Teen Trades Hacked iPhone for Car

What amazes me is some kid computer geek designs a virus, or hacks a phone, that takes down thousands if not millions of computers and he gets a slap on the wrist, maybe some jail time only to have a lucrative contract waiting for him when he gets out. Who says crime doesn't pay? In our society it is a buffed out resume. Well, when crooks run things makes sense who they would hire, right? Apple will probably hire the kid for a 7 figure salary plus bonus.

Cheating yes, but it is all about marketing. I'm sure Apple will roll out additional features for additional cost in (next years model). Is there anyone from the Phillipines out here? I work with a guy who has an unlocked (other brand) which he claims does everything the Iphone does and more. He claims there are many more features available to phone useres in Asia.

Well it was only a matter of time until the phone got hacked. Still, I'm not interested in the phone. It has limited storage capacity with no slots for memory cards and if the battery goes you either need to send it in to get fixed, or get a new phone. No thanks. I'll keep my Mp3 player and smart phone separate for the time being.

this kid is trash and a liar.does new jersey need press this bad?look at the picture,this story is an obvious fake.

I agree with 20 Girl. Where were his parents, did they not teach this child any morals? No wonder when we purchase anything these days we have to sign away all our rights! Man is sometimes mans worst enemy!

If this dweeb is so smart, he should have invented he ePhone to compete with the iPhone rather than spending his time hacking.

It seems to have become the American way to steal ideas from others rather than to actually come up with an original idea of your own. The PTO needs to institute some stricter regulations.

As to the moron who was ragging on Apple products and/or Mac computers .. I have been using Macs since they were invented .. long before anyone heard of Windows. I have NEVER had any of my Macs break down on me.

You only get out of a computer what you put into it .. I'm thinking your problems had more to do with the person using the computer.

I earn my living on he Internet and wouldn't use anything but my Macs. I currently have 3 desktops and 4 laptops .. All Macs .. with the oldest one being 7 years old .. and they all work wonderfully!

i dont think george was the first to unlock the iphone because one week after the release i was in venezuela and saw the iphone for sale unlocked for use with a company by the name of digitel. i am not sure of the date when he unlocked the phone but it seems a little odd that this kid gets the credit for being the first.

I thought hacking was not legal, I know it is dishonorable, we have fallen so far when
we start rewarding dishonesty. I am becoming ashamed of our shabby morals.
Michael of Art. In God we trust

When you purchase any item, it is your right to do with it what you will. It belongs to you. If you want to unscrew the back and mess around with the wires, that is your decision to make. Apple doesn't make buyers sign an agreement that they won't do certain things to the items that they have purchased, it would be ridiculous. Apple isn't stupid, they certainly knew that their phone was "hackable", and AT&T knew it too. They chose to go ahead with their big money deal, because obviously they are making boatloads of cash even though they knew they would only temporarily have proprietary rights to the technology. The kid was not unethical, he was completely within his rights, and he's obviously smart as hell. I hope he has a long and successful career in technology. We'll probably all be benefitting from his smarts some day. No one should be feeling sorry for big, fat, wealthy businesses who behave in an unethical manner every single day (how about the name "iphone" that Apple used even though it belonged to another company?)

I think perhaps I spoke too quickly in my earlier comment, finding that he broke no laws and was really curious and being inventive, he is a smart
young man, and may God bless him, and I wish him well.
Michael of Art. In God we trust

What he did was illegal - if he was that smart he would have contacted AT&T and made a deal with them. Not sell for a car - he's an idiot and a crook !!!

Simple I think the boy is a thief ( smart thief) but still a theif.

Hmm I want to post a giant rant chewing out everyone who thinks hacking the iPhone is illegal. But I won't. I'll merely suggest you all look up the definition of the word. Then look around your house for things you've "hacked" unknowingly. Then call your local authorities and ask if you can turn yourself in... post back here with the average length of time they spent laughing at you.

I'll give you some good places to look for household "hacks". Are you using the top of your computer as a table/chair? Ever stood on a chair to change a lightbulb? Ever used the edge of your fork as a knife? If, so you've done some hacking of your own.

The term hacking simply means to use something for a purpose other than it was intended. It's a word that's long been used explicitly to describe illegal computer/electronics related activity, but the only criteria that need be met for an action to be considered hacking is that the action be unauthorized, not illegal.

Thus, in my examples above, the fork manufacturing company (in general) does not authorize that the fork be used as a cutting tool, or that the chair be stood upon or that your computer case be used as a table. If your fork had a warranty, using it for that purpose may void the warranty, but breaks no laws. It's the same with hacking an iPhone. You might void your warranty by using it for unauthorized purposes, but there's nothing illegal about it.

