so one person cheated out of work… and defending them just got me in trouble….. I shouldn't write when I am pissed off…..but sometimes writing /drawing helps me calm down….don't work for trade.. keep any evidence you can that you own stuff…keep your mouth shut.
A lot of police departments offer Personal Property Registration for times like this. Since nobody carries around receipts for anything in their car... See if your local/county/state PD offers anything like this?
It's just plain stupid that someone can point at something you have, say "Hey, that's mine!", and you have to prove it's legally yours in order to keep it. The burden of proof needs to be on the accuser, and if they're lying they should be charged with attempted theft themselves.
It might also be a good idea for her to take pictures of her property as much as possible and then place them in encryptographic files (stored online, not just the laptop) that have reliable timestamps so that it can be verified that what is her's and her son's is indeed theirs.
Total BS that the accused has to provide proof of ownership while the accuser does not! Oy, I wasn't aware things were so terribly broken and skewed, thank you for exposing the cracks so others might avoid them!
Im horrified that you've had to go through this Riley. Has the accuser been punished? I'm glad you were able to get your stuff back. How are you doing in the aftermath of this detestable situation? I hope you are doing better. =)
I can think of some technical mechanisms for embedding ownership information in a laptop. The hardest bit is getting a time recorded from a trusted third party.
For example, assume I can prove cryptographically that a photo of the owner with the laptop showing the serial number hasn't been tampered with, how do I prove that the photo was taken before a certain time?
This is something that is solved for software signing by having a trusted time provider, who produces a non-forgeable timestamp.
How useful would it be to have a simple third party web-service that receives a photo then:
1) creates a new image containing the original image, a timestamp of the time of upload, and unforgeable cryptographic signature across this information.
2) A webpage that would verify this information, and a link to tools that could verify the information.
In theory the signature could be encoded is such a form that it could be added to the image. Maybe even an app could be written to verify a printout
The cop/bureaucrat can be immune to proof by sheer denial. Heard it happen before - a person had a paper signed by the CITY MAYOR that they were allowed to keep... some thing they needed for health reasons, and some asswipe dismissed it saying "Anyone can get a piece of paper".
A reminder for those who are just joining this webcomic. Riley's Patreon can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/Jrileymc ...Oh and don't forget to click the "You Like This" button in the lower right hand corner of the comic.
This is a pretty crappy turn of events. Also, if your cell phone has a digital camera, make the cop and the accuser sweat by asking if you can record what is going on.
Never tell some, even a cop your password. Make the other person prove their claim by having them start up your computer (while you record both them and the cop with your cell phone) and then watch them flail about when they can't get in because they don't know it.
Then make a point of saying "Hey, this person lied about my laptop being their's, so what else are they willing to lie about mine that they will claim belongs to them?"
Also, make sure to make the point that the person is claiming only what they can see belongs to them and that that is very suspicious since they cannot name a single item stolen that they cannot see by looking in your truck's windows.
I'd advise against antagonizing the police officer, they can make your life hell if you get on their bad side. Just as politely as possible stand up for your rights and don't volunteer to help them do anything that will make your life worse. Changing the password on your laptop now that the police know it is probably a good idea; they should have to go through the courts to access it instead of having free access. I'd also recommend taking a photo of your belongings every couple of weeks so you have proof of what you own; if you can find a website to store the photos in that records the upload date, you can use it as proof of ownership on that date.
Giving the cop my password and letting him compare my art note book to the files on the computer proved it was my laptop. As they denied owning my art pad.. they wanted stuff they could see in my truck told them to get a warrant so far that has not happened... So we are in a stand off... Noting taken as of yet
Ugh, no, the jerk stole stuff from you? How much did he take and is there anything we can do to help you get it back? Really cruel of him to steal your artwork, I can't believe the police would let him do that. :(
If he took anything I sent you, I can get replacements. I can also send screenshots from my Amazon order history and a notarized letter saying it was a gift to you, if that helps at all. I can't believe how heartless some people can be.
That really stinks, having to prove that what you own is yours instead of someone else claiming you stole it without proof. :( If you ever need to prove you own your laptop, you can tell the police what the startup screen looks like, log in with your password, tell them what files are in what directories, and challenge your accuser to do the same. I'm not sure about the other stuff though. :/ I can't believe well-to-do people could live with themselves knowing that they're taking away from poor people what little things they have.
Very glad that nothing was taken, I hope they realize that this was a con job by the other guy. And your truck can't be searched without a warrant because it's your primary residence, glad that you knew that and the police respected it.
Shryke at 4:52PM, June 29, 2017
A lot of police departments offer Personal Property Registration for times like this. Since nobody carries around receipts for anything in their car... See if your local/county/state PD offers anything like this?
felonimayhem at 7:47AM, June 30, 2017
It's just plain stupid that someone can point at something you have, say "Hey, that's mine!", and you have to prove it's legally yours in order to keep it. The burden of proof needs to be on the accuser, and if they're lying they should be charged with attempted theft themselves.
