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Queens Kid Could Be Apple's Next Target
By
Jen Carlson
Published Nov 16, 2010
Modified Dec 4, 2010
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Nov 16, 2010
Modified Dec 4, 2010
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A 17-year-old residing in Queens found a way to pay for college (he hopes to attend NYU): give the people white iPhone 4s (which aren't yet sold by Apple). Allegedly there's a certain group of people that want the iPhone 4, but also only want it in white, and Fei Lam is making their tech dreams come true with a little side biz he started online.
According to the Observer, Lam knew a guy who knew a guy that could supply him white iPhone 4 parts directly from Apple's overseas supplier. Once he had that "in," he began selling conversion kits on his website: whiteiphone4now.com, where he sells kits from $135 to $279 dollars. (He's sold $130,000 in parts since August.)
Surely this can't be sitting well with Apple—and indeed, it seems like they may have already caught wind of Lam's plan and sent one of their thugs after him. Lam says, "I got an email from a private investigator accusing me of selling stolen goods, which I'm 100 percent sure is not the case. They are some kind of anti-counterfeit/trademark firm, which sounds ridiculous, similar to what Apple is bringing up to remove White iPhone 4 Listings on eBay. I don't know how this legal stuff works." He is getting a lawyer, who will understand how this legal stuff works, and in the meantime, has no plans to shut down his online venture. And perhaps he should keep his doors locked.
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Fei Lam
iphone
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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