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Apple to contribute to U.S. teen's education for spotting FaceTime bug

reuters.com

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Re: Apple to contribute to U.S. teen's education for spotting FaceTime bug

#11

Post by bertil »

chrisseaton wrote: post #3

Does offering to contribute to someone's education sound to anyone else like they're criticising his current level of education? Seems like an insult? Like 'we'll pay for you to get a better education so next time you'll know how to speak to us correctly.' Why don't they just give him cash compensation if they want to apologise?

They don't want to set a precedent of people blackmailing with a bug like rumours say he tried. The bounty program sets a price an avoid exploitation on both sides. Respecting that was more important.

Paying a scholarship allows Apple to send a valuable transfer but no cash, rewarding the discovery without setting a precedent.

Re: Apple to contribute to U.S. teen's education for spotting FaceTime bug

#12

Post by macintux »

chrisseaton wrote: post #7
vinceguidry wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounded to me like they're offering to contribute to an already-existing college fund or start one.

Right... but why that? Do they think there's a problem with his education specifically? Why not give him cash and let him put it in an education fund, or a pension fund, or whatever he wants? Why say 'and you'll want to use this to increase your education'? Like buying him a voucher for a facelift.

I believe he's receiving cash separately from the college fund.

A college fund is a common way to acknowledge that a teenager often isn't the best judge of how to spend an influx of cash. Heck, if all of my employee bonuses over the years had been added to my retirement fund instead of my checking account, I'd be in much better shape.

Re: Apple to contribute to U.S. teen's education for spotting FaceTime bug

#14

Post by eridius »

mikenew wrote: post #2

> "In addition to addressing the bug that was reported, our team conducted a thorough security audit of the FaceTime service..." Why would they have not done this in the first place? Apple has more money than they know what to do with, why not have teams of people banging away on this stuff? The actual exploit was incredibly simple.

They probably did do this in the first place. But products change over time, so they need to keep doing them.

Re: Apple to contribute to U.S. teen's education for spotting FaceTime bug

#15

Post by JustSomeNobody »

chrisseaton wrote: post #3

Does offering to contribute to someone's education sound to anyone else like they're criticising his current level of education? Seems like an insult? Like 'we'll pay for you to get a better education so next time you'll know how to speak to us correctly.' Why don't they just give him cash compensation if they want to apologise?

Why would it? That's just ... reading something into this that isn't there.

The child is what, 14? You're not going to just drop a bucket o' cash in his lap. They probably talked to his mom and worked this out.

Edit: Contributing to a minor's education is not uncommon in situations like this.

Re: Apple to contribute to U.S. teen's education for spotting FaceTime bug

#16

Post by simongr3dal »

chrisseaton wrote: post #7
vinceguidry wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounded to me like they're offering to contribute to an already-existing college fund or start one.

Right... but why that? Do they think there's a problem with his education specifically? Why not give him cash and let him put it in an education fund, or a pension fund, or whatever he wants? Why say 'and you'll want to use this to increase your education'? Like buying him a voucher for a facelift.

I do not think anyone offering to contribute to a tuition fund are trying to insult the person.

I can also imagine that putting the money in a fund have a lot of tax related benefits for both the persons giving and recieving the fund compared to paying it out in cash.

Re: Apple to contribute to U.S. teen's education for spotting FaceTime bug

#17

Post by duxup »

mikenew wrote: post #2

> "In addition to addressing the bug that was reported, our team conducted a thorough security audit of the FaceTime service..." Why would they have not done this in the first place? Apple has more money than they know what to do with, why not have teams of people banging away on this stuff? The actual exploit was incredibly simple.

I assume they do that sort of thing, but something was missed.

So you find out why you missed it, and do it again to look for anything else that may have been missed the same way.

Re: Apple to contribute to U.S. teen's education for spotting FaceTime bug

#18

Post by gdubs »

chrisseaton wrote: post #3

Does offering to contribute to someone's education sound to anyone else like they're criticising his current level of education? Seems like an insult? Like 'we'll pay for you to get a better education so next time you'll know how to speak to us correctly.' Why don't they just give him cash compensation if they want to apologise?

Well, it says they’ll “compensate [the family] and make an additional contribution [to his education fund]”, so it sounds like they’re doing both.

Re: Apple to contribute to U.S. teen's education for spotting FaceTime bug

#20

Post by setquk »

chrisseaton wrote: post #8
dx420 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So a College fund or a Scholarship is an insult?

Why not just the cash? An apology but you have to spend it how Apple wants? What's up with that?

What if he buys a meth lab with it?
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