Nowhereman10 at 7:39PM, June 29, 2017
It might also be a good idea for her to take pictures of her property as much as possible and then place them in encryptographic files (stored online, not just the laptop) that have reliable timestamps so that it can be verified that what is her's and her son's is indeed theirs.
Mr Kaos at 12:15PM, June 28, 2017
Damn. i hope you are alright. it can not be fun to go though this BS. by shitty people.
Wolfian81 at 1:45AM, June 28, 2017
Total BS that the accused has to provide proof of ownership while the accuser does not! Oy, I wasn't aware things were so terribly broken and skewed, thank you for exposing the cracks so others might avoid them!
refalgren at 11:08PM, June 27, 2017
Im horrified that you've had to go through this Riley. Has the accuser been punished? I'm glad you were able to get your stuff back. How are you doing in the aftermath of this detestable situation? I hope you are doing better. =)
rmccool at 6:17PM, June 27, 2017
after a great deal of fuss it was proven that my stuff was my stuff...
DarkAgeCat at 11:12AM, June 27, 2017
I can think of some technical mechanisms for embedding ownership information in a laptop. The hardest bit is getting a time recorded from a trusted third party. For example, assume I can prove cryptographically that a photo of the owner with the laptop showing the serial number hasn't been tampered with, how do I prove that the photo was taken before a certain time? This is something that is solved for software signing by having a trusted time provider, who produces a non-forgeable timestamp. How useful would it be to have a simple third party web-service that receives a photo then: 1) creates a new image containing the original image, a timestamp of the time of upload, and unforgeable cryptographic signature across this information. 2) A webpage that would verify this information, and a link to tools that could verify the information. In theory the signature could be encoded is such a form that it could be added to the image. Maybe even an app could be written to verify a printout
kaay at 1:04AM, Aug. 25, 2017
The cop/bureaucrat can be immune to proof by sheer denial. Heard it happen before - a person had a paper signed by the CITY MAYOR that they were allowed to keep... some thing they needed for health reasons, and some asswipe dismissed it saying "Anyone can get a piece of paper".
Nowhereman10 at 9:36AM, June 27, 2017
A reminder for those who are just joining this webcomic. Riley's Patreon can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/Jrileymc ...Oh and don't forget to click the "You Like This" button in the lower right hand corner of the comic.
Nowhereman10 at 9:08AM, June 27, 2017
This is a pretty crappy turn of events. Also, if your cell phone has a digital camera, make the cop and the accuser sweat by asking if you can record what is going on. Never tell some, even a cop your password. Make the other person prove their claim by having them start up your computer (while you record both them and the cop with your cell phone) and then watch them flail about when they can't get in because they don't know it. Then make a point of saying "Hey, this person lied about my laptop being their's, so what else are they willing to lie about mine that they will claim belongs to them?" Also, make sure to make the point that the person is claiming only what they can see belongs to them and that that is very suspicious since they cannot name a single item stolen that they cannot see by looking in your truck's windows.
felonimayhem at 11:16AM, June 27, 2017
I'd advise against antagonizing the police officer, they can make your life hell if you get on their bad side. Just as politely as possible stand up for your rights and don't volunteer to help them do anything that will make your life worse. Changing the password on your laptop now that the police know it is probably a good idea; they should have to go through the courts to access it instead of having free access. I'd also recommend taking a photo of your belongings every couple of weeks so you have proof of what you own; if you can find a website to store the photos in that records the upload date, you can use it as proof of ownership on that date.
rmccool at 5:24AM, June 27, 2017
name the cartoon characters, tell the cop the pass word.. failed...art the vas amount of it... saved my laptop...
Wolfian81 at 1:42AM, June 28, 2017
Hooray for art!
rmccool at 8:47AM, June 27, 2017
Giving the cop my password and letting him compare my art note book to the files on the computer proved it was my laptop. As they denied owning my art pad.. they wanted stuff they could see in my truck told them to get a warrant so far that has not happened... So we are in a stand off... Noting taken as of yet
felonimayhem at 6:28AM, June 27, 2017
Ugh, no, the jerk stole stuff from you? How much did he take and is there anything we can do to help you get it back? Really cruel of him to steal your artwork, I can't believe the police would let him do that. :( If he took anything I sent you, I can get replacements. I can also send screenshots from my Amazon order history and a notarized letter saying it was a gift to you, if that helps at all. I can't believe how heartless some people can be.
felonimayhem at 8:33PM, June 26, 2017
That really stinks, having to prove that what you own is yours instead of someone else claiming you stole it without proof. :( If you ever need to prove you own your laptop, you can tell the police what the startup screen looks like, log in with your password, tell them what files are in what directories, and challenge your accuser to do the same. I'm not sure about the other stuff though. :/ I can't believe well-to-do people could live with themselves knowing that they're taking away from poor people what little things they have.
felonimayhem at 9:04AM, June 27, 2017
Very glad that nothing was taken, I hope they realize that this was a con job by the other guy. And your truck can't be searched without a warrant because it's your primary residence, glad that you knew that and the police respected it.