Posted by Kromey at 7:03pm Sep 6 '11They asked for and received permission to search the man's home; he shouldn't have let them without a warrant, but there's nothing illegal there, just a mite shady.
And apparently under California law, if you find a lost item and do not report it immediately, that's considered theft. Which means that the lost iPhone 5 prototype is indeed stolen property now, even though Apple lost it.
Still, yes, completely and utterly ridiculous the way this is being handled by Apple -- they should have at most gone up to the guy, said "Do you have our iPhone? We'd really like it back." and then filed a police report about their lost property if he denied having the phone. Apparently they have not done that, which means that as far as the law is concerned there is no lost -- nor stolen -- property at all! Which further begs the question of what the hell 4 SFPD cops are doing helping Apple out here, especially when SF residents say they can barely get help from one cop when they actually need it!
And apparently under California law, if you find a lost item and do not report it immediately, that's considered theft. Which means that the lost iPhone 5 prototype is indeed stolen property now, even though Apple lost it.
Still, yes, completely and utterly ridiculous the way this is being handled by Apple -- they should have at most gone up to the guy, said "Do you have our iPhone? We'd really like it back." and then filed a police report about their lost property if he denied having the phone. Apparently they have not done that, which means that as far as the law is concerned there is no lost -- nor stolen -- property at all! Which further begs the question of what the hell 4 SFPD cops are doing helping Apple out here, especially when SF residents say they can barely get help from one cop when they actually need it!
In fairness - Kromey