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An Apple store employee refused to sell an iPad to an Iranian American customer, citing company policy that aims to comply with U.S. sanctions on trade with Iran, WSBTV in Atlanta reported this week. The customer left empty-handed, in tears, and complained of discrimination to the reporter.
The case is more complicated than that, legal experts say. The incident and others like it highlight a dilemma created by the U.S. trade embargo against Iran — and other sanctioned countries, including Cuba, Syria and North Korea — which makes even the humblest sales associate responsible for enforcing the embargo’s provisions.
Those employees — as well as the store and the company — could be hit with civil and criminal penalties if they sell products to customers who they have reason to believe will export them to Iran in violation of the embargo, legal experts say. But if the same clerk refuses service on the basis of the customer’s language or ethnic background, they may run afoul of civil rights laws.
"If I walked in and told them I want to buy this and send it to a friend in Iran or Cuba, they can’t sell it to me," said Clif Burns, an export control attorney at Bryan Cave, a law firm in Washington, D.C. "If they had that information, they were absolutely within their rights" to refuse the sale.
"The tricky question is if you hear someone speaking Farsi (also called Persian) … then the issue is: Should you be more alert to the possibility that they might export the item to Iran? And by being more alert in that situation are you in violation of civil rights statutes? It’s not any easy question."
Under U.S. sanctions against Iran — dating to 1987 and expanded several times since — exports to the Islamic republic are illegal, with exceptions for items in a few limited categories, such as books, movies, agricultural goods, medicine and medical supplies. These sanctions are enforced by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control and the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security. Sanctions are not intended to affect the sale of goods used in the United States.
"There is absolutely no U.S. policy or law that would prohibit Apple or any other company from selling its products in the United States to anyone intending to use the product in the United States, including Iranians and Persian-speakers," said Pooja Jhunjhunwala, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department.
Click here for an overview of the sanctions from the Treasury Department
But the government does not spell out how an individual working in a retail store should judge whether a customer intends to send or carry a product to a country under sanctions, and technically the onus could fall on store clerks. And Burns says anyone in the chain who touches a transaction that violates of the sanctions can be held liable if they knew or should have known that the item was being shipped to a sanctioned country.
"The standard applies to the retail clerk, shipping manager, corporate headquarters," said Burns.
Individuals can be fined up to $250,000 and up to five years in prison for export sanctions violations. Corporations can be hit with a $1 million criminal penalty, he said. "In theory there’s no intent (to commit a crime) requirement. They will look at whether you knew or should have known."
In reality, there are only a few reported cases of retailers denying individual sales on this basis, all involving Iranian Americans and Apple stores.
Apple: Silence
Apple did not initially respond to requests for comment.
After this report published, Apple spokesman Steve Dowling contacted msnbc.com with the following statement:
"Our retail stores are proud to serve customers from around the world, of every ethnicity. Our store teams are multilingual and diversity is an important part of our culture. We don't discriminate against anyone."
In the case of Sahar Sabet, from the WSBTV report, who was refused purchase of an iPad at an Apple store in Alpharetta, Ga., some of the facts are unclear. She said the clerk refused to sell her an iPad after hearing her speak Farsi with her uncle. The iPad was intended as a gift for her cousin in Iran, according to the report, but it was unclear how or if the clerk was aware of that.
Calls to Sabet were not returned. A call to the Apple store at North Pointe Mall in Alpharetta was referred to corporate headquarters.
A second Iranian American interviewed in the report also said he was barred from purchasing something at an Apple store in the Atlanta area when he was helping an Iranian student buy an iPhone. Zack Jafarzadeh said he and the friend were speaking Farsi when the sales rep denied their purchase. "We never talked about him going back to Iran or anything like that," Jafarzadeh said, according to the report.
The Council on American Islamic Relations, a non-profit rights group, says it was in discussions with Apple to revise its policy even before this week's news story, because of a complaint from an Iranian American who was refused a purchase in an Apple store in northern California in March.
