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Teenagers Detained in Apple Store for Downloading Game to iPhone

Monday, June 2nd, 2008 at 4:25 PM - by

Four teenagers were detained in a Palo Alto Apple store and police were called after they downloaded a racing game to an iPhone at Apple's University Avenue store, according to the Palo Alto Daily News on Monday.

One of the boys, Daniel Fukuba, 17, downloaded a game, "Raging Thunder" to an iPhone, played the game with friends, and thought nothing of it as they left they store. After a manager in the store realized what they had done, he chased the boys down on the street and ordered them to return to the store where they were detained by Apple security. The Palo Alto police were called. The young men were questioned for over two hours, but the police did not make any arrests.

The teenagers said they were "lectured" by the manager about "hacking" the iPhone. The teenagers said their pictures were taken and claimed that the manager told them they would be banned from all Apple stores forever. However, Apple spokesperson Steve Dowling later said that that isn't true, and the boys are still welcome at any Apple store.

The boys said they aren't holding anything against Apple. "I'm not going to take it out on Steve Jobs or anything," Mr. Fukuba said.

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mahuti said:

member since 09 Jan 2003 with 377 posts, TMO Staff, send him a message or view his profile

Mon Jun 02, 2008 6:17 pm

I think the wrinkle that's missing from this article is that it was probably a store iphone, that the teens jailbroke while in the store. As I was reading this, I was thinking "so what" because I assumed they just downloaded it on their personal iphone... but I could see where the Apple wouldn't appreciate having a store phone on site with non-standard software loaded on it.

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iVoid said:

member since 10 Jan 2007 with 65 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Mon Jun 02, 2008 11:56 pm

I didn't think it was possible to jailbreak an iPhone without hooking it up to a computer?

In the Apple stores I've been to, the iPhones weren't near the Macs and were tethered to the display stands, so how could they have done it?

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Jun 03, 2008 1:02 am

Apparently uploading something to an instore cellphone trumps civil rights in Apple-land. These guys had already left the store and hadn't stolen or permanently damaged anything, so what right did the Apple Store employees have to accost them on the street and unlawfully detain them there.

It's no wonder these guys were let off with only a "lecture", if they'd decided to press charges against the store staff for assault, kidnapping and unlawful detention, it'd be Apple who were legally up $#!% creek.

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Sir Harry Flashman said:

member since 08 Feb 2007 with 792 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Jun 03, 2008 6:58 am

iVoid wrote:
I didn't think it was possible to jailbreak an iPhone without hooking it up to a computer?

In the Apple stores I've been to, the iPhones weren't near the Macs and were tethered to the display stands, so how could they have done it?

I would think that there is security camera video that shows how it was done, if indeed it was.

"Apparently uploading something to an instore cellphone trumps civil rights in Apple-land. "

It would trump civil rights in Trolland, or anywhere else.

"These guys ... hadn't stolen or permanently damaged anything"

There was no way of knowing that at the time"

"so what right did the Apple Store employees have to accost them on the street and unlawfully detain them there."

The same rights any store owner has when a suspected shoplifter leaves the store.

"It's no wonder these guys were let off with only a "lecture";, if they'd decided to press charges against the store staff for assault, kidnapping and unlawful detention, it'd be Apple who were legally up $#!% creek."

Well they will probably sue and then we will know who is farther up Troll Creek without a paddle.

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Intruder said:

member since 07 Jul 2004 with 3149 posts, TMO Mac Specialist, send him a message or view his profile

Tue Jun 03, 2008 10:02 am

Anonymous wrote:
Apparently uploading something to an instore cellphone trumps civil rights in Apple-land.

Please show me where the right to damage someone else's private property is guaranteed. The people in question had no right at all to do anything to the items on display in the store. Except, apparently, in troll-land.

Quote:
These guys had already left the store and hadn't stolen or permanently damaged anything, so what right did the Apple Store employees have to accost them on the street and unlawfully detain them there.

It is called detention, and is perfectly legal if the store employees have reasonable cause to suspect that a crime was committed (in this case damage/destruction of private property).

Quote:
It's no wonder these guys were let off with only a "lecture", if they'd decided to press charges against the store staff for assault, kidnapping and unlawful detention, it'd be Apple who were legally up $#!% creek.

Care to try to defend that in court? Or is this typical "Apple is BAAAAD" trolling?

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A guest said: (hide)

Tue Jun 03, 2008 1:19 pm

I've seen this story in a few other places and it's amazing how people jump to both extremes, from "Apple is fascism incarnate" to "those kids are criminal masterminds." Oddly enough, not one commenter has considered the possibility that the store manager is a jerk and acted on his own without direct orders from Apple headquarters. When you have as many stores as Apple does odds are you're going to get a bozo or two. I've experienced this personally in many other chains, where one store is open and friendly yet another store miles away treats all customers like criminal scum, all because of the managers in charge.

From what I've read, and the various follow-ups, it sounds as if the store manager went crazy, acted inappropriately, then lied about it afterwards to cover his ass. Check back in a week or two and I bet you'll find a new store manager working there, one that's a bit more familiar with the concept of "demo" products.

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