Teens Settle Lost iPod Dispute; Plan To Use Publicity To Help McGruff

from the about-time dept

Fri, Nov 10th 2006 5:12pm — Mike Masnick

Remember the case of the stolen iPod? That was where a teenager (or perhaps her mother) sued her (formerly) close friend after the friend placed the iPod she had borrowed on a schoolroom desk, where it was promptly stolen. After this story got out, some people offered to donate an iPod and iTunes credit to end the lawsuit, but the mother of the girl refused. However, it looks like the case has now been settled. Engadget points us to the details of the settlement. The girl who borrowed and lost the iPod will give her own iPod to the original iPod owner -- but rather than use it, they will auction off the iPod, hopefully capitalizing on the fame of the case to drive up the price. They'll then use the proceeds to begin a "junior CrimeStoppers program" in their neighborhood. Believe it or not, it seems that the girls worked all this out between themselves without getting the mother who refused the donated iPods involved. She claims the trade is "an insult" -- even though this iPod is a video iPod with a lot more storage, rather than the iPod Nano that was lost. What's really odd about the whole case, however, is how little attention was paid to figuring out who actually stole the original iPod. If it was just in a classroom, the number of suspects can't be all that high. One more chapter in our ever so litigious society -- though, it's nice that the girls figured out how to come to an amicable settlement (even if the mother wasn't thrilled with it).

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21 Comments

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PhysicsGuy, 10 Nov 2006 @ 6:21pm

interesting
this case originally disgusted me... however, it certainly is refreshing to see the youth of today coming through somewhat unscathed by immoral goings on in our society... the get rich quick let's sue someone for looking at me the wrong way mentality is appalling.
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Colonel Mustard, 10 Nov 2006 @ 6:27pm

Plum
I think the Professor Plum stole it with the knife in the study. Oh wait that's clue and this seems pretty shady. I think the girls figured the could cash in if they came to some settlement and put it on the news. Why else would they come to a settlement where neither ended up with an ipod where in fact the total of personal losses is ~$500. I bet the girl 'broke' or lost the ipod and made the theft story up and figured she would end up loosing her ipod no matter what and that if she did some charitable act she would be a winner.
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jimbo, 10 Nov 2006 @ 7:49pm

chaos
I don't know, maybe its just me but I can't believe the things that make it on the news these days. That being said i think it is inspiring that these young people have found a good solution for all involved and for a cause as well.
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Anonymous Coward, 10 Nov 2006 @ 9:05pm

That's twice now I've seen the "for love or money" post on here.. dude.. stop posting that insanely long thing and come up with an original idea.

So on the topic... It has yet to be seen that they have actually set up this "junior crime stoppers" thing. Lets wait till that is up and running before we start giving them accolades. And on another note... who's really going to buy that iPod?
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Solo, 10 Nov 2006 @ 9:10pm

A few random points:

Blog entries cater to readers with ADD who want short description of a specific point/story. That's the name of the game. So when you post a 2,500 words rant story in an irrelevant comment, nobody's gonna read it. Yes, I'm looking at you sivasankaran.

Back when I was a kid, if one of my "friend" would lose my $350 doodad, all that it got him was a painful puch in the face. Then again, I did not have anything to my name that expensive. Closest to that was a $20 calculator. And losing it would still get you a punch in the face.

Finally, sivasankaran, that was a great story, thanks for sharing. However I did not read it. I would suggest you get your own glob.
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Anonymous Coward, 10 Nov 2006 @ 10:27pm

weird i thought school was a place for learning not music listening. back in school, if i had taken anything into class that was a distraction, the teacher took it away. if it would of gotten stolen i would have got my ass beat by my parents since i shouldn't of had it in school any way.
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Riz, 10 Nov 2006 @ 10:51pm

I can't believe this many people heard about this... this story broke out a town over from me (I had friends who went through the school, actually) and I thought it was stupid for even the local papers to be covering it. Now I see it here... jeez. Freaking ridiculous.
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Zac, 11 Nov 2006 @ 3:18am

I stole it
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2006 @ 5:07am

REEEE-----HEEEE----HHEEEE--TARDED
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2006 @ 6:03am

your all jerks, well at least the so called adults.
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justin pakosky, 11 Nov 2006 @ 7:56am

who cares if you 8 or 80 this is really dumb
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Fresh2, 11 Nov 2006 @ 8:17am

Re:
I knew it!
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A Used IPod At More Than Retail Cost New???, 11 Nov 2006 @ 9:56am

Re: Who Would Buy
Just because two little girls got their 2 seconds of fame from media by filing a lawsuit so ridiculously frivolous, does not mean their Ipod is now "special". The "extra" cost (if some sap buys into their lies) will not be spent to form a Junior police force. If they are such good detectives, where is the original music player? Who stole it? Besides, what methods can little kids use to stop criminal acts by minors? Binoculars and careful watching of others (others who are living their own life, instead of watching other people go about the day) in hopes that they see someone steal?
I suggest letting the camera equipped sharks do their job. That is why I pay taxes, to let the sharks make my time on this earth safer and help them feed their offspring.
You gotta give the two kids credit though, they learned at an early age how to milk the media for free advertising, money, and some "fame". Regular Paris Hilton wannabes.
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2006 @ 10:15am

It is interesting to see that the "children" were much more "adult" about all this than the so-called adult mother.

Some people should not have kids. This Mom is one of those people.
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James, 11 Nov 2006 @ 10:44am

Re: should not have kids
It is interesting to see that the "children" were much more "adult" about all this than the so-called adult mother.

Some people should not have kids. This Mom is one of those people.

Wait a sec, let's follow this logic. Children are more "adult" than the adult. So the adult, being less "adult" than the children, shouldn't have children, even though they are more "adult"?

Now, I agree that stupid people shouldn't breed (and that they breed faster), but this example proves the exception and not the rule.
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aK, 11 Nov 2006 @ 12:11pm

Re: Plum
That's quite a conspiracy story there, I'm not sure a couple of teenage kids could plot to that extent. Surely they are trying to profit from the fiasco but all's well that ends well I guess.
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leah, 11 Nov 2006 @ 12:52pm

Race plays a role here. The kids and parents involved had to be white. A black parent would have beaten their kid's butt for being stupid enough to take the IPOD to school in the first place.
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2006 @ 1:35pm

Re:
So, what, we remove all the white people? I would hope not all Caucasians are lawsuit-happy, and I'm a fair bit cynical.
I would say background, what the parents have been through, their experiences, is more important than race. Yes, part-African parents would react differently, but they also had ancestors who were slaves, while Caucasians don't seem to know anything about even indentured servitude. As usual, anyone could be wrong, myself included....
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Nov 2006 @ 6:34pm

You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your fucking khakis. You're not your video iPod. You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.

just kidding. felt appropriate.
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B, 12 Nov 2006 @ 8:15pm

Junior CrimeStoppers?
Depending on how much this iPod makes, will the end profit be enough to fund this kind of program? I don't think it would in my mind, but who knows what kind of money this thing might bring in.
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Nov 2006 @ 12:27pm

Re: Junior CrimeStoppers?
I want to see the Junior CrimeStoppers be convicted of Junior Racketeering.
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