[ambush]

http://www.evanwashere.com/StolenSidekick/

This is going to far.

Can't he just call the police like every normal citizen? Does he have to humiliate a family on the net to feel better?

What's the point of revenge, in this case?

[Chuckit]

Nah. The racist bitch can steal his phone, sure, but if he uses her own stupidity in committing the crime to embarrass her, that's too far? I don't think so. That's karma.

[torsoboy]

I don't think it is going too far. If these people never learned that stealing is wrong, maybe this will wake them up.

[Mastrap]

These guys are classy.

[ghporter]

Why not just keep your phone/pda with you instead of leaving it in a taxi? Is it that hard? I have NEVER left a phone in a taxi or someone else's car, though I have left one in MY car overnight-my wife had it to answer a call while I was driving. But that was MY car.

This guy took the event personally. How could such a random event be personal if he'd never met the person who took the phone before? It's just childish to be so self-centered that everything is about you. But using the thief's own misconduct to embarrass her works for me, even if the guy did it for childish reasons.

[ebuddy]

Originally Posted by ghporter

Why not just keep your phone/pda with you instead of leaving it in a taxi? Is it that hard? I have NEVER left a phone in a taxi or someone else's car, though I have left one in MY car overnight-my wife had it to answer a call while I was driving. But that was MY car.

This was my first thought. Why not learn a lesson the first time you lost your ever-important Sidekick? He went so far as to mention that it has been returned to him before.

This guy took the event personally. How could such a random event be personal if he'd never met the person who took the phone before?

I don't think he's taking it personally. When he first found out who the thiefs were, he tried to get them to do the right thing. They refused. How many times has something been stolen or vandalized and you thought to yourself; "if I only knew who did it or caught them doing it!" This is the perfect opportunity for using today's technology to help common justice. I love it. I absolutely love it. Any other time, this guy would just be out the $300.00 for the Sidekick. I mean the alternative is having to buy a new one. Who wants that if you don't need to?

It's just childish to be so self-centered that everything is about you.

I didn't get that gh. I don't think they're being selfish, I think the guy's interested in getting his stolen property back. He's exploiting the thief's stupidity and using whatever medium he has it his disposal to ensure the return of stolen property.

But using the thief's own misconduct to embarrass her works for me, even if the guy did it for childish reasons.

[ghporter]

I was going by his dependence on other people keeping up with his sidekick for him. Like mom does... That's the childish point I picked up on. Seriously, I would expect an adult to be aware of where his wallet, watch and phone were whenever he was in public-and to make that transition into the public smoothly. This individual seems to ned looking after. Maybe a lanyard for his sidekick? Like the mitten-keeper you use on little kids?

[sabrejim]

Are you guys telling me you've never left your phone in your own car? If you live in a congested city, the easiest way to travel is via taxi. You are bound to leave the phone in there a few times if you are in an dout every day.

[Socially Awkward Solo]

Originally Posted by ambush

http://www.evanwashere.com/StolenSidekick/

This is going to far.

Can't he just call the police like every normal citizen? Does he have to humiliate a family on the net to feel better?

What's the point of revenge, in this case?

Are you kidding? did you see what that bitch did when he took all reasonable means to get it back?

No way her family doesn't know how she got that phone.

She deserves every bit of ridicule she gets.

[Eug Wanker]

That page is hilarious. Thanks for posting that.

Originally Posted by ghporter

Why not just keep your phone/pda with you instead of leaving it in a taxi? Is it that hard?

Sh!t happens.

[jokell82]

Originally Posted by Socially Awkward Solo

Are you kidding? did you see what that bitch did when he took all reasonable means to get it back?

No way her family doesn't know how she got that phone.

She deserves every bit of ridicule she gets.

Quoted for truth.

[Socially Awkward Solo]

I like that other site where that dude bought a busted laptop on ebay and when he didn't get his money back he scanned the hard drive and found all sorts of embarrassing personal pictures and information and posted it.

[production_coordinator]

While I think it's funny, I feel sorry for the posters, as they are probably breaking the law in many areas.

[Mastrap]

Having just taken a look at this guy's site I have changed my mind. He's a total sleezeball who fancies himself as a softcore porn photographer. And not a good one.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by production_coordinator

While I think it's funny, I feel sorry for the posters, as they are probably breaking the law in many areas.

Why? The people who took the sidekick are uploading those pictures to the posters account. The posters are doing nothing illegal. The people who took the sidekick are piggybacking on the posters account and hosting those pictures on it.

[Chuckit]

EDIT: D'oh, misunderstood.

[Cody Dawg]

I think it's GREAT.

