[wonderwonder]

The company doesn't have a hundred thousand armed officers with the ability to arrest / kill me for anything they can claim they found. Government comes equipped with legal violence, the company comes equipped with targeted ads

[ohgodplsno]

It's true, they merely have enough cash on hand to fund a small army, enough legal power to crush you in court with anything you attempt.

Make no mistake: if Apple needed to get someone killed, they would. They're not some miraculous pinnacles of good in a sea of evil. It's just that they merely need to flex the law at you to destroy your life forever. Apple is no different, they'll hire the Pinkertons and break your fingers should they find the need to. Carnegie Steel did it, Apple's not above it either.

[sebzim4500]

>Make no mistake: if Apple needed to get someone killed, they would.

Ok, I'll play along. Suppose Tim Cook wakes up tomorrow and decides for some reason he wants me dead. How exactly does he do it?

[wonderwonder]

I would assume he brainwashes a male model to kill you.

Sorry for the Zoolander reference. I couldn't help it

[JPws_Prntr_Fngr]

But why male models?

[ohgodplsno]

You lack creativity. You have multiple billions available for that. Where do you want your remains to disappear ? Hell, even sharks with lasers isn't far fetched with that amount of money.

But all playfulness aside:

* Pay professional hitmen. * Pay a hobo enough to go beat you up in your home. * Pay enough people enough money to kill you pretty much anywhere.

What are they going to do, plead in front of a judge that sees 90% of his murder cases unsolved or solved through guilty pleas that Tim Cook gave them a wad of cash when all they saw was a subordinate of a subordinate of a subordinate ? There's nothing fancy about it. Especially with an economy that drives people to drastic measures: a huge wad of cash that you're guaranteed to keep is enough for most people.

[sebzim4500]

> * Pay professional hitmen

You mean, pay an undercover cop who is advertising himself as a professional hitman?

> * Pay a hobo enough to go beat you up in your home.

He'll pay the hobo, and hobo will run off with the money

> all they saw was a subordinate of a subordinate of a subordinate

This is even more crazy than the earlier suggestions. You think there is going to be a chain of subordinates at apple who will all go along with a murder conspiracy? Try arranging a surprise party with five people, see how well people can keep a secret.

[ohgodplsno]

"My favorite multinational trillion dollar worth conglomerate that has a history of not caring about human rights when it comes to the production of their devices surely would never do that!"

You're naïve. Less than 100 years ago the Pinkertons were still murdering workers and nothing happened to them.

[nashashmi]

Depends on your crime. If you outed his human rights overlook, then he will send you on a vacation to the place with the Human rights violation. And somehow you will get in trouble with the mob there because for some reason they don't like you for threatening their jobs.

If you don't take his vacation offer, he will invite you to a party on his dime. If you don't attend, he will use your location data, make it seem like you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. And depending on the severity and nature of your crime, the outcome will be just low ball enough to make it seem like apple needs to do something bigger than focus on human rights, like making better devices for your security.

[locustous]

SOP is to have a team "suicide" you.

[JPws_Prntr_Fngr]

It doesn't even have to be good. It can be a "robbery" where you get professional-grade double-tapped on your front lawn but nothing's taken, or a "suicide" where you hang yourself from a tree whilst simultaneously shotgunning yourself in the chest. The news will just parrot the local cops' PR statement.

[peoplefromibiza]

> How exactly does he do it?

Just imagine this: Tim Cook travel expenses amount to an half a million dollar per year.

travel expenses only.

A professional hit man costs between 1/100th and 1/33th of that.

Tim has to simply give up on a pair of new shoes that year.

[jrockway]

Are you saying that the internal accounting controls at Apple are so lax that Tim Cook can pay contractors off the books out of his own travel expenses?

I also imagine the post-arrest interview of the $5000 hitman going like this:

"You're charged with Murder 1, which is a capital offense in this state. Are you ready to die for $5000?"

"Tim Cook made me do it."

[peoplefromibiza]

> his own travel expenses?

I am simply saying that a man with 2 billion dollars in his bank account can do whatever he wants.

It is also pretty naive to think that Tim Cook expenses can be questioned by an Apple anonymous accountant.

of course this is all hypothetical, men like Tim Cook would never hire an hitman paying cash personally face to face.