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In that case, a sales associate refused to sell him anything — even things he was buying for his own use — after he mentioned that he intended to send an iPod Nano to Iran as a gift for a relative, Rachel Roberts, civil rights coordinator for CAIR, told msnbc.com.
"He claims that when he asked the associate how he could get the items he needed, she told him to go to a different Apple store if he wanted service and to not reveal that he is Iranian," Roberts said — adding that he found that answer to be degrading and inconsistent. Ultimately the store made an informal apology and sold him items for his personal use, Roberts said.
"The concern … is how store employees balance their obligations under embargo law and civil rights laws," said Zahra Billoo, an attorney for CAIR in San Francisco, adding that the U.S. government should clarify how retail stores should comply. The other concern, she said, is "how employees are being trained to implement this."
Apple's policy regarding sanctions, published on its website, is closely tailored to the language of the U.S. trade law itself.
The National Iranian American Council, a nonprofit organization, said the Apple stores were "overzealously enforcing the sanctions." "In singling out Persian-speakers for interrogation about how they intend to use Apple products, these Apple employees are clearly engaging in racial profiling," the group said in a statement.
But the group provided a fact sheet on sanctions and conceded that "it also appears to be the case that many Iranian Americans do not understand the implications of how U.S. sanctions on Iran affect them."
The very notion that sales clerks could have to make decisions on purchases under the sanctions raised red flags for some observers.
"The responsibility for enforcement should fall on border patrol, law enforcement, the U.S. post office, customs -- government agencies," said Nahal Iravani-Sani, president of the Iranian American Bar Association. As it is, the law "promotes dishonesty and invites profiling. When you come down to it, it's absurd."
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Sorry,it's a post 9/11 USA.
not even a iranian were involved in the 9/11 there were alomost all saudians !
until iran gets their act together, i completely agree with the worlds boycott of them.
Yes, not letting them buy iPads is really sticking it to them.
Post 9/11, huh? I suppose you never heard of the Iranian Revolution and Americans taken hostage in 1979, have you? These laws have been in place for 30+ years.
Can't they just use the hidden tracking features in iPhones, iPads against them, instead of us?
As is usual for news media to brief the story (emphasis on brief) by leaving out some details, we don't know all the facts. It's entirely possible the Apple employee did their job correctly because the woman may have said she will send it to Iran. But it could easily be that the employee is a total dimwit and profiled the woman.
We just don't know.
In my opinion, the snobbery at an Apple store would have me speculate against the employee. But that is just an opinion.
Considering Steve Jobs' father was Syrian, there is a bit of irony here.
"Considering Steve Jobs' father was Syrian, there is a bit of irony here."
The one he never met? Not sure what genealogy and US policy have to do with irony, not to mention Syria is not controlled by Iran
Well maybe Iran should build it's own iPad.
Call it the iTollah.
lol....
The only person who should be responsible for an item being sent to Iran is the person who sent the item to Iran. Companies and their clerks should not be responsible for any domestic sale of an item that's tranferred to a sanctioned state.
I think that is is completely unreasonable to expect store clerks to try enforce these trade sanctions. To expect them to know whether or not a purchaser is going to illegally send something to Iran is unreasonable. The enforcement of the sanctions should take place at the shipper or post office. They have the right to enquire what is in a package that is being sent to a country that has sanctions against it. They can then refuse the shipment or accept the package and then contact law enforcement. The current law places store clerks in a completely untenable position and needs to be changed. Of course if the person advertised that they are planning on sending the item to Iran, then it would be proper for the clerk to inform them that this is illegal, but to hold them in any way responsible for figuring out if this is the purchaser's intent is wholly unreasonable.
It does appear that in this particular case the clerk did the right thing since the purchasers intent as to illegally ship the item to Iran. The clerk may have known Farsi and overheard the conversation that revealed this fact. The fact that the clerk recognized the language the two were speaking as being Farsi to start with tends to make me think that this is the case.
