Foxconn Factory Worker Detained Over iPhone 6 Shell Leaks

[rGiskard]

He stole something, and was paid $960 for the goods. Bizarrely, Wikipedia states that in California law "Grand theft is committed when the value of stolen property exceeds $950". So in California this would be Grand theft and a felony. Again according to Wikipedia, in some states of the USA repeated theft can lead to a life sentence.

With salaries and cost of living so much lower in China, $960 is about two monthly wages, which is probably equivalent to $10,000 in California. You won't get away lightly for stealing $10,000 in the USA.

A life sentence for stealing a few part off an assembly line? How is that not disproportionate punishment? Also, I believe the value of the cases he stole is whatever Apple pays for them. Maybe a few bucks, if that.

I'll assume that you won't buy any of the aftermarket cases now available, since they were designed with the use of stolen iPhone parts.

 

[inscrewtable]

Pretty silly to even reply to the original ad as it looks like a Foxxcon sting anyway.

 

[Lazlow]

This guy probably did it just so he could feed his family. I hope he doesn't get punished too badly.

 

[krravi]

...

You want a poor human being desperate for cash to get 50 years because he stole a smartphone shell? Get a grip.

The same smartphone shell that people were going Ooohh and Ahhhh here in Macrumors and which reportedly fetched him 900+ dollars?

Yeah that was some plastic shell!

 

[AppleScruff1]

He stole something, and was paid $960 for the goods. Bizarrely, Wikipedia states that in California law "Grand theft is committed when the value of stolen property exceeds $950". So in California this would be Grand theft and a felony. Again according to Wikipedia, in some states of the USA repeated theft can lead to a life sentence.

With salaries and cost of living so much lower in China, $960 is about two monthly wages, which is probably equivalent to $10,000 in California. You won't get away lightly for stealing $10,000 in the USA.

What sets the value of the stolen parts, what he sold them for or what they cost to produce?

 

[kerrikins]

The same smartphone shell that people were going Ooohh and Ahhhh here in Macrumors and which reportedly fetched him 900+ dollars?

Yeah that was some plastic shell!

$900 is not worth 50 years in jail. Hell, people who murder get less than that.

 

[krravi]

$900 is not worth 50 years in jail. Hell, people who murder get less than that.

So you have already sentenced him and decided its 50 years for his crime?

Guess he should have asked MacRumors first before stealing the parts.

 

[kerrikins]

So you have already sentenced him and decided its 50 years for his crime?

Guess he should have asked MacRumors first before stealing the parts.

...

The whole point of this conversation thread was that the other commenter said that he thought the person should get fifty years. Did you even pay attention to what you were responding to in the first place?

 

[H2SO4]

I hope he gets 50 years in prison. Thanks to leakers like him, it spoils the surprise for us.

There are plenty of Mac sites I’m sure that don’t deal with rumour Why are you on this one clicking around if you don’t wan to be surprised? I know you are free to choose, I just find it odd.

It’s like going to a porn site and complaining about underdressed women.

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No, I'm here for the product rumors and news, not stolen and leak photos.

Ok right, and just how do you think these rumors are generated pray tell?
Two ways in the main;
Hardware and information;

1. Hardware - Somebody steals parts and sells part/posts on the internet.
2. Information - Somebody sees something they shouldn’t and tells somebody they shouldn’t. That is to say somebody steals information and sells information/posts on the internet.

I believe you’re looking for MacWildGuesses.com

----------

I notice some people think it's a small crime to steal corporate secret and there shouldn't be much or any punishment. They don't seem to get this is a multi-BILLION industry and every secret leak means hundreds and thousand of man hours lost to this idiot's greed.

As a business owner who works super hard and have money on the table I would put this guy in jail as a example.

You probably have many more people stealing from you. I bet you wouldn’t lock them all up. This would be because it would cost you too much time and money so you deem it shrinkage.

 

[69650]

Indirectly we are all guilty. We feed the appetite for leaks and rumours. Without that the shadowy figure who bought the items would not have offered any cash for them. Maybe those willing to condemn this man to a Chinese prison should just take a moment to think about that.

 

[gnasher729]

A life sentence for stealing a few part off an assembly line? How is that not disproportionate punishment? Also, I believe the value of the cases he stole is whatever Apple pays for them. Maybe a few bucks, if that.