Yes, she left her Sidekick in a taxi...but not only did these people keep it knowing it wasn't theirs...but they ridiculed and flaunted the actual owner of the Sidekick.

They deserve global humiliation, arrest, and jail time.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

I think it's GREAT.

Yes, she left her Sidekick in a taxi...but not only did these people keep it knowing it wasn't theirs...but they ridiculed and flaunted the actual owner of the Sidekick.

They deserve global humiliation, arrest, and jail time.

For once Cody and I agree.

[eltrut]

Originally Posted by ambush

This is going to far.

Why ? Give me one good reason !

[Socially Awkward Solo]

I've found 2 cellphones in my lifetime. Both times I went out of my way to make sure it got back to the owner when I could have easily sold them as they were good phones.

[Cody Dawg]

I don't understand how a person could USE someone ELSE's property whether it is a cell phone or a Sidekick or a laptop or anything. I would feel so guilty every single time I used it - KNOWING that it is not mine - that it would take any sense of satisfaction in using it away.

The point is that you don't keep what is not yours.

Once my husband and I found a BAG of money on the ground outside the night deposit box at a Bank of America. $4800 was in that bag. We wrote a note and put it in the night deposit box saying that we'd found it and thought that perhaps the person meant to put it in the box?

Anyway, it was accidentally dropped when the person deposited another bag - it fell on the ground when she opened her door to reach over to put the bags in the night deposit drop - and she never knew it. She was very grateful (the money bag's owner) and thanked us profusely. Fortunately there was a number on the bag that indicated which business would have been depositing it so the bank (Bank of America) could track the owner down.

How can you take or use something that is not yours?

How lame.

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

The point is that you don't keep what is not yours.

...is the correct answer.

[ambush]

This is public humiliation.... Medieval style.

Justice is handled by the ****ING STATE. Not individuals.
Public humiliation will NOT lead you anywhere good.
Nothing good comes from vengence either.

comment from a digger
Where does this kind of justice end? Agreed , the phone was stolen and should be returned asap. But looking at the bigger picture , it seems like this kind of Internet vigilantism just gets more and more agressive to the point where something which begins small just explodes and grows out of control... I agree with 99% of the comments made here , this girl should be taught a lesson , she should return the phone , etc...

But in the future , what happens when your driving and you accidently cut someone of , they use their camera phone to take a picture of your plates , get up on a net message board with something crazy like "this jackass cut me off , and I almost crashed lets teach him a lesson"? Then from there they find out all your information , and then you have people who have been cut off before harassing you blaming all their problems on you? How do you stop something like that and who wins? If someone makes an accusation and it starts to snow ball , if your right , if your wrong , it doesn't matter because the mob of people have already said you did it...

[eltrut]

Originally Posted by ambush

This is public humiliation.... Medieval style.

Justice is handled by the ****ING STATE. Not individuals.
Public humiliation will NOT lead you anywhere good.
Nothing good comes from vengence either.

Who has hijacked ambush's account ? Surreal.

[Chuckit]

So if nothing good comes from vengeance, why does it matter whether you use the state or a Web site to accomplish nothing good?

Anyway, I agree that this won't really accomplish anything good. He's just getting even. That doesn't mean he's going too far in doing so, though. Now, if he went and blew up their house, that would be too far — but quite frankly, if you steal something, I think you deserve to be called a thief. That's not too far.

[ambush]

Cody might also be interestd in viewing the "vigilante"'s other pages like
http://www.evanwashere.com/pics/Girls/index.html


a real stud
Reminds me of IceEnc, sans glam style.
Maybe someone should teach him how to spell "you".

[ambush]

Originally Posted by Chuckit

So if nothing good comes from vengeance, why does it matter whether you use the state or a Web site to accomplish nothing good?

Anyway, I agree that this won't really accomplish anything good. He's just getting even. That doesn't mean he's going too far in doing so, though. Now, if he went and blew up their house, that would be too far — but quite frankly, if you steal something, I think you deserve to be called a thief. That's not too far.

The main problem is that he's exposing people that probably have NOTHING to do with this.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by ambush

The main problem is that he's exposing people that probably have NOTHING to do with this.

They are uploading photos to his Sidekick account. They obviously have something to do with this, and he's under no obligation not to post those photos. If someone stole my Powerbook and started uploading photos to my .Mac account, I also wouldn't be under any obligation not to post them.

[Cody Dawg]

Hear, hear.

[production_coordinator]

Originally Posted by goMac

Why? The people who took the sidekick are uploading those pictures to the posters account. The posters are doing nothing illegal. The people who took the sidekick are piggybacking on the posters account and hosting those pictures on it.

