That must be a joke. The dude did NOTHING to try to return the item to the owner and shopped around to see who would pay more for it.
Facts:
- He knew where it was lost. Did he turn it over to the L&F at the bar??
- He knew who the owner was. In fact, he (allegedly) had access to all of his info. Even had access to his Facebook account. Did he tried to contact the owner?? Did he even tried sending a quick message to the Facebook account?? NO.
- The manufacturer of a phone is not the owner of the phone. If I find a phone made by Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, Erickson, Palm, BB, etc .... why the hell would I call the manufacturer's tech support center to return it???
The fact is, he did nothing to try to return the item to the owner. Instead, he went around looking for a way to make money out of it. He tried to sell the (now legally considered) stolen item to 5 different media shops before he found an idiot to give him money for it.
All he had to do was turn over the phone to the bartender. After that, it would had been the problem of the bar to return it to the owner. But instead, he wanted to make money out of the property of another person. Now he must live with the consequences.
Prototype iPhone finder revealed
Summary
The saga of the lost prototype iPhone started with a 21-year-old Silicon Valley resident, who says he regrets not trying harder to find its real owner.
Topics
The saga of the lost prototype iPhone started with a 21-year-old Silicon Valley resident, who says he regrets not trying harder to find its real owner, according to a published report.
Brian J Hogan, a 21-year-old resident of Redwood City, California, is the person who found the iPhone and was paid by Gizmodo, according to a story published on Thursday by Wired.com.
Hogan's lawyer issued a statement to Wired and said Hogan was in the bar with friends when another patron handed him the phone after finding it on a nearby stool, asked around if anyone owned it, and then left the bar with his friend and the prototype.
For more on this story, read The people involved in sale of lost iPhone revealed on CNET News.
Talkback Most Recent of 18 Talkback(s)
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wackoae30th Apr 2010 -
disagreed.
Actually he did try to return the phone.
First, when he found the phone he waited in the bar hoping the owner would return. Then he looked up personal info on the phone but he was drunk and went to sleep before he could do anything, and then the next morning he woke up to find that Apple had remotely wiped the phone. What's a guy to do? So the next thing he did, once he realized the phone was not an iPhone 3G (which it was disguised as) but something special, was start calling Apple. No one at Apple believed him. And would you return a $500 piece of electronics to some stranger bartender dude? No. Who knows, the guy could end up keeping it for himself. So you can't trust that. The guy walked out of the bar with the phone, but probably not with the intent to steal it. So what's a guy to do? Eventually he sold it to Gizmodo. Probably not the best choice, but it is flat out wrong to say he didn't try.
Source: ZDNet articles
jdyl30th Apr 2010 -
Waited at the bar ......
Are you really that stupid???
He just stayed there with the device at hand WITHOUT TURNING IT TO THE BARTENDER OR THE MANAGER drinking like it was nothing.
Please, if you are going to claim that he tried to return the device, you must come up with a better lie. Waiting at the bar while getting drunk and calling the manufacturer is not "trying to return an item to the owner".wackoae30th Apr 2010 -
RE: Prototype iPhone finder revealed
Too bad he didn't think of handing it over to the manager at
the bar...
chris@...30th Apr 2010 -
Damn!
Thought this might be some gadget for helping you find
your iPhone after leaving it down the back of someone's
couch. So much for progress...
jeremy@...30th Apr 2010 -
RE: Prototype iPhone finder revealed
The title should read Prototype iPhone thief revealed because according to Hogan's lawyer ...Hogan was in the bar with friends when another patron handed him the phone after finding it on a nearby stool..
While I was not there or inside Hogan's head it's pretty evident to me that Hogan was hoping to gain an iPhone 3G or 3GS he could sell on ebay or somewhere for quick cash and instead found something more. I say that because he could have done the right thing by turning it in to the bartender, manager at the bar, or the police and let on of them handle it. Or even contacted Grey Powell since Hogan had access to his contact information at one point.
Pete "athynz" Athens30th Apr 2010 -
My car was stolen, do you think ...
My car got stolen, do you think someone in the San Mateo police dept will do more than tell me to come down and fill out a report. Maybe they can raid a few chop shops. Oh I forgot, I'm not someone rich and influential.
Scubajrr30th Apr 2010 -
If somebody publicly bragged about it ....
.. then they would probably do the same thing.
Everybody keeps forgetting that Gizmodo bragged about the crime.wackoae30th Apr 2010 -
RE: Prototype iPhone finder revealed
I think he should be treated by the police as a thief. He knew he was selling something that didn't belong to him. I hope he gets a suitable punishment.
If this was my own phone, I would be very annoyed if I discovered this happened to me!
LiamGP30th Apr 2010 -
Suitable Punishment?
My guess is that is unlikely to happen... He will probably get a disproportionate punishment... however most folks here would realise they hold a million $ device (not that he can sell it for that but Apple will claim it is worth a lot). Since he sold it for $5000 it proves he is quite stupid in addition of being dishonest. I bet dropping in by a lawyer and negotiating the safe return of the device would have gotten him free Apple products for life. Hemay even have gotten the opportunity to be on TV. He should be punish for selling stolen merchandise, but how much should he be punished for being dumb?
provincialplace@...30th Apr 2010 -
He can be charged with industrial espionage
If the device is a prototype, he can be charged with industrial espionage. Hey may not get the full strength of the law, but it will make a difference compare to the simple punishment for petty theft.
Gizmodo on the other hand, has the bad luck of having to deal with the WORST part of law. By paying for the device, taking it apart, taking pictures and publishing the tech details they manage to brake multiple laws about industrial espionage.wackoae30th Apr 2010 -
RE: Prototype iPhone finder revealed
thats all BS,
Apple over does it, makes a big stink about it,
like stated above, if it were anybody else's phone, they would of done NOTHING about it, but since its Apple, they went and raided peoples housed and businesses, thats BS to me, thief or no thief,
money is the big thing here,
maybe this person should be treated as a thief, but to that extent, they're kinda over doing it,they act like its National Security that was exposed to the public...
hoss80530th Apr 2010 -
Whatever happened to "Finders Keepers?"
I know what the guy did was wrong and if I were in his shoes, I probably would have just given it to the bar owner. But what confuses me is that everyone is using words like "stealing" and "thief" as if he committed a crime.
From my point of view, he just found something.. just like finding a hundred dollars on the street. Or finding a wallet on the ground with a big wad of cash inside. In the US, is it required by law that one must make every effort to return something to it's owner?
So, the question is, what's the difference between finding something and stealing something?
I think the real issue here is not who found it but who lost it. That ********* who lost the phone should have been sacked the next day. It was not long ago that a Foxconn employee in China also lost an iphone and look where he ended up...
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10291701-37.html
ckl_8830th Apr 2010 -
It became theft when he sold it knowing who the owner was
Finders keepers can only be claimed when the owner is totally unknown. In this case, the owner was very well known by the guy, he didn't follow any logical steps to contact the person (even when it had access to the info) and he shopped the item around 5 companies until he found an idiot to buy the contraband (stolen good).
On top of that, the buyer expanded on the crime by taking the item apart without contacting the owner.wackoae30th Apr 2010 -
Interesting Part of Law
Interesting concept of law. And quite right too but the owner should have been charge as well for stupidity. In Australia recently a couple bought and old suitcase from a Salvation Army store. Inside the lining was $110k. Because they did not report it to the police they were charged with "theft by finding". Had never heard of it up till then. So when I find the fabled bag of money by the roadside I'm not telling anyone. lol
Lampoon30th Apr 2010
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