I'll assume that you won't buy any of the aftermarket cases now available, since they were designed with the use of stolen iPhone parts.

What I posted was "it is possible to get a life sentence in some states of the USA for repeated theft". How you get from that to assuming a life sentence for a single theft in China is beyond me.

The value of a stolen item is obviously _at least_ what you were paid for them, and he was paid $960. It should be obvious that Apple could have sold these five cases for at least $960 at that point in time (not today, but back then), so that's what the value is.

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What sets the value of the stolen parts, what he sold them for or what they cost to produce?

The value of an object can depend on many things. What he sold them for is an indication for the minimum value. If I steal your car and sell it for £1,000, we can assume it's worth at least £1,000. On the other hand, it's more likely to be worth a lot more, because thieves usually don't get a good price for goods.

On the other hand, if it costs a company £200 to produce an item, but the item is totally rubbish and can only be sold for £100, then the £100 would be the value.

In the case of these shells, their value was very high at the time they were stolen (because nobody had them), but is a lot lower today.

 

[krravi]

...

The whole point of this conversation thread was that the other commenter said that he thought the person should get fifty years. Did you even pay attention to what you were responding to in the first place?

No that was not the whole point. Just because someone dropped a number doesn't make it the focal point.

The point in general was, should he be severely punished? There were sympathetic views on "If I had to provide for my family, I would do the same".

But what if his line of thought was "All I got to do is sneak out a couple of shells and then maybe I could buy that 60" LED TV! "

So no one knows what his motive was or if there were any magazines or blogs that were behind this theft. When I said he should be punished you got to follow the chain of command and see who motivated him to do it, in the first place etc etc etc....

Anyways, no point quibbling over it. He will probably be let go ....

 

[MacSince1990]

First off, $900 might seem little to you but to those workers that is about 2 months salary.

Let's look at it in relative terms. The median household income in California is $61,632. 2 months salary is ~$10,000. That's a good chunk of money. Especially to a factory worker.

Well, yes, that's sort of what I was getting at. They pay them so little that $900 is worth stealing. Don't get me wrong, if someone offered me $900 for free, I'd take it. But I wouldn't steal for it, and I certainly wouldn't jeopardize my job over it. Arguably I could say the same about $10,000 which I do consider to be a lot of money (relatively speaking). Although I suppose if I really hated the source of the money I'd consider stealing just because I hated it/them

I hadn't realized they were paid that much though. I thought they made maybe $200 or something a month. $900/2 months is only about 2x the US min wage. Almost seems worth it to bring jobs back here, lol.

What do you think about insider trading ? Do you think that someone who leaks stock tips that could allow their friend to make millions of dollars deserves only a slap on the wrist ?

This isn't a good analogy, and I'll explain why I think that in a minute, but I'll answer the question.

I feel ambivalent about insider trading.

If it's someone who isn't rich, could use the money and isn't poised to make a LOT of money off of it, I don't really have much issue with it. It may not be "fair" but most things in life are much less fair.

If it's someone who's already very rich, doesn't need the money, and stands to make millions or billions off investors and at the expense of others, I'm not all right with it.

I realize that if you see things in black and white, you won't understand my position, although I don't think you do (see in B&W).

Anyhow, it's a bad analogy because someone stealing for money they actually need, while wrong, is understandable. People doing so out of nothing more than greed, and at the expense of others, is not understandable. Motives matter.

Leaking IP is leaking IP, it's a very serious charge.

I agree leaks aren't great. That said, shouldn't they maybe focus on whomever paid/hired him? They're the real reason this happened in the first place. Of the thousands of workers there, it's literally inevitable that you'd find someone to do it for the right price. And they did. They made it happen.

 

[heisenberg123]

$900 is not worth 50 years in jail. Hell, people who murder get less than that.

ruining a hipsters surprise is worse than murder

 

[rGiskard]

What I posted was "it is possible to get a life sentence in some states of the USA for repeated theft". How you get from that to assuming a life sentence for a single theft in China is beyond me.

The value of a stolen item is obviously _at least_ what you were paid for them, and he was paid $960. It should be obvious that Apple could have sold these five cases for at least $960 at that point in time (not today, but back then), so that's what the value is.

