“Maybe an email, or a phone call from Apple. Instead, my first indication that something was ‘wrong’ was a real-life visit from the organization best known for protecting the President of the United States of America,” Kyle McDonald writes for Wired.
“They rang the doorbell a few times. It woke me up, and I tried to ignore it. There were always kids playing with the doorbells in our apartment building,” McDonald writes. “But the kids don’t normally shout, ‘this is the Secret Service, open the door,’ so I took that as my cue to get out of bed.”
McDonald writes, “I cracked the door open a few inches, and an agent was already leaning into the frame. He explained that he was from the Electronic Crimes Task Force, and that they had a search warrant. Under different circumstances it could have been quite cinematic, but it was an incredibly hot summer morning in Brooklyn. I was tired, and wearing only gym shorts.”
Read the full, true story here.
Related article:
Artist investigated over photo-snapping spyware in Apple Retail Stores – July 8, 2011
The next Mike Daisy.
This guy doesn’t seem to be telling lies about Apple. Also he seems to like Apple’s products. Mike Daisy is an Apple hater who just wanted to tarnish Apple’s name and make a buck doing it.
We should round up all the so-called “artists” and send them down into the coal mines to learn the value of an honest day’s labor.
Certainly, work in the mines is very physical. BTW, I know nothing about it. 😉 Work in artistic professions is simply a different path that involves alternative demands.
In America, we respect the right of the individual to seek his/her own path, unlike other geo-political groupings who impose vocational opportunities upon people based on aptitude or economic status, and regardless of the individuals desire.
And relax, Kyle didn’t do anything necessarily wrong. Apple is cool. The Secret Service is cool. So you might as well unwind your panties, too, James T.
I’m no art critic, I have no degree in Art, but I learned as a child that you don’t use other peoples stuff without asking their permission. He snuck his “art” into Apple’s store and computers… He’s guilty.. Hang him.
Incredible story, well told. One of the best tales of the intersection of law, art and technology I have read. Thanks Kyle for sharing your experience and keeping a cool head. And thanks MDN for posting this. Worthy of an HBO movie at least.
Best comment so far.
+1
I’ll have to take your word for it. This article was well into TL;DR territory for me. Don’t have that much time in the day, especially at work.
——RM
Outstanding comment. I am highly intrigued by the article. Parts of it are actually very funny also. I was laughing as I read the photographer’s generic statement and wondering, “You seriously believed that this was going to be ok?” I wondered if anyone could possibly be this innocent in this day and age.
If I’m reading that long winded article correctly (I had to skim it), this “artist” was in the wrong. These were not his computers to do what he wanted. If he’d set up his own somewhere and did his project using them that would be different.
He created his own Hell by choice. And his art sucks. I saw better renderings of real to picture in High School.
This moron got lucky.
I love this excerpt from the story.
“People do everything in the Apple Store, from recording music videos to writing autobiographies. Sometimes they’re even buying computers.”
What was NOT mentioned was that the Secret Service no doubt learned a lot about how one might program, quietly insert & use such image monitoring code.
After all, the Secret Service is interested in such activities for their own purposes.
The SS are even now secretly photographing Ballmer’s right nut eavesdropping on him while he’s using a Dell to check his gonads.
“this is the Secret Service, open up” — that’s what they said to us!
Man I’m so lucky they haven’t visited my place. I had a buddy who used to always shout “This is the police!” or “this is the FBI!” while beating on my door…
I would have never taken them seriously and they would have probably kicked my door in as I stood there like a total moron saying “Hey Cheech take off! I’ll be out in a minute!”
I love the part where the apple store employee tells him about all the rules… made me think of Fight Club…
The first rule of working at the Apple Store is you DO NOT TALK ABOUT THE APPLE STORE…
The second rule of working at the Apple store is YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT THE APPLE STORE…
haha
I’m about 90% in agreement with MacRaven.
It was a very long winded, rambling, article; very difficult to read without a 2L Pepsi for caffeine and sugar.
BIggest error – Not his computer (a very immature stunt). If you have to hide your actions, it is probably a bad idea (my 10 yr old nephew knows that).
The 10% where I disagree is my belief that his art sucks. All art has some value, however small it may appear. But, this “watercolor” is more like one of the thousands of filters you can get for Photoshop. Even if you layer a few of them together, I have a very difficult time noticing any artistic skills above that of a kid that received Photoshop for Christmas.
As a personal note, it burns my ass that he is adept at obtaining grants to get paid to think up this crap and I’m struggling to find a job, eating bologna sandwiches. Therein lies his true talent; free money.
If this is art, I really must create my own website. By comparison, I’m a genius.
It reminded me of this Think Different commercial.
Guess Apple forgot that message.
Nice guy. Cool article. But what do you expect will happen if you start installing secret photo stealing code?