No one said that Syria WAS controlled by Iran. But if you read the article, Syria IS one of the countries on the Embargo list along with Iran, Cuba and North Korea. However you don't hear stories about retail sales being denied to Cubans or Koreans in this country, so why pick on Iran? Who's to say that Cuban man or Korean woman purchasing that iPad isn't going to send them to those countries?
Lifes a bitch...
And if the clerk had sold the item and it was shipped to Iran would the clerk then be held liable. There has to be a policy created within the Apple Corp. A minimum wage clerk is hired to sell the products not have to make decisions as to if they can sell it.
And Congress will keep things as they are, because the more confusing they can make stuff like this, the easier it is to scare everyone into abusing those Congress doesn't like.
Once they tell the clerk, that they are sending it to Iran, the clerk/management/company is complicit in breaking the law if they sold them the item.
The sad thing is, many of the Iranians in the US are refugees from the Iranian regime and are here on asylum. For example, Beverly Hills has a large community of Iranian Jews. Speaking Farsi (Iranian) has nothing to do with having any sympathy with the current Iranian regime.
It's sad that they were persecuted there, and now they are being viewed by suspicion here. You can bet that if the Iranian regime wanted to steal technology from an Apple store, it's going to be done by someone who doesn't look in the least bit Iranian.
Byron Raum Its obvious you don't understand the use of or need for sanctions.
1st - We use sanctions to pressure the existing leadership of an offending country to change a political Ideal, not to deny them an existing technology.
2nd. The actual pressure is brought to bare by the offending countries populations, who become rather frustrated when they can't have what the rest of the world does. Wealth, Healthcare or technology etc.....
Lastly, It's up to all Americans ( and participating civilized countries) to enforce and comply with our nations foreign policy, whether we like it or not.
Peace
And not one in a hundred knows or cares about the thousands of Iranians that suffered under the Shaws CIA backed secret police that wisked sometimes whole familys out in the middle of the night never to be seen again .
The Irainian revolution was just an end result of US support for a dictator/monarch who was a whore to secret back room Ideals that favoured western intrests over Irainian intrests , Kinda like hat we are starting to see in America were compainies sell their souls to China so a fat CEO can take his family on a world tour while taxpayers support them with tax loop holes
Until the law is changed, the stores are doing exactly what they have to do to not be fined and face jail time. I wouldn't want to be a clerk that ended up selling something innocently then be fined and jailed for what I "should have known".
F. all Iranians banned, flameout, smearing all Iranians [obviously?].
Either the employee is really stupid, or a total bigot. Refusing to sell a single consumer good to an individual due to profiling is pretty un-American.
But that's exactly what the US is demanding they do, make an assessment as to if selling to an individual is going to violate trade sanctions put in place by the US government. When the penalties are that stiff, I wouldn't want to be put in a position where I would even be suspected of being in violation. If the trade sanctions were against a European nation, you'd better believe that I'd be hesitant selling to anyone speaking that language.
EngEsq,
Go and read the article, you apparently haven't done that.
If this Apple sales clerk sold an item to this Iranian and the Iranian shipped this item to Iran, the sales clerk could face 5 years in prison and/or a $250k fine.
There are conflicting laws though with the Trade Embargo and Civil Liberties though.
"The iPad was intended as a gift for her cousin in Iran, according to the report, but it was unclear how or if the clerk was aware of that." hmmmmmmm
I must blame Apple for its inept handling of this policy. I recall when I bought a computer over the phone some years ago, one of the final questions I was asked focused on my intentions with the computer--specifically, that I wasn't going to send it overseas. That simple.
To give inexperienced sales clerks the responsibility of evaluating customers is absurd. To avoid such awkwardness, simply have each customer sign a statement. And leave it at that. The embargo is principally aimed at large quantities of commercial shipments anyway, not an individual Nano. And its aim is to weaken the government, not punish the people.
Kudos to the clerk- better safe than sorry. If he'd sold it to the guy, the feds would throw him in jail.
