He's as much to blame? Did he have in his posession something which did not belong to him? To be sure, that is where his outrage is. Someone had something that dis not belong to them. They sold that thing. The recipient had every reason to believe that the item did not belong to the seller.
It doesn't matter if he found the thing next to spare thing on the street. The finder knew who owned it (who was carrying it) and did not contact them. The buyer knew damned well that it belonged to Apple and not some random guy--they're in the tech journalism (apologies to ethical journalists) business for Christ's sake. I can't think of many people more qualified to know that the phone was property of Apple, Inc.
It doesn't matter if he found the thing next to spare thing on the street. The finder knew who owned it (who was carrying it) and did not contact them. The buyer knew damned well that it belonged to Apple and not some random guy--they're in the tech journalism (apologies to ethical journalists) business for Christ's sake. I can't think of many people more qualified to know that the phone was property of Apple, Inc.
And that makes it wrong.