPhone, goodbye ethics
http://tinyurl.com/233cxgs
'bout sums it up!
Hello new iPhone, goodbye ethics
http://tinyurl.com/233cxgs
'bout sums it up!
this guy did http://happywaffle.livejournal.com/5890.html , funny how its different when a person tries to recover a 600 USD phone with a few friends and its different when apple try to recover a priceless prototype by themselves.
Too busy to read all 500+ comments, my apologies if I repeat somebody else's post but:
a) Apple tried to search his room - isn't that illegal and something only permitted to law enforcement agencies with a warrant usually?
b) Who has the movie rights?
a) Apple tried to search his room - isn't that illegal and something only permitted to law enforcement agencies with a warrant usually?
b) Who has the movie rights?
He Stole It!
At some point you need to test cell phones in the wild.
The real problem is that they didn't return it to the owner/manager of the bar and left with it. They then shopped it to Wired, Engadget and Gizmodo.
They didn't return it when Apple sent the "black ops" folks to his house.
Ignorance of the law is no excuse.
you don't get to sell what isn't yours.
At some point you need to test cell phones in the wild.
The real problem is that they didn't return it to the owner/manager of the bar and left with it. They then shopped it to Wired, Engadget and Gizmodo.
They didn't return it when Apple sent the "black ops" folks to his house.
Ignorance of the law is no excuse.
you don't get to sell what isn't yours.
I refer to him as a "kid" because he's still pretty young. I believe that in the eyes of the law he is an adult though, and he should be treated as such.
There is no way that he didn't know that what he was doing was wrong. He just thought that he wouldn't get caught. Surprise!
He's a 21 year old knucklehead. A knucklehead who's legal bills are likely to be a lot greater than $5000.
This. Or he could have used the phone to contact Powell through his own Facebook page during the time it was operational.
And this. The point here is that Gizmodo got all their information about Powell from Hogan. If it was sufficient information for Gizmodo to track Powell down for...well, whatever their reason was, then why wasn't it sufficient for Hogan himself to find Powell to return the phone? Either he's not too bright or he wasn't exactly breaking his back trying to do the right thing.
Well, congratulations. You obeyed the law. See what it looks like? I don't know, though, that "never" handing it over to the manager would be general. You're supposed to use your common sense, best effort, to return the item to the rightful owner. In some cases, that could mean giving it to the bartender. That could mean giving the bartender your phone number and taking the item at home. It also could mean sending a message on Facebook, which, since the "finder" didn't, may be the moment at which he became a thief.
Well I'm not sure if this is a slight at me, since I used the term frat boy but anyways. Yes I just want to see justice done. And yes I understand Apple are a company, just a company. I don't really give a damn about Apple, their share price or their brand. Only the products it makes and if they are useful to me.
The only reason I posted is because some people think it's ok to take something and sell it and get off scot free. Obviously we're not talking about ruining the guys life, just whatever the punishment is, he deserves it. Definitely not just a slap on the wrist and a telling off. A fine, some community service, maybe even a little jailtime. It's not for me to decide.
I imagine that in the event the actual sentence to a young first-offender with no aggravating circumstances would be similar in all three countries.
I dragged out an old comparitive law textbook, and it described alternate systems of fixing punishments. The manner in which the owner is deprived of possession is characteristic of Roman, and by derivation European, civil law. I'm surprised that Celtic jurisprudence leaves so few vestiges.
Today, U.S. sentencing philosophy is said to focus on promoting the rehabilitation of the convicted, rather than punishment being directly proportional to the harm done to the victim. With lawmakers increasingly imposing mandatory minimums, though, judges and the probation officers who advise them are rapidly becoming superfluous.