> "You're charged with Murder 1, which is a capital offense in this state. Are you ready to die for $5000?"

> "Tim Cook made me do it."

at best that could legally qualify as insanity

But even assuming it costed 200 thousand dollars, would not change that for a Tim Cook it's a day's pay

[ohgodplsno]

Yes, misuse and misappropriation of funds is such an uncommon event for fortune 500 companies. Especially the CEO, they have to justify every little expense!

In what wonder world are you living?

[Brusco_RF]

I am confused. Are you arguing that this is a thing that happens? If so, I'd like to see any shred of evidence whatsoever.

On the other hand, we know that governments do this sort of thing all the time.

[peoplefromibiza]

> I am confused. Are you arguing that this is a thing that happens?

they simply have better tools than hitmen, but, for example

https://www.businessinsider.in/policy/news/former-ceo-of-ama...

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/clearly-lasik-co-f...

> we know that governments do this sort of thing all the time.

they also have better tools than hiring hitmen

contract killing is a fraction of all the homicides

OP asked how the multi billionaire CEO of a trillion dollars company could kill someone

He could simply hire an hitman, it would cost him peanuts

If the victim is also using one of the products the company makes, they would also be in possession of all the information an hitman would need to complete his task, no investigation would be necessary

[fastball]

Where do you find a hitman for $5k?

[peoplefromibiza]

Costs vary: In Australia, contract offers ranged from $500 to $100,000, with an average of $16,500. One undercover investigator, hired as a hit man more than 60 times in 20 years, lists his largest proposed payoff as $200,000 in jewels (and that was just the down payment) and his stingiest as “seven Atari computer games, three dollar bills, and $2.30 in nickels and dimes.”

Some of the highest-profile hits nowadays happen in Russia, where the rise of wild-west capitalism has led to a boom in contract killings, with victims including politicians, editors and journalists, businessmen, even poets.

How much do you think it would cost to hire a Russian blackop/elite troop fleeing from his country?

[smoldesu]

Do you live in China? If so, they probably just send a Foxconn employee or PRC representitive with some sort of firearm.

[KeplerBoy]

Hiring a hitman to do it?

There are plenty of unhinged people in this world who do illegal shit for enough money. Do you think some Ex-Wagner mercenary would pass up that offer?

[tarxvf]

And the company can give your data to the government with no recourse available to you and no warrant required from the government.

[tifik]

If they choose to sure, but I dont see what incentive they would have. After all, the post is about a company removing products from a market rather than being subject to a law that would allow the gov to force them to do so.

[smoldesu]

> but I dont see what incentive they would have.

They are frequently subpoenaed for information, and turn over that data more often than not: https://www.apple.com/legal/transparency/us.html

[tifik]

Yeah, because they are asked to/legally required. I was questioning incentives to hand over information on their own accord, just because they can.

[smoldesu]

All of these are their own accord. That's even what OP's article is about - if Apple is legally required to break their encryption in the EU, then they will discontinue their product.

Let's not pretend this is a privacy-motivated decision. Where Apple doesn't have negotiating power (eg. China) they have been forced to compromise user safety and privacy[0]. We live in a post XKeyscore world, pretending like this doesn't also happen in America or the UK is a bedtime story for helpless capitalists.

[0] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208351

edit: s/EU/UK

[MichaelZuo]

Huh? Isn't this story about the possibility of the UK government legally requiring Apple to do something?

[algas]

Which is a good reason to avoid giving your data to either one in the first place. If I don't have a choice though, I'll take the company over the government any day.

[CamperBob2]

Difficulty: "Any day" meaning 1917 in Russia or 1933 in Germany.

(Edit: for my next trick, I will read the post more carefully before replying)

[detourdog]

I don't understand this comment the Tsar and the Nazi's were both governments.

Another good example is the Dutch housing all the data in an building that was used to track down and kill the right people.

The data existing is the problem. The ideal situation is that there is no data.

[CamperBob2]

D'oh, you're right, I misread the GP. Finish coffee first, then post.

[detourdog]

I had to double check everything to make sure it wasn't me.

[peoplefromibiza]

> The company doesn't have a hundred thousand armed officers with the ability to arrest / kill me

ask Foxconn employees if that's true or not.