View Full Version : Small leak at Nokia research center. Guy steals 55 prototypes.
Rauha
05-14-2010, 10:38 AM
Funny story in finnish newspaper about a man who was employee at one of Nokia's subcontractors. Between March 2009 - February 2010 he stole:
-98 mobilephones of which 55 were prototypes.
-28 laptops
-232 mobilephone batteries
-one projector.
He got caught. Court gave him 7 month suspended sentence and he had to pay about 3000 euros to Nokia in damages.
More in finnish: http://www.hs.fi/kaupunki/artikkeli/Ty%C3%B6ntekij%C3%A4+varasti+Nokian+puhelinten+pro totyyppej%C3%A4/1135256803978
Dave999
05-14-2010, 10:41 AM
Do we know if he also stole PR 1.2? Can't find it.
Isn't that a little too .. lenient?
Shouldn't Nokia take this more seriously?
extendedping
05-14-2010, 10:45 AM
you cant steal what never existed.
ossipena
05-14-2010, 10:46 AM
eldars supplier maybe?
ossipena
05-14-2010, 10:48 AM
Isn't that a little too .. lenient?
Shouldn't Nokia take this more seriously?
avoiding "don't be evil" -syndrome maybe?
abill_uk
05-14-2010, 10:49 AM
Do we know if he also stole PR 1.2? Can't find it.
THAT was funny lol NOW we know why we aint got 2.1 lol :p
atilla
05-14-2010, 10:54 AM
good jub next time please **** on nokias servers too
benny1967
05-14-2010, 10:56 AM
Isn't that a little too .. lenient?
Shouldn't Nokia take this more seriously?
unlikely nokia would be in the position to decide this. if it happened in the civilized part of the world, they have laws and independent courts.
Rob1n
05-14-2010, 10:57 AM
Isn't that a little too .. lenient?
Shouldn't Nokia take this more seriously?
I don't think Nokia have any say in the situation. Theft is usually a criminal offence, so it's up to the judge to impose the sentence. Potentially Nokia could sue him for breach of contract or something, but I doubt it's worth the legal costs.
andyfrommk
05-14-2010, 10:57 AM
Isn't that a little too .. lenient?
My thoughts exactly, even though he didn't sell them, the article mentions aggravated theft
Shouldn't Nokia take this more seriously?s/Nokia/Finnish Courts
Link to the article via Google.translate (http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.hs.fi/kaupunki/artikkeli/Ty%25C3%25B6ntekij%25C3%25A4%2Bvarasti%2BNokian%2B puhelinten%2Bprototyyppej%25C3%25A4/1135256803978&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&twu=1&usg=ALkJrhgNNqDaEdj4BkgXfLcjn7H_4esDfw)
@ossipena: whatever the motivations, they need to make sure people are afraid of following this guy's footsteps... 3000 Euro for 98 phones? That makes it just under 30 Euro per phone, let alone the 55 prototypes out of all that.
This is blatant mismanagement...
@legal limitation comments:
Then Nokia should consider limiting the distribution of their sensitive (read: proto) phones to R&D labs within countries with sufficient legal protection to ensure such act will be minimized...
ok ok, i'll get back to topic... let's not go to long rants about legal/patent-system implementations of different countries and how they affect innovations :D
Rauha
05-14-2010, 11:15 AM
This is blatant mismanagement...
No it's the finnish justice system and it's very lenient way of punishing for crimes. One of those ClosetCommieTreehuggingPinkoLiberal aspects of nordic society.
Forgot from my OP that the guy just kept the stuff and didn't sell it. He gave all back after he was arrested.
stlpaul
05-14-2010, 11:20 AM
Isn't that a little too .. lenient?
Shouldn't Nokia take this more seriously?
Based on english translation it sounds like all stolen goods were returned to Nokia & punishment was 1/10th of the value of the stolen items. Or something like that. Maybe someone who reads Finnish can give us the details. :)
No it's the finnish justice system and it's very lenient way of punishing for crimes. One of those ClosetCommieTreehuggingPinkoLiberal aspects of nordic society.