Problem is now he'll have the ACLU after him for protecting America. Aim for the bottom, ACLU.
Scar,
try talking to people, I know its rocket science....................
John -638398: Just pointing out what should be obvious to anyone who actually read the story.
But so many rocket scientists just read the title or a few lines down. And with that wealth of information (sarcasm) , many define the whole incident to someone being picked upon. Or better yet, some poor group being picked upon.
In this case , i quoted ,the clerk was correct. There were intentions to bypass the embargo.
Gotta love the profiling crowd. Next time a 200 pound, male , blond caucasian robs you. Don't mind if the criminal gets away. They were busy questioning a 100 pound , black woman for the crime. Yes, political correctness trumps common sense every time.
Yes, I feel so much safer knowing that some Iranian teenager won't get an iPod.
Yea Severed Head: Lets just send them a bunch of cell phones. No one would ever use them for evil purposes (sarcasm).
So we now have "Don't ask don't tell" in Apple stores for Iranians.
Please help me understand how this works. If I buy an Iphone and take it with me when I travel to a country subject to US sanctions, am I violating such sanctions? How does 1 person buying 1 product violate a "TRADE" sanction, especially if was intended as a gift?
It was probably a gift because the "brother" can't get it there because of the sanctions! Having someone in this country get it and ship it to him/her/it is against the law and should be subject to deportation if not a citizen!! Hoooray to the clerk for getting this info before the sale.! LOL
The sales clerk should have kicked it up to management. If I refused to sell something to someone because of their country of origin when I was working in retail I would have been fired on the spot.
Store clerks are told to racial profile by US government or risk fines and jail-time, yet US government sues Arizona over racial profiling stating is is unConstitutional. Hmmm....
Who cares?
Obviously you're not familiar with reverse-engineering. Allow the Iranians one iPod and the next thing you know they've reverse-engineered it and we're looking at a thermonuclear dooms day device...with great sound and an earbud jack.
The only reason the clerk can face real jail time is that the federal prison system is a for profit system. New laws are being invented as we speak to fill up prisons for often meaningless or mundane "violations". This law, like many other new ones, are a joke and have no real purpose other than to fill the pockets of profiteering corporations and the political, judicial and corporate criminals who run and support them. These are the great "job creators" that certain politicians and news outlets like to pretend we should worship and always cater to. War and prisons, America's most profitable ventures (that is for a small number of the 1%). What's horrifying is many Americans are duped into thinking these are "good things" as their kids kill, die and go to jail so some greedy fat cats can get more money they don't need nor will use constructively.
I'm not a lawyer, but I'd doubt it. But, you would be violating the sanctions if you sold it or gave it away while there.
The point of the sanctions is to deny the country access to consumer goods. If really doesn't matter if they buy those items or receive them as gifts. Either way, you're violating the spirit of the sanctions.
You've got to be kidding, right? Or, is it paranoia? You'd have us believe that these "profiteering corporations" got together and decided to forgo hundreds of millions, if not billions, in sales in order to generate "profits" on five or ten individuals (not that many people go to jail for violating sanctions)? If that is the case, it is no wonder the economy is in trouble: our corporations can't do basic math.
I've just heard from Apple's corporate legal department. They are filing requests with the USPTO -
since they already have iMac, iPhone, iPad, iTunes, and iPod among others, they are claiming trademark infringement against iRan and iRaq.
Be so kind as to take you and your so called racial profiling and get the hell out of my country. And dont come back
Who are you referring to? The Iranian Americans?
pained1: This is not about 9/11; it's about imposing sanctions against Iran because of their nuclear program.
EngEsq: It may sound stupid and un-American, but complying with trade sanctions is a serious issue. We don't know the whole story here, but if the clerk had reason to believe that the product would indeed end up in Iran, he had a responsibility to refuse to sell it.
Don in Montana: Your response makes me think you're a muslim-hating bigot. I'd like to think I'm wrong, but your response was out of line.
