Something incredibly weird...

yeah. You may have to eat the fact that you have a stolen good you are unable to sell. However, i dont think its fair for you to lose it entirely. it may be months or years or never before you get that camera back. as The Capt said...its still a fine camera.
 
Capt Quirk said:
It isn't the thought the cops will go after him that is a real concern, but that he'll likely end up $3K poorer from this. I agree that ebay should get involved, as well as the authorities in the originating city of the camera. As far as turning the camera in blindly, I would also want to think about that a bit more. Do not sell or trade it, but you might consider keeping it. It's still a fine camera, regardless of it's shady past.
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Then the best move is to get in contact with the owner. The owner will probably be more thankful and like I said, if it's a warehouse they're probably insured. I guarantee you if I had an XL2 it wouldn't stay in the box for a minute, so this leads me to believe it's from a store.

-Nate
 
i would hold on to it. if you contact the original owner, they will want it back and will probably go after you for it. even if it's insured and even if they've probably been compensated for the loss, they will go after you because they can win. same with the cops. Never forget that you're the little guy, the one without money or legal protection, and you are the easiest target without any ability to fight back.

You're not gonna get any money for it. At this point it's a dead investment as far as value goes because it can't be sold, but you can still make money using it, and you can use that money to put towards buying an HD camera.
 
This is one hell of an ethical issue. MY reccomendation is to Do what you think is right. Even if that means losing a bit of money.
 
TimurCivan said:
This is one hell of an ethical issue. MY reccomendation is to Do what you think is right. Even if that means losing a bit of money.
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Sad, but this is really what it come down to.

-Nate
 
Wow - this situation sucks any way you look at it. There are ethical issues in contention here. But there's also self preservation. It would suck losing $3k worth of a camera. But it would suck even more if the authorities held you liable for purchasing/receiving stolen merchandise, not to mention all the legal fees, hassles, etc. I'm all for doing the "right" thing but not if I'm gonna go down for it.

If it was me . . .

If possible, I would go to a police officer that I personally knew and trusted, such as my wife's cousin who is fairly high-ranking with the LAPD. I would confide in him as to what to do AND ONLY with the stipulation of me not being prosecuted or hassled for anything. I'm sure, at that point, he would advise me to either turn it over, keep quiet, or dump it in a tar pit. :)

Above all, I would NOT keep the camera. I just wouldn't feel right or sleep easy know I have $3k of stolen goods in my closet. Yep, at my earliest convenience, that camera would have to go bye-bye. . . somewhere, somehow (but NOT by selling it) . . .

I would cut my losses and look at that XL2 as $3k lost. I reckon by now the camera is paid for anyway so it would be more like having $3k less to put toward your new HD camera. So what, you save up some more money and buy the new camera when you can afford it.

Well, whatever you do - good luck and keep us posted!
 
Tough luck man... I could reiterate what everyone else said but instead I'm gonna go for an off the wall suggestion: Make a movie out of this...could make a cool film or if you're feeling adventurous...a documentary.

Anyways, good luck.

Chris
 
Nobody356 said:
. . . Make a movie out of this...could make a cool film or if you're feeling adventurous...a documentary.
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Yeah, and you've already got the camera to shoot it. :)
 
If not a documentary,

If not a documentary,

it could be the beginings of one more script for The Soprano's.

Seriously, though, FWIW, I have heard of cases where folks in your situation did not get prosecuted once they reported it, though they DID lose the "property."

I'd think that any insurer who had paid a claim on that lot of cams/equipment would be interested.

Because it's interstate, (Texas and Massachusetts, was it?), I believe the FBI or other Feds might need to get involved.

Not necessarily my recommendation, but an alternative would be to send an anonymous letter to the insurer. If the heist was big-time bucks, they operate a bit further under the radar than police do, i.e. it;s harder to learn if they are investigating.

One more reason I avoid eBay.

Good luck.

x
 
Super Trooper said:
I know it's not the ethical thing to do, but your the victim here, and I don't see why you should have to pay, literally pay, for other peoples mistakes.
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The people from whom the camera was originally stolen, are victims. The (theoretical) insurer who paid to cover the original theft, is a victim.

Ethics are not a matter of convenience, particularly when we're not talking about other people's mistakes, but about the transfer of stolen merchandise.

I'm not suggesting one course of action, over another, but I do kind of object to the proposition that it's basically okay for everyone else to suffer for this...for the sake of the end-(unknowing)-receiver-of-stolen-goods' convenience.
 
I still think the best thing to do is contact the owner. The best thing that can happen is they say keep it don't bother, the worse is they ask for their camera back in which you would send it back. If you explain the situation (considering you've been using it for awhile) I'm willing to believe they'll simply say keep it. As for insurance, that's what it's there for. The store was ripped off, insurance paid, it's not Morox's fault either way.

But if they want that camera back you do have to give it to them. Also by the time you call this in I'm willing to bet they probably won't even know what the heck you're talking about. The XL2 came out when, 2004? They don't even make them anymore to my knowledge. I could be wrong. Then once you're squared with the owners, guess what, you can sale the camera now.

-Nate
 
Nathyn said:
I still think the best thing to do is contact the owner. The best thing that can happen is they say keep it don't bother, the worse is they ask for their camera back in which you would send it back. If you explain the situation (considering you've been using it for awhile) I'm willing to believe they'll simply say keep it.
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But they wouldn't own it any more, their insurers would. They can't legally say 'keep it'. If they did, it would still be stolen goods; they can't give you permission to keep a camera that is the property of their insurers, and registered stolen.

Hypothetically speaking, I would keep it- I'm not that into 'ethics' for 'ethics' sake ... If it was boxed then it's almost certainly retail, who'd be insured. So the only financial victim would be the insurers .. big deal, that's what they do. The chance of it being owned by an individual are fairly low, and even then, they would more than likely be insured. So on my moral compass, giving it back to insurers/police would result in 100% chance of $3k loss for you, and probably <5% chance of the victim being a private individual with no insurance who was personally out of pocket due to the theft.

Only exception I can think of would be if reporting it could land someone in jail and prevent future theft, that would be a net gain, but lets face it that's not going to happen .. theft of this kind is rarely prosecuted, and you know almost zero about who was involved, so you'd be contributing little to a case that the police and insurers won't see as being particularly important.

Thankfully I've never been in such a predicament... But I've had stuff stolen *from* me- police are well intentioned but lets face it they've got far more important things to be doing. I certainly never expected to see my stuff again, and if you're covered by insurance then who cares ... you just try to minimise the net loss/suffering of everyone, and also the amount of TIME wasted (by yourself and others) pursuing such things... and get on with your life.

BUT, obviously the legal position is clear. If you want to play the legal game, it's simple- you give it in, it's not yours, it's a financial loss, you move on. You give what little information you have about the crime, it gets logged in records. Insurers gets cam and it goes into a cheap auction, I presume. Insurers aren't going to waste more time on this, as it would more than offset any potential financial gain that could result from it.
 
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