Law Enforcement Reportedly Looking Into Circumstances of Lost Next-Generation iPhone

[duncyboy]

Pardon me if this has already been posted but I couldn't bear wading through yet more pages of 'Dude, *£$&%^£((@, yo' mama' etc

The thing to bear in mind is Apple wants to set a very public precedent here. They must be rubbing their hands together with glee. It's such a win/win for them in every way.

1) Free publicity- Apple stuff's already hyped to the nines, but this'll put even more focus on the next-gen iPhone.

2) A chance to send a message that says 'If you find/borrow/steal/swap something of ours for ten magic beans, we'll sue you back to the dole queue'*

3) OK so some, if not all, surprises for the iPhone 4 or iPhone- A New Hope or iPhone IV- Phone Ma Bitch Up or whatever it'll be called, are out of the bag. But the free hype-machine'll be worth it.

(*Sorry, no idea what the Californian for dole queue is? Anyone wanna chip in there? http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/DOLEQUEUE )

I just hope the poor schmuck who found the phone isn't found in the trunk of his car with $5000 stuffed up his poo-chute.

 

[The Samurai]

I wonder how Chen and Nick Denton look in their fake Mario & Luigi mustaches?

Nick is probably trying to think how they could put an article up... whilst Jason is packing his suitcase.

Engadget should pop over to camp Gizmodo and film the scene lol. That would be class

 

[muskratboy]

I would have rather had the wallet than the cash.

um... you understand that those aren't the only two possible outcomes, right?

personally, i'd RATHER have both. duh?

 

[calderone]

But it's the same CONCEPT of law enforcement deciding where the CUTOFF is.

And what reason do you have for this being the cutoff besides "no one was harmed?"

 

[notjustjay]

Right. Because right now no one in china is tooling their factories to make clones. No value whatsoever to this information.

Some people make no sense at all.

I guess if Apple was working on a secret iPhone protoype with cold fusion technology and a holographic matter projector, THEN it would OK to press charges for the guy who stole the prototype. But since this one was not made of magic, it must be OK to steal it.

Edit: this was sarcasm, in case you're in a quagmire about it.

 

[johnqh]

If you call the company and they turn you away when you are trying to return their product, what do you do?

1. Drive 10 minutes to Apple cupertino office and drop it off at the front desk.
2. Call Apple's main number. Ask to be transfered to ... .(he know the guy's name)
3. Bring up the phone app, call the most recently called number, and say "your friend ... lost his phone. Ask him to call me at ..."
4. Bring up the email app. Send an email to the guy.
5. Use the facebook up and post a note: "I have your phone, call me at ..."
6. Leave the phone with the bar manager.
7. Take phone with you, leave a note with the bar manager "If some guy is looking for his iPhone, here is my number..."

(This is the legal way to keep the phone)
8. Turn it in at the nearest police station. If nobody looks for it for 180(?) days, it is yours to keep.

(My favorite)
9. Drop an email to Steve Jobs. Maybe you can get a Macbook Pro out of it.

Any one of the above (except the driving) takes less than 1 minute, and they are all easier than to find a buyer.

 

[eoblaed]

What happened to:

FINDER's KEEPERS

That idiot should have had it chained to his ass and then he would have to worry about being so wasted that he 'lost' it

"Finders Keepers" might be viable playground justice, but it has no legal representation in the real, grown up world. Just ask the people that scoop up money that's fallen out of an armored truck and have been charged with felony grand larceny.

It was quite obvious to the guy that picked up the device, and to the people he sold it to, that it was a valuable asset that didn't belong to them. Sure, he might've called a couple of support numbers, but the people that answer those phones aren't going to believe some guy saying he found a prototype. He obviously works close to the Apple HQ in Cupertino. If I found something like that, I'd head to 1 Infinite Loop, walk up to the receptionist, hold up the prototype, and ask to speak to someone in security.

Don't tell me he truly tried to get that thing back to Apple ... he works/lives just a couple miles away.

 

[LagunaSol]

Never mind.......I'm outta here.

Common sense prevails.

READ: I can't take being wrong and people calling me out on it.

Let's just be grateful for small favors.

But it's the same CONCEPT of law enforcement deciding where the CUTOFF is.

Oh wait, he's back...

 

[thetexan]

In business there is a basic principal of "cost-benefit". Basically Gizmodo decided that the benefit (increased traffic to their site, increase knowledge about their site) outweighs the cost (paying a possible fine, being banned from Apple events).

Nobody is going to jail. Worst case scenario is a fine, and chances are Gizmodo already made a lot more in extra revenue than the fine will be.

 

[Robert M.]

Why would you call customer service?

I think the guy is lying. I refuse to believe he's that dumb! If he really wanted to give the phone back he could...

If you're knowledgeable enough to know it's a prototype then...you're smart enough to know CS won't have a clue about it! They're pawns, they know just as much as we do!!

I honestly can't believe some of you guys/gals are trying to spin this, gotta love the internet!

 

[paric]

Here we go again, way to go spending tax and resources on cr@p that won't solve or lead to anything but ice-cream news.

Apple pays more tax in one day than most people here will pay in their life. I think maybe the police can help them a bit.

 

[dukebound85]

Oops..this time for real. Friday's more the time for partying then arguing, he he. My glass of wine awaits..

wait, you think all crimes are weighted equally?

edi: you changed your post..

 

[Winni]

It's one thing to have stolen property.....and another thing to take it apart and post pictures on a web site.

Theft is very well defined since the time of the Roman Empire. It implies that you knowingly take something away from the legal owner without the intention of ever returning it.