Forgot from my OP that the guy just kept the stuff and didn't sell it. He gave all back after he was arrested.
Oh, that explains it...
I assume that he proved he didn't misuse the items nor divulge any company secrets to anyone else, and after returning everything back to Nokia it's as if all the damages were sort of nullified.
Still... those prototypes represent Nokia's 'next few steps' in the mobile competition game. They should be guarded like crazy.
gerbick
05-14-2010, 11:24 AM
The fact that he didn't spill the beans is counter-intuitive to how well-connected everybody is to the Internet is now.
wmarone
05-14-2010, 11:36 AM
The fact that he didn't spill the beans is counter-intuitive to how well-connected everybody is to the Internet is now.
Maybe he's like one of those postal workers that steal mail. Stuff that has no value or purpose to them, and they just stash it.
rmerren
05-14-2010, 11:38 AM
Good thing he didn't live in California. The cops bust down your door there when you have unauthorized phone prototypes.
gerbick
05-14-2010, 11:43 AM
Maybe he's like one of those postal workers that steal mail. Stuff that has no value or purpose to them, and they just stash it.
Never thought of that...
tzsm98
05-14-2010, 11:44 AM
Maybe he's like one of those postal workers that steal mail. Stuff that has no value or purpose to them, and they just stash it.
Sounds like this guy might need some counseling and pharmceutical assistance in keeping his hands off what doesn't belong to him.
How many models do Nokia release every year anyway?
Even by Nokia's standard, 98 seems a plenty....
Maybe the prototypes are of those entry level phones, which is why it's not taken that seriously...
benny1967
05-14-2010, 11:55 AM
Good thing he didn't live in California. The cops bust down your door there when you have unauthorized phone prototypes.
not part of the civilized world then, i'd guess....
not part of the civilized world then, i'd guess....
They don't put individual rights above the many, when a breach of trust occurs...
aironeous
05-14-2010, 11:58 AM
Just somehow nuked 8 hours of me typing a post here between movies because the company that made this keyboard stuck too many important keys next to the regular ones.
I have no idea how I just nuked the last 8 hours of my life. That is total fail.
Lesson learned = Can I please f'n get an alphabetical keyboard with important keys F'N separate from what I'm typing because sometimes I drink alcohol? I might hit a wrong key/s.
Uhm is that so f'n hard?
Have teenagers working in your company designing the keyboards?
cBeam
05-14-2010, 12:02 PM
not part of the civilized world then, i'd guess....
<sarcasm on>
Hmm, do you think you have a point here? After all we have the death penalty here in the US, and therefore our murder/crime-rate is much lower than for instance in Finland.
Oh wait, I just looked up the numbers, yes we have stricter punishment but our crime rate is higher? The statistics must be wrong!
<sarcasm off>
gerbick
05-14-2010, 12:03 PM
not part of the civilized world then, i'd guess....
Gotta admit... this made me laugh harder than anything else today so far.
HellFlyer
05-14-2010, 12:10 PM
So this guy for almost a year! every time after work took some stuff with him and just went home? :D wow...just wow don't you think he wasnt acting alone?
benny1967
05-14-2010, 12:13 PM
They don't put individual rights above the many, when a breach of trust occurs...
"the money". the word you were looking for is "money", not "many".
"the money". the word you were looking for is "money", not "many".
Contrary to popular belief, steve jobs doesn't run apple alone.. and their company represents some $200B of the public's investments.
If there is any legal breach against their company, it's only natural the law enforcement put some effort to get to the bottom of things.
attila77
05-14-2010, 12:31 PM
If there is any legal breach against their company, it's only natural the law enforcement put some effort to get to the bottom of things.
Breaking down doors counts as quite a bit more than ’some effort’ in most places. Considering how popular gadget-blogging is, Eldar should be installing a swing door in that case, I guess.
peacekeper
05-14-2010, 12:31 PM
it would be good if this guy took the famous PR1.2 and desapeared it from the net, so everybody would stop searching and installing and of course some of them brickkiiiiiiinnngggg their cells. well done my friend wherever u are.
