Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Apple Factory Thefts: Secret Tunnels, Hidden Crawl Spaces

theinformation.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 105 posts

Re: Apple Factory Thefts: Secret Tunnels, Hidden Crawl Spaces

#81

Post by _e »

bobbyi_settv wrote: post #71
windowtoss wrote: post #3

Throwaway account to be safe. ———— While I did not deal with Apple specifically, I did however deal with another major mobile phone corporation — at that time — and i’m sure most of you have heard of them: Research In Motion, RIM, BlackBerry, etc. This was during a time, my guess is 2008-2010, when forums, unreleased product leaks, and blogs were a very big business and leaks were lucrative to everybody. As a BlackBe…

There was a super interesting article in the New Yorker a few years ago about the smuggling of unreleased albums out of CD manufacturing plants back in the day. Your experiences remind a lot of that: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/04/27/the-man-who-br...

Very nostalgic! The article gets most of the history right. I believe kali formed HNA which merged into RNS. Being a computer nerd, I think having pre-released albums in school was the only time I felt cool.

UPDATE: found a site that has more background on RNS and the mp3 scene history -- https://www.mp3scene.info/groups/22/rns/

Re: Apple Factory Thefts: Secret Tunnels, Hidden Crawl Spaces

#82

Post by smudgymcscmudge »

gesman wrote: post #76
inlined wrote: post #8

> Apple’s suppliers are forbidden from referring to Apple by name or its project code names anywhere in buildings. In which buildings? Surely (at least vendor specific) codenames are necessary for basic communication. I was affected when a partner team was sidelined by an Apple contract. It was a fireable offense to say was Apple or leak it, but you could use internally to indicate that you had mandated commitments a…

We call it "Fruit company"

Same. I bet that’s common unless we’re coworkers.

Re: Apple Factory Thefts: Secret Tunnels, Hidden Crawl Spaces

#83

Post by samplatt »

Stratoscope wrote: post #74
Waterluvian wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah yes, Blackberry.

This is a good occasion to recommend a great British comedy sketch: My Blackberry Is Not Working! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAG39jKi0lI One reference that may not be familiar to all viewers: when the sketch was made in 2010, Orange was a popular UK mobile carrier. Enjoy!

How on earth have I gone nine years without seeing this? That was fantastic!

Re: Apple Factory Thefts: Secret Tunnels, Hidden Crawl Spaces

#84

Post by pixelbash »

rustguy wrote: post #77
ergothus wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Stopping after you're caught doesn't right your wrong. Nope! I still remain happy to see that something gets stopped without legal action, and seeing a company that didn't go for the throat succeeding in their defense. Just because a wrong isn't righted doesn't mean we can't be happy the situation didn't get worse.

Somehow I think if the poster conspired to steal your own cell phone, you'd feel differently. What about a shoplifter at Target? You're implying that companies prosecuting theft are somehow morally inferior to RIM.

Bit of a straw man isn't that? Your one single cell phone is a bit different from one of hundreds of prototypes not owned by anyone in particular or even intended for sale.

Re: Apple Factory Thefts: Secret Tunnels, Hidden Crawl Spaces

#85

Post by thunderrabbit »

Simon_says wrote: post #69
antod wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't help wondering about your word "were" (past tense)? Doing secret work for a ruthless criminal gang must be risky.

Were. Still are. But they were, too.

Sorry for the convenience.

Re: Apple Factory Thefts: Secret Tunnels, Hidden Crawl Spaces

#86

Post by caymanjim »

wongarsu wrote: post #51
nitrogen wrote: post #2

It's fascinating the lengths people will go to both when protecting and leaking unreleased products and manufacturing techniques. While I would do the same in Apple and Samsung's position, I am worried about the effects of durable secrecy on the sustainability of our society and markets. Markets need competition, and societies need public domain knowledge. If somehow a critical supplier is eliminated there would be n…

That's exactly why patents were invented: publish your secrets, in return the state gives you exclusive rights on the idea for 25 years. After that everyone can use the instructions from the patent application as they wish. Of course that system doesn't really work as intended anymore.

That works well when you only have to worry about one state with strong legal protections, like the US or Europe. An enormous part of China's economy is the manufacture of counterfeit goods and clones, due to lax enforcement. Patents are effectively meaningless there.

Re: Apple Factory Thefts: Secret Tunnels, Hidden Crawl Spaces

#87

Post by FruitCompanyEmp »

>>> Pregnant workers have complained about the use of metal detectors at facilities that make new products, only to be told they would have to change to less sensitive roles if they weren’t willing to submit to screening. Apple’s security policies specifically say no exceptions can be made for pregnancy.

Throwaway for obvious reasons.

Apple mandates that Foxconn worker's worker's wear uniforms with the only pockets on the knees. The goal is to minimize the perception of inappropriate touching during pat downs. Apple also mandates that exit security have a dedicated lane for female workers to be wanded by female guards.

Re: Apple Factory Thefts: Secret Tunnels, Hidden Crawl Spaces

#88

Post by pitterpatter »

windowtoss wrote: post #3

Throwaway account to be safe. ———— While I did not deal with Apple specifically, I did however deal with another major mobile phone corporation — at that time — and i’m sure most of you have heard of them: Research In Motion, RIM, BlackBerry, etc. This was during a time, my guess is 2008-2010, when forums, unreleased product leaks, and blogs were a very big business and leaks were lucrative to everybody. As a BlackBe…

Back around 2012 I was an intern at BlackBerry. My team had some test BlackBerry 10 devices, one of which I was using for my work. One day, I left for a late lunch or something and when I returned my test phone was gone. I looked everywhere wondering if I had misplaced it somehow or a team member took it. But asking around no one knew. A brief aside on our office layout: imagine a few closed door offices and meeting rooms along the walls with a large space in the middle. In that large space was a bunch of cubicles. I worked in one of those cubicles and the office right behind me was my director's office.

In any case, I told my manager what happened and things moved on. A couple years later I got a call from a police officer who wanted me to give a statement and possibly testify in court; they had a suspect. Eventually, I think they took a plea deal or just pleaded guilty and so I didn't end up going to court.

Re: Apple Factory Thefts: Secret Tunnels, Hidden Crawl Spaces

#89

Post by tinus_hn »

FruitCompanyEmp wrote: post #87

>>> Pregnant workers have complained about the use of metal detectors at facilities that make new products, only to be told they would have to change to less sensitive roles if they weren’t willing to submit to screening. Apple’s security policies specifically say no exceptions can be made for pregnancy. Throwaway for obvious reasons. Apple mandates that Foxconn worker's worker's wear uniforms with the only pockets o…

What does that even mean? Do these people think you can just walk around the metal detectors in an airport if you’re pregnant?

Re: Apple Factory Thefts: Secret Tunnels, Hidden Crawl Spaces

#90

Post by auslander »

FruitCompanyEmp wrote: post #87

>>> Pregnant workers have complained about the use of metal detectors at facilities that make new products, only to be told they would have to change to less sensitive roles if they weren’t willing to submit to screening. Apple’s security policies specifically say no exceptions can be made for pregnancy. Throwaway for obvious reasons. Apple mandates that Foxconn worker's worker's wear uniforms with the only pockets o…

> wear uniforms with the only pockets on the knees. The goal is to minimize the perception of inappropriate touching during pat downs

What about underwear?

Post reply on HN