Now when you buy something from somebody without knowing that the seller is not the legal owner of the merchandise, that's a completely different story. This is where "Treu und Glauben" (I do not know the English term for this) comes into the mix. It means that you buy in good faith, and that you, the buyer, are not doing anything illegal. It's just an invalid sales contract when the rightful owner shows up and wants his property back.

Apple's lawyers know this, too. But this is not the point. The longer this story is in the press, the more cheap publicity and marketing they get.

 

[slb]

Here we go again, way to go spending tax and resources on cr@p that won't solve or lead to anything but ice-cream news.

Tech journalists buying stolen property to get a story is a bad precedent and should be discouraged legally and ethically.

P.S. Why "cr@p" instead of crap?

What happened to:

FINDER's KEEPERS

What happened to it? It stopped being relevant past third grade.

 

[trrosen]

Of course, if such a sale took place, they would not be stolen goods, and there would be no fraud. It would simply be the suggestion that Apple might pay a large reward for the phone.

Which action in there is the fraud ? Which is the trafficking in stolen goods ? Conspiracy, yes, but it is not a crime. Conspiracy to commit a crime, is a crime, but this most definitely is not. It then ends up diverting attention to the halfwit Apple engineer being the criminal.

So you think if someone sells their employers property with the intention of reporting it lost so the seller can return it to claim a reward is not a criminal act? To paraphrase Dean Vernon Wormer "Stupid , stupid and stupid is no way to go though life son"

The finder is under no obligation to hand the phone to the police, unless he believes it to be evidence in a crime. He makes attempts to return it to Apple, and then sells it. Oops, he's broken the California Civil code. He's not going to go to prison for that.

CA law does obligate him to turn the phone over to the police and CA Penal code does define his actions as theft, a criminal act.

Of course in this case it is evidence in a crime as he didn't find it, by his own admission, he stole it from a bar.

The second you pick up something that doesn't belong to you, you voluntarily become legally obligated to return it to its rightful owner. (this is something we call the law) In CA you can fufill this obligation by taking said item to the police and waiting 90 days for the owner to claim it. Then and only then you may claim the item yourself. THIS IS THE LAW.

 

[Correcto]

If Apple wants to make Gizmodo look bad, they will not go after them but the guy who sold the phone to them. Since Gizmodo was so nice in giving back the phone and IDing the employee who lost it, presumably they'd also helpfully pass along the name of the seller, too...

 

[Collected]

Please explain to me how someone losing an item, another finding it equates to theft.

The actions of the finder were very questionable. They didn't tell any of the bar staff & they didn't leave the phone with the bar staff. They simply walked out with it, made a half hearted attempt to inform Apple and then began the bidding war.

 

[johnqh]

Why would you call customer service?

Maybe it is an honorable thing to do in the thieves cycle?

Calling Ford customer service:
"Hi Ford, I have found a Ford on the street. I am looking for the owner...."

 

[LagunaSol]

Nick is probably trying to think how they could put an article up... whilst Jason is packing his suitcase.

Engadget should pop over to camp Gizmodo and film the scene lol. That would be class

I'm sure Gizmodo will figure out a way to continue to whore out this whole debacle. They've already milked it beyond what I thought was possible.

The next post on Gizmodo: "How Apple Lost the New iPhone, How We Got It, How We Told the World About It, and How We Escaped to Kazakhstan With Our Laptops to Wring Every Last Drop of Blood From This Turnip (Apple)."

 

[parkds]

Good. I hope they throw the book at Gizmodo.

+1
Checkbook "journalism" really needs to end and examples need to be made. Yes, we all come here looking for rumors but not looking for someone to pay their way into obtaining property.

 

[gnasher729]

In business there is a basic principal of "cost-benefit". Basically Gizmodo decided that the benefit (increased traffic to their site, increase knowledge about their site) outweighs the cost (paying a possible fine, being banned from Apple events).

Nobody is going to jail. Worst case scenario is a fine, and chances are Gizmodo already made a lot more in extra revenue than the fine will be.

There are quite a few excuses that Gizmodo could come up with, but if they are guilty then Apple would want to get damages. And it is obvious that Apple could open its own rumours site and get lots of traffic if they wanted - so the damages are at least equal to the profit that Gizmodo made.

 

[cmaier]

I guess if Apple was working on a secret iPhone protoype with cold fusion technology and a holographic matter projector, THEN it would OK to press charges for the guy who stole the prototype. But since this one was not made of magic, it must be OK to steal it.

Exactly. Because phones are just collections of feature checklist items, and things like design don't matter. Further, no competitor wants three month free lead time to know what they'll be competing against.

 

[quagmire]

I guess if Apple was working on a secret iPhone protoype with cold fusion technology and a holographic matter projector, THEN it would OK to press charges for the guy who stole the prototype. But since this one was not made of magic, it must be OK to steal it.

Oh please. Just because there is nothing ground breaking in the new device, doesn't mean it isn't a trade secret.

Just because I find the next generation Chevy Malibu, take it, tear it apart, and I find it has a standard 4 banger, standard 6 speed transmission, standard suspension, etc and post it for everyone to see doesn't mean I didn't publish GM's trade secrets.

 

[dukebound85]

I am surprised that
1) Apple has allowed the images and video to still be up at Gizmodo
2) How this site as well has links and photos of said iphone still

 

[Winni]

If I found something like that, I'd head to 1 Infinite Loop, walk up to the receptionist, hold up the prototype, and ask to speak to someone in security.

No, you wouldn't. You would put pictures and a long story about it here on MacRumors first. Or maybe you would just keep it hidden for a while and then later, when grass has grown over everything, sell it on eBay. Or just put it in a vitrine and have a fat grin on your face every time you see it.

But no. I do not believe that you would directly drive to One Infinite Loop. Nobody would.