Texrat
05-14-2010, 12:34 PM
How many models do Nokia release every year anyway?
If I remember right, and it's held true, around 40 or so. Some of those 98 prototypes could have been duplicates. I typically received prototypes in batches of 10.
Breaking down doors counts as quite a bit more than ’some effort’ in most places. Considering how popular gadget-blogging is, Eldar should be installing a swing door in that case, I guess.
They had a warrant to search the house, and if he was home I guess he could've opened the door for the cops :)
Oh, Eldar never publicized how he acquired his leaks either... unlike Gizmodo whom have publicly confessed of how much they've paid to acquire the illegally obtained item.
If I remember right, and it's held true, around 40 or so. Some of those 98 prototypes could have been duplicates. I typically received prototypes in batches of 10.
And what were the penalties under the contract you're bound to if those prototypes were to be misused/gone missing like this guy's case?
festivalnut
05-14-2010, 12:48 PM
come on if this guy can manage to just take nearly 100 phones, more than half of them prototypes, then maybe nokia just arent putting enough effort into keeping track of them. i bet it was trying to lift the projector out the office in a mildly suspicious manner that got him busted in the end!
Texrat
05-14-2010, 12:59 PM
And what were the penalties under the contract you're bound to if those prototypes were to be misused/gone missing like this guy's case?
I don't remember. I never took the risk anyway.
gerbick
05-14-2010, 01:03 PM
I wonder if the Nokia 7700 was one of them. I sorta liked that one.
rmerren
05-14-2010, 01:33 PM
<sarcasm on>
Hmm, do you think you have a point here? After all we have the death penalty here in the US, and therefore our murder/crime-rate is much lower than for instance in Finland.
Oh wait, I just looked up the numbers, yes we have stricter punishment but our crime rate is higher? The statistics must be wrong!
<sarcasm off>
Why don't you leave California and come over here to Texas, where law enforcement is much more civilized. I don't think that Walker, Texas Ranger, would have stopped at just kicking one door in. (Yes...I did manage to pull Chuck Norris into this thread.)
festivalnut
05-14-2010, 01:37 PM
Why don't you leave California and come over here to Texas, where law enforcement is much more civilized. I don't think that Walker, Texas Ranger, would have stopped at just kicking one door in. (Yes...I did manage to pull Chuck Norris into this thread.)
you didn't manage to pull chuck norris anywhere, he is not pulled, anywhere chuck norris happens to be is exactly where chuck norris wants to be at that time! :)
I think this forum has got a great waste drainage system...
...almost all threads can go down the drain within hours time :D
cBeam
05-14-2010, 01:57 PM
Who is Chuck Norris? What is a Texas Ranger? Is this something like our Kindergarden Cop?
tzsm98
05-14-2010, 02:09 PM
Who is Chuck Norris? What is a Texas Ranger? Is this something like our Kindergarden Cop?
Chuck Norris is a martial arts enthusiast who played the role of a Texas Ranger, a member of law enforcement (not to be confused with keeping the peace). He is the epitome of in control, always right, macho. For example "When Chuck Norris falls into a pool he doesn't get wet - the pool gets Chuck Norris'd."
What any of this has to do with a leak at Nokia is beyond me. I will add that I recently acquired an SU-8W. When I popped out the old batteries when they died I saw the serial number 000056 and that it was marked prototype. That is the fourth time I've acquired a prototype Nokia device over the internet without knowing before hand it was a prototype when I purchased it The bozo who broke into my house in February walked off with the first three, a 6290 and two 7376 T-Mobile devices. All of these devices were crippled to a certain extent, failing to boot past the Nokia screen for example so I know who ever took them is going to be highly unhappy that I keep such "junk" lying around.
wmarone
05-14-2010, 02:27 PM
Why don't you leave California and come over here to Texas, where law enforcement is much more civilized.
Ahahahahahahahhahahhaha*gasp*ahahahahahahahhahahah ah!
ha...
ah...
