Cops Raid Gizmodo
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- gabe0
i think the point i'm passively making is that people lose shit all the time, but in the end who really gives a shit? can that guy not afford a new pair of $40 sandals? of course he can. is some geek having iPhone's inevitable 4g phone a few weeks early because he found it hurting apple's stock prices? of course not.
who really gives a shit?
an underlying subjective thought i have concerning both circumstances is that it just seems so typical of human nature to feel a sense of entitlement to THINGS. petty, easily replaceable possessions that no one will ever care about 6 months from now. it feels so very...selfish.
another thing about the whole ordeal (regarding apple) that bothers me is that apple is a CORPORATION, not a PERSON. if i had a dollar for every phone that i lost in a bar...i'd probably have $6. but, that's besides the point. i will tell you what i didn't get however: i didn't get an LAPD task force willing to break down the door of the conniving waitress who i'm certain swiped my razr off the table the minute i walked out the door.
maybe i'm just tired of big corporations with deep pockets and long reaches getting special consideration because of who they know or how much money they have to spend.
- DoktorDavid0
I hear you about things and the inherent madness there is to attachment, but your story doesn't exactly parallel the story at hand.
Here's another take... my wife and I had our town house broken into; stripped down to the walls. Ripped off by crack heads. How do I know? Saw a crack head, one I know by sight, walking down the street one day, wearing one of my t-shirts, high as a Georgia pine, as the saying goes.
Now it is possible that he got the shirt via other means, just like me buying back some of the CD's they stole at a local record store, where they had gone in to gather a few bucks. Could have called the cops, could have got them involved; but, for what? A t-shirt? Maybe 15-20 dollars?
So, I know I have had something stolen, see someone flaunting what they had taken and... then I made a decision not to act. Apple knows something has been "stolen", observes that someone is flaunting what they consider to be their's, even gets the item back. Then, the police get involved. Does that mean Apple called the cops in on it? Or did they draw their own conclusions and act? I'm not sure we will ever know.
You're right - who cares, who gives a shit? Well, the key here is somebody did, with the ability to act on that caring.
I hold no ill will to Gizmodo or to Apple. The courts will now decide who was right and who was wrong.
- ukit0
I'm not a legal expert but I'm imagining the crime is different. Selling a stolen prototype of one of the biggest smartphones in the world vs someone pick pocketing your own personal phone or your wallet and costing you a couple hundred bucks.
Now, if Steve Jobs left his personal phone and then called the swat team he would definitely deserve a good slap.
- gabe0
perhaps i'm getting ahead of myself in arguing my point. do i have the information correct? i thought the phone was lost, then found—which is different from being stolen. was it actually illegally and maliciously pick-pocketed from some well to do engineer? i suppose that's a different point, but still; if it's that important, what's it doing in a bar in the first place?
doktor, your scenario (which sucks btw, sorry) is an entirely different circumstance. it's not like a bunch of thieves penetrated (eww) apple's HQ and mission impossible'd off with an invaluable piece of technology. it's more like some drunk employee left his phone at a bar and now there's going to be hell to pay for it because it was important and it belonged to someone even more important.
maybe after all these years it's just that i still believe in finders keepers losers weepers, which i take comfort in being a perfect logical expectation for lost belongings. do i think it's right necessarily? no, but this is the world we live in. i should note: despite my contentment with losing things and knowing they'll likely be gone tomorrow (which is again different from being stolen), i would never keep anything i found if there were a chance i could return it to its rightful owner.
- i did keep a gi joe i found in a playground once when i younger, even though i knew...gabe
- who it belonged to. i still feel kinda guilty :(gabe
- It's okay, guilt is good. You can send it back you know... I won't tell. =]DoktorDavid
- DoktorDavid0
Gabe... thanks.
Gizmodo clearly had something that did not belong to them and they paid for it - sorry, that's theft in my opinion. Now, my opinion and $1.50 is a cup of coffee, so it really doesn't matter. Now the law is involved and it is completely out of the court of public opinion. What they did clearly wasn't right and now somebody is going to make a decision based on what the law says. Should prove to be interesting.
- repeat after me: the gov't is always right, the gov't is always right.......pr2
- gabe0
fair enough, and i do mostly agree with you. what gizmodo did wasn't right and they should have handled the situation differently.
my contempt lies with a major corporation getting the luxury of such legal considerations, whereas someone like you or i, despite even having such proof, would be scoffed at by most (or at the very least casually blown off).
- DoktorDavid0
Well, we aren't sure that Apple even called them in - some DA somewhere may have said, "Hey; opportunity". If I remember correctly DA's are elected in the US, right? If Apple had filed a complaint it would have to had to come before they sent their letter demanding the return of the item; that request was honored by Gizmodo. So, I'm thinking that Apple may be out of the mix (but cheering from the sidelines).
- time to start reading up and in general education yourself about how the world workspr2
- kult0
Police would never, ever respond to 'theft' of IP by an average person, no matter how legitimate it is.
- JazX0
Time to call a lawyer.
- ukit0
I guess this means it was real?
- epic_rim0
Gizmodo, or more directly Gawker, knowingly bought a stolen object from someone else. I don't think this is just Steve, or Apple. This is the DA. The dude who sold it will probably be arrested also.
- utopian0
Does this mean that the iPhone 4G will have flash?
- spraycan0
fascist pigs
- TheMagicSheep0
was it really stolen? or will it be considered misplaced?
the dude who found it tried to contact apple but, they disregarded it thinking the person found a knock off.
should be interesting to see how this plays out.
- Kiggen0
I don't like Gawker is mis-using the journalism laws.
This is to protect journalists that come out with important stories, ...
Not for a guy who wrongly acquired technology. This is degrading what generations of journalists had fought for. This sets also an ugly precedent for future 'coincidental' discoveries.- And for fascist society it doesn't set a great example???pr2
- really, i i'm sick of guys like you. If you think this is a fascist action, go burn down the streets and riotKiggen
- oh no wait, you work in videoclips and advertising, maybe you should stop doing that thanKiggen
- because in your mindset, what we do is one of the causesKiggen
- georgesIII0
I call bullshit on this entire story,
too much hype for a technological fart