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Consumerist Catches Geek Squad Stealing Porn
mekane8 writes "Consumer-advocate blog Consumerist ran a sting operation to catch a Best Buy Geek Squad member searching for and stealing media files from a customer's computer. The article includes the story with screen captures and a video of the technician's actions. From that piece: 'Reached for comment, Geek Squad CEO Robert Stephens expressed desire to launch an internal investigation and said, "If this is true, it's an isolated incident and grounds for termination of the Agent involved." This is not just an isolated incident, according to reports from Geek Squad insiders alleging that Geek Squad techs are stealing porn, images, and music from customer's computers in California, Texas, New Jersey, Virginia and elsewhere. Our sources say that some Geek Squad locations have a common computer set up where everyone dumps their plunder to share with the other technicians.' A related story from a former Geek Squad employee details the decline of the Geek Squad and Best Buy ethics in general."
I'm not sympathizing or condemning, and it's beside the point, but: copying files is NOT stealing. It may be illicit, illegal, immoral, or any of a number of other things that people other than me can debate. But it's not stealing. Stealing would be if they copied the files and erased them off of the hard drives, thereby depriving the hardware owners of the data.
- First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then ???, then profit.
This is always brought up when anybody mentions piracy or "stealing" MP3s, so I just have to point out that the Geek Squad employee isn't stealing anything. He is copying data off somebody's computer, private or not.
Unethical, sure; but how is this stealing? It may be copyright infringement, but we don't even know that.
On the scale of ethical violations, this ranks somewhere around unauthorized eating of a grape in a supermarket (stealing!!!) and picking your nose in public.
Unlimited growth == Cancer.