Sorry, I just found that really, really funny.
ossipena
05-14-2010, 03:01 PM
@ossipena: whatever the motivations, they need to make sure people are afraid of following this guy's footsteps... 3000 Euro for 98 phones? That makes it just under 30 Euro per phone, let alone the 55 prototypes out of all that.
This is blatant mismanagement...
as I said. big nokia suing small human being and ruining the rest of ones life would be evil, wouldn't it?
gerbick
05-14-2010, 03:17 PM
Hell. At this rate, it's cheaper to still from Nokia to find out the future products than it is to keep buying their products only to find out it might/might not get support a year or so later.
Yay looting!
stlpaul
05-14-2010, 03:37 PM
Just somehow nuked 8 hours of me typing a post here between movies because the company that made this keyboard stuck too many important keys next to the regular ones.
I have no idea how I just nuked the last 8 hours of my life. That is total fail.
Lesson learned = Can I please f'n get an alphabetical keyboard with important keys F'N separate from what I'm typing because sometimes I drink alcohol? I might hit a wrong key/s.
Uhm is that so f'n hard?
Have teenagers working in your company designing the keyboards?
I don't know what keyboard you're talking about (PC? N900?) but I had one of those cheap $5 PC keyboards that had an extra row of keys between the arrows and the del/end/pgdn etc keys. Those keys were POWER, SLEEP and something else stupid. Placed in the worst possible location. I had another cheap keyboard with the same extra row, but instead they shifted the ins/dec/home/end/pgup/pgdn down, and put the power/sleep keys on the top row. My solution in both cases involved removing keys.
1st keyboard, use flat-head screwdrive to remove the keys. If rubber dome is still existing, put tape over it so you can never press it. Problem solved.
2nd keyboard, same thing, but remove all 9 of those keys and replace the "good" keys up 1 row where they belong, then remap the key definitions so those keys are back where they belong. (Depending on your operating system this is done in different ways)
If you've using one of those crazy "Multimedia keyboards" with a dozen extra buttons all over, or any recent Microsoft keyboard, then I don't know if there's any way to save it physically. Just remap those buttons so they don't do anything at all.
If you were referring to N900 keyboard, how did you manage to get 8 hours of battery life??? :p
stlpaul
05-14-2010, 03:41 PM
It sounds like maybe this guy was just kind of crazy or stupid, but not malicious. If he were working for competitor or something I have no doubt that Nokia would push for more harsh punishment. Now that he got "busted" and had to give back everything maybe it'll scare him away from doing this again.
It sounds like maybe this guy was just kind of crazy or stupid, but not malicious.
The guy had said that he wanted to see if he can assemble working devices out of the junk that was lying in carts waiting to be destroyed. So it was just a harmless geek without any common sense.
andyfrommk
05-14-2010, 04:34 PM
The guy had said that he wanted to see if he can assemble working devices out of the junk that was lying in carts waiting to be destroyed. So it was just a harmless geek without any common sense.
And, of course, he needed the projector to show his "building useful stuff from junk I stole" presentation, and the laptops were needed for...Awww c'mon, stop making excuses for the guy, when the place I work for were upgraging their cctv systems and I saw a camera destined for the compacter I asked if I could have it.
scifi.guy
05-14-2010, 05:02 PM
Chuck Norris is a martial arts enthusiast who played the role of a Texas Ranger, a member of law enforcement (not to be confused with keeping the peace). He is the epitome of in control, always right, macho. For example "When Chuck Norris falls into a pool he doesn't get wet - the pool gets Chuck Norris'd."
I have been purposefully avoiding the never-ending Chuck Norris thread but I have to admit I couldn't control my laughter reading this explanation :D
scifi.guy
05-14-2010, 05:11 PM
as I said. big nokia suing small human being and ruining the rest of ones life would be evil, wouldn't it?
Even if it is not evil, engadget and gizmodo will brainwash people into believing Nokia did something evil. All the while praising Apple of securing their assets (copyrights, prototypes). Yes, I did mention gizmodo. Even after all this 4G mess happened, I don't see any change in their Apple fanboy enthusiasm.
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