If I steal your paintbrush... and use it to make a piece of art... and you in turn steal the art... there are two laws being broken.

1) Me stealing your paintbrush.
2) You stealing my art

I'm NOT defending the scum that stole the sidekick. But the poster very well could have opened himself up for legal action... "mental anguish" "invasion of privacy" etc. etc.

I'm no lawyer, but I've seen crazier cases win.

[Eug Wanker]

Originally Posted by production_coordinator

If I steal your paintbrush... and use it to make a piece of art... and you in turn steal the art... there are two laws being broken.

1) Me stealing your paintbrush.
2) You stealing my art

I'm NOT defending the scum that stole the sidekick. But the poster very well could have opened himself up for legal action... "mental anguish" "invasion of privacy" etc. etc.

I'm no lawyer, but I've seen crazier cases win.

Meh. It's funny.

[shunt]

He has good taste in women. I could never remember all of their names.

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by production_coordinator

If I steal your paintbrush... and use it to make a piece of art... and you in turn steal the art... there are two laws being broken.

1) Me stealing your paintbrush.
2) You stealing my art

I'm NOT defending the scum that stole the sidekick. But the poster very well could have opened himself up for legal action... "mental anguish" "invasion of privacy" etc. etc.

Since the gadget thief is uploading to the gadget owner's account, isn't that effectively giving the pics to him?

You post something through my door, you're giving it to me to do what I want with. There's no theft involved.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by Mastrap

Having just taken a look at this guy's site I have changed my mind. He's a total sleezeball who fancies himself as a softcore porn photographer. And not a good one.

Where do you get that from? I mean, yeah, he fancies himself a softcore photographer, which, heaven knows, he shouldn’t, judging by the quality of his shots. Ick.

But sleazeball? I can’t see any sleazeballish parts of that site... just lots and lots of 404s, “Coming soon”s, and one page that I’m not really sure what is, it just looks very odd.

The main problem is that he's exposing people that probably have NOTHING to do with this.

He actually does write several places that he was debating whether or not to put up certain other pictures and pieces of information about people he was not sure were involved. As far as I can tell, he hasn’t actually done this—he’s only exposed people that were definitely involved in this thing.

As for the part about this being vigilantism or taking justice into your own hands—yes, it is. However, there is at least one factor that prevents this from overstepping the boundaries: he uses only information that’s already in the public domain, or which he himself owns.

Also, in some (many) cases, it can be necessary to draw attention to a crime before the authorities will deal with it. One thing the ‘military guy’ was right about: if it hadn’t been for this whole website thing, and all the mails from attorneys, etc., there would be little hope for the victim of this particular crime to get much reaction from the police. The NYPD does indeed “have better things to do” than looking for (from taxis) stolen mobile phones. So yeah. While I agree, in spirit/theory, with ambush [did I just say that?!?], I see this one as quite justifiable.

[Socially Awkward Solo]

Have you guys checked he site?

That girl in the pic is 16 years old and has a 1 year old kid. To top it off her "boyfriend" is 25.

and they have sending threats.

[chris v]

Originally Posted by production_coordinator

If I steal your paintbrush... and use it to make a piece of art... and you in turn steal the art... there are two laws being broken.

1) Me stealing your paintbrush.
2) You stealing my art

I'm NOT defending the scum that stole the sidekick. But the poster very well could have opened himself up for legal action... "mental anguish" "invasion of privacy" etc. etc.

I'm no lawyer, but I've seen crazier cases win.

They posted them to his web space. I can imagine these people trying to get a lawyer.

"Hello, I'd like to sue someone -- I stole their phone, took pictures with it of myself, then posted them to the victim's web page, and boy am I pissed! ... uh, hello? ... hello? Crap, they hung up!"

[olePigeon]

It's on Slashdot now. They're screwed.

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by chris v

"Hello, I'd like to sue someone -- I stole their phone, took pictures with it of myself, then posted them to the victim's web page, and boy am I pissed! ... uh, hello? ... hello? Crap, they hung up!"

Judging from the girl's email, it's more like "Sup, Law. I snaped some ringobling and he was all up in that, and I was like, 'Sup bitch! Ball's in my court now!' Then he's awe 'daaaaaamn' and I was awe 'oh no you didn't!'"

[zmcgill]

Originally Posted by olePigeon

Judging from the girl's email, it's more like "Sup, Law. I snaped some ringobling and he was all up in that, and I was like, 'Sup bitch! Ball's in my court now!' Then he's awe 'daaaaaamn' and I was awe 'oh no you didn't!'"

Oh snap!

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by chris v

They posted them to his web space. I can imagine these people trying to get a lawyer.