So what if someone steals a $10,000 watch but sells it on the street for $200? Does that mean the watch is only worth $200?

Obviously not.

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What I posted was "it is possible to get a life sentence in some states of the USA for repeated theft". How you get from that to assuming a life sentence for a single theft in China is beyond me.

Your insinuation was clear. Otherwise, why even bring up the example?

What Qiao did was wrong, but considering that he was motivated by case makers offering large sums for iPhone parts, he should get off easy. If he is punished harshly but the case makers receive no punishment, that is injustice of the highest form.

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I hadn't realized they were paid that much though. I thought they made maybe $200 or something a month. $900/2 months is only about 2x the US min wage. Almost seems worth it to bring jobs back here, lol.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it? It would cost consumers very little to move production back to the US - and imagine the effect on our economy. Each new iPhone release would lower national unemployment stats!

I really admire Cook for bringing Mac Pro production back to the US. Hopefully it's only the beginning - and Cook has exactly the right background to make it happen.

 

[jonathan1683]

If by "expert in the field" you mean have I read up on the subject, and am I reasonably intelligent person, yes.

If you were to actually do some research, instead of living in the "****** yeah! 'Merika! mindset, you would know that the reason most companies stopped manufacturing things like iPhones in the US is not really purely about labor costs.

American labor probably wouldn't add that much incremental cost to the devices. The problem comes from manufacturers who are not nimble or flexible enough to turn on a dime, and ramp up and down at the same pace as Asian companies.

Is American labor more expensive? Yes. But Apple could recover that for less than $30-$40 a unit, and their customers would lap it up. The real issue is that it would take much, much longer to go from the lab to the store with their product.

It seems you are arguing with yourself and your $1600 16GB iphone comment. Now it's a $30.00 difference? You didn't sound like an expert or intelligent with that comment now you are telling me that I should read up? You just tossing up some random huge number is just trolling or baiting an argument. I also don't think people need to read up on what other reasons they use foreign labor most people know there are multiple reasons. I can also go run a read some articles too and pretend I know it all, but what's the point? All I know is that it would not cost 1600 for a 16 GB iphone made in America or anywhere close to that and that what my comment was based on. So yea Merika and all that you would like to label me with ...

 

[H2SO4]

Well it seems that guy might not be the only one not making iPhones in the near future.

 

[rdlink]

It seems you are arguing with yourself and your $1600 16GB iphone comment. Now it's a $30.00 difference? You didn't sound like an expert or intelligent with that comment now you are telling me that I should read up? You just tossing up some random huge number is just trolling or baiting an argument. I also don't think people need to read up on what other reasons they use foreign labor most people know there are multiple reasons. I can also go run a read some articles too and pretend I know it all, but what's the point? All I know is that it would not cost 1600 for a 16 GB iphone made in America or anywhere close to that and that what my comment was based on. So yea Merika and all that you would like to label me with ...

The cost of a product is not tied purely to labor. There are costs associated with not being able to scale adequately, and produce efficiently. I didn't say that it wouldn't be way more expensive to produce the product here. I said that the labor element of the cost would be small, in the grand scheme of things. You're the one who jumped to conclusions. Instead of sending snarky, personal attacks, perhaps you should have done a little more research n the subject. There are a multitude of easily available resources.

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

I wonder if this guy will get the death sentence.

 

[rdlink]

...You probably have many more people stealing from you. I bet you wouldn’t lock them all up. This would be because it would cost you too much time and money so you deem it shrinkage.

I believe the OP's comment was not about pure product shrinkage. It was about the stealing of corporate secrets (and/or IP). Shrinkage is petty theft, and while it can be costly, it is not nearly as costly and damaging as the theft of corporate secrets and IP.

 

[Tech198]

He got what was coming...

Apple's just doing their job... It's like saying the police will sit on their butt all day and not allow crime to happen in all countries, suddenly, its a different story.

It good that this was done, but a late after the iPhone 6 was released...

Foxconn and all others dealing with Apple in the supply chain should have detectors, or security guards 24/7 365/days a year working shifts...


Its the only way to keep this under wrap...


(oh.... but then MR wouldn't have anything to publish ...)