I thought this was awesome, an amazing feat of electronic hax! I love doing things like this only on a much much (much) smaller scale, like getting into the C drive that the teacher locked or soemthing like that. Soemthing else I thought was cool, somewhere it says his IQ is 152, which is the same as mine... I thought that was cool anyways :)

I have developed the software with link to use the iphone with any carrier. I will sell the software and link for a one-time fee of $250,000 US sent certified to PO Box 5905 Shreveport, LA 71135. Only one available.

1st off;

leave the kid alone;
mind your own business;
dont hate because he did something most of us cant;

PAL U R an idiot;
how is it unethical to tinker with hardware you paid for? are you saying its unethical for me to work on the engine of my own car to make it a better utensil for my own use? are you that stupid or did the eft from at&t/apple just clear the bank ? lol...

MIRANDA P. is a shill for at&t / apple;
every comment sounds as if she is out of breath from the last phone call to the kid trying to talk him into let her/him invest in some lam brain project he/she may be scamming...

XLAP soundsz like x-lax;
as bugz used to say, "what a maroon?"...

TONY A.;;
good catch; i was starting to wonder if i was the only one the internet who think people are just horrible at spelling these days;
i wonder about the IQ of a great many of these
posters too; dont the winbloze box they use have a spellcheck? maybe they are bad typists like me.
that can cause a lot of misspellings and maybe some of them dyslexic (not sure of that
spelling) but by and large americans suck at spellings and as the news recently stated cant find the US on a damned map. what a waste of education $$..

JOHN ARM(UNDERARMSR)STRONG;

what exactly did he steal since you are accusing
him of being a thief.

boggles the mind how shallow people can be;

cant believe how many adults are haters/jealous of young people today;

look at the whole process as a sort internship because many companies asked youngsters to do things way less dignified for a lot less pay;

all you people who call him not a good businessman seem to forget what yo'broke ass was doint at 17 years;

i guarantee none on this list where employed at the level this kid is today;


HATERS....

WOW 20GIRL, please quote for me the MORALS and ETHICS he's broken, I'm still trying to figure it out. first of all what he did was legal (well that USED to be a way to judge what is moral or not..) and second of all there's nothig wrong with what he did! Are you saying if I pop open my toaster and use the heating elements to warm my socks that I am also immoral and unethical? It's his phone, he can do what he wants. If some guy then wants to buy that phone, or my sock warmer, they are free to do that as well.

As far as everyone saying he's lame for taking the car... $35,000 divided by 500 hours of work = $70 per hour. Show me a 17 year old making that kind of cash. What you losers are forgetting is that he STILL has those same brains in his head, he can do something else that amazingly, and he can STILL get hired by Apple or some other company for his skill.

trudy is another of the less than intelligent posters on the story;

okay what did he break into that was not his own property;

secondly the u.s. supreme court has rules that opening up the inside cell phone is specifically NOT hacking - rtfm for once in your small life;
do we now live in such a fascist state that an individual cant open the case on a device he OWNS you MORON !!! ?

MARCI....IN A WORD.....NO !!!

TO-WIT...OR 1/2 WIT WOULD BE A BETTER MONICKER
FOR YOU;YOU ARE RIGHT...
NEW JERSEY DOESNT NEED ANYMORE TRASH THAN WHAT IT POLLUTES THE EASTERN SEABOARD WITH TODAY;
(IE. FESTERING PARMIGIANA AND THE LIKE)

DONT TAKE IT OUT ON THE KID BECAUSE YOU FEEL INADEQUATE;;;KNOW WHAT I MEAN FOLKS...

THIS KID AINT PART OF THE DIDNT D
ANYTHING TO APPLE EXCEPT SHOW PEOPLE
WHO HAVE THE ABILITY TO THINK FOR THEMSELVES THAT THERE IS A BETTER WAY...

i bet you cant mind your own business if someone
offered you 3 iphones and 30k cash;

ZIPPYDODA....DID YOUR MAMA GIVE YOU THAT NAME OR PICKED UP AT DOLLAR STORE...

YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY...

GUYS WHO TALK ABOUT IT ALL THE TIME ARE NOT
GETTING ANY MOST OF THE TIME ESPECIALLY WITH
A NICKNAME LIKE ZIPPY...AFF FORGET IT...

ITS JUST WAY TO EASY WITH THIS GUY...

Are you guys stupid or what? Apple and AT&T are both multi million dollar corporations. They most likely have a couple million dollar payroll just for their lawyers alone. Do you think they’ll give a punk kid a “million dollars” just to keep his hacking secret hush hush? Hell No! I think they would have had him arrested if he approached them with any type of “business proposition”