"Hello, I'd like to sue someone -- I stole their phone, took pictures with it of myself, then posted them to the victim's web page, and boy am I pissed! ... uh, hello? ... hello? Crap, they hung up!"

Well... isn’t it kind of the principle in copyright law when dealing with art that the creator of the artwork [yes, I realise I’m calling those ridiculously unimportant and worthless photos ‘artwork’] retains copyright of the artwork pretty much no matter what?

Even if I steal your camera, use it to take pictures, use your dark room to develop the pictures [as I could, since I know you’re still firmly planted in the world of non-digital photography ], and put all the pictures on your desk, I would still have copyright of the pictures, and you would, technically, need my permission to display the pictures publically.

At least, that’s my understanding of how copyright law is usually interpreted—if I’m mistaken, please to stand me corrected.

(Yes, I know I’m saying kind of the opposite of what I said yesterday; I care not. Who needs consistency, anyways?)

[zmcgill]

The problem is that I'm sure these people are too stupid to figure this out and the internet has already declared them guilty and sentenced them to death.
Reading some of his stats is amazing. His 'groupies' managed to take down SEVERAL forums he tried setting up and he's getting big charges from his ISP for bandwidth overusage. He woke up to something like 1400 new email. Apparently he's getting a case number from the NYPD and making this official.

[Monique]

They deserved to be humiliated. We are not talking about a quarter of some money that you find without any sorts of I.D. It is an electronic device that probably cost a lot of money.

Today's kids were not raised properly and think this is ok to steal. Where was the mother of that girl. Being her parents wouldn't you wonder where she would get an expensive piece of electronics. And if you do not know this is very sad. At 16, she should be watched every day by her parents and being asked hundred of questions. What else has she stolen in her short lifetime with the blessings of her parents.

Also, if you have an expensive toy you try to keep on you and not to loose it all the time.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by Monique

Today's kids were not raised properly and think this is ok to steal.

And this is different from any other time in history... how, exactly? ‘Kids’ (or, more precisely: some kids) have been ‘improperly raised’ since the dawn of time.

Where was the mother of that girl. Being her parents wouldn't you wonder where she would get an expensive piece of electronics. And if you do not know this is very sad. At 16, she should be watched every day by her parents and being asked hundred of questions. What else has she stolen in her short lifetime with the blessings of her parents.

Wow, that was a lot of jumping to conclusions all at once. She may not have parents. She may have moved away from home due to problems with her parents. There are a dozen possible explanations, and since we don’t know a thing about this aspect of it, one is as good as any other.

And no, at 16, her parents should not be “watching” her and asking her hundreds of questions. If she had been raised properly (yes, I obviously agree she wasn’t), she should be a sensibly thinking individual at the age of 16 who should not need “watching”. Being a caring parent doesn’t mean being Big Brother to your children.

Also, if you have an expensive toy you try to keep on you and not to loose it all the time.

As Eug said: sh*t happens. I’ve lost a phone in a taxi as well, once. (As far as I’ve been able to figure out) it fell out of my bag and fell down under the seat as I was taking out my wallet, in order to pay for the ride. I never knew it wasn’t in my bag any longer until I reached home and wanted to take it out.

[Socially Awkward Solo]

Originally Posted by Monique

At 16, she should be watched every day by her parents and being asked hundred of questions.

Actually she IS a parent at 16.

[chris v]

Originally Posted by Oisín

Well... isn’t it kind of the principle in copyright law when dealing with art that the creator of the artwork [yes, I realise I’m calling those ridiculously unimportant and worthless photos ‘artwork’] retains copyright of the artwork pretty much no matter what?

Even if I steal your camera, use it to take pictures, use your dark room to develop the pictures [as I could, since I know you’re still firmly planted in the world of non-digital photography ], and put all the pictures on your desk, I would still have copyright of the pictures, and you would, technically, need my permission to display the pictures publically.

At least, that’s my understanding of how copyright law is usually interpreted—if I’m mistaken, please to stand me corrected.

(Yes, I know I’m saying kind of the opposite of what I said yesterday; I care not. Who needs consistency, anyways?)

Okay, maybe he dint respect her copyright, but what I'm tryna say is "good luck pressing that lawsuit."

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by chris v

Okay, maybe he dint respect her copyright, but what I'm tryna say is "good luck pressing that lawsuit."

Well, I don’t like to say it, but is is America. To my knowledge, no other country has quite the same penchant for throwing open-and-shut cases out the window because of some small technicality. I could sort of imagine this whole case falling flat on its arse, simply because this guy posted these pictures on the Internet without a legal right to do so.

Or have I been watching too much The Practice?