So I'm a bigot...or more to the point a NATIONALIST.....so what...sue me. Fact of the matter is the LAW...and the law is very clear. Now if you happen to have any thing else to add...please do....but bear this in mind. I...am NOT a warm fuzzy touchy feely sorta person....and in fact...those who whine and cry and moan about this that and the other need to find a new home and get there..soon.
Geez, I'd rather put up with someone who's whining/crying than someone who's so hostile. Why don't YOU make the US a better place and find a new home somewhere else and get there soon?
Hooray for Apple and this employee! Keep up the good work!
So Jack, I take it you don't want anything in America except White Europeans? If so, you are quite a bigot.
Verno,
Go and read the article. You obviously haven't.
Who cares.. its Iran... the whole country will self destruct soon... you can't stay that backward in today's world. All they do is aleinate the rest of the world... one day they will go down just like Libya.
Everything should be withheld from Iran. Food, clothing, medication, everything then MAYBE the people there will WTFU and do something about it.
John, I more than read the article. You stated that Apple should keep up the good work...as in not selling to someone who you don't think deserves it.
That is what prompted my comment. Would you have said the same thing if they would have refused to sell to an Irishman?? Didn't think so.
5 years in prison and 250k fines, you bet that I will do the same.
Trust me, I know these things since Vietnamese and Chinese also bought newest model of laptop/ipod and such and then sell them for profit oversea.
Ignorance is bliss. I can sell to anyone. I don't care, so I won't ask. They won't tell, so I won't know a thing. You can't charge someone with a crime when they had no knowledge of it.
Now, if I even know there's a trade embargo on Iran (please remind me again in a couple years or I might forget again) and some idiot came to my store saying "I want to gift this to my cousin in Iran", then I'd refuse the sale.
Israel hated the Iranians for siding with the Palestinian people in their quest for a homeland.
Israel controls the US congress.
US congress passed trade embargo on Iran.
US is a province of Israel. If Israel tell America to jump, America would say How High?
Verno, this post is proof you DID NOT read the article. The clerk didn't sell the item to the Iranian because they thought they didn't deserve. They didn't sell it because there's an embargo against Iran. If the clerk sold it to this person, they could get a 250k fine and/or 5 years in prison.
There is no embargo against Ireland, so the clerk would have sold to an Irishman.
This is kinda funny because it wouldn't even be hard to get around it. Just buy the ipad online or on craigslist. One probably won't be able to go through the airport with it, but one could just stay in the US and use it.
You'd be fine - they probably can't prove that YOU bought it in the US. It could have been purchased by anyone, anywhere.
The point is getting lost. The woman and her relative who were denied service are US legal residents, so the Apple Store Employee discriminated on the basis of ethnic heritage/race.
You are missing the point, John. It doesn't matter what ethnicity you are, they can and seem to be legally obligated to deny you service if you intend to buy an iPad and send it to Iran.
to add to ap's post above- in most of the cases cited above, the customers admit that they WERE intending to violate the embargo. although the article was WAY off about one thing- there have been MANY cases not involving apple. i worked for a paper company in seattle, and we had a number of issues with the north korean embargo....and it is some REALLY fuzzy rules to keep track of, but the bottom line is simple- if a customer makes ANY indication that they are sending your product to somewhere banned, there is NO middle ground, and it doesn't matter if they are a us citizen or not- you cannot make the sale.
John,
Go an read the article, you obviously just looked at the headline.
The Iranian was going to ship the iPad to Iran as a gift. If the clerk sold the iPad to them, he would be breaking the US Trade Embargo Laws and face 5 years in prison and a $250k fine.
You would do that for a job that pays probably $9 an hour?
Ah, it's same old story with government regulations and "unintended consequences"; you're damned if you do and damned if you don't! :)
Bottom line is that Apple is a private company and has the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason if they so desire. Yell discrimination all you want, Apple is better off covering it's tail with the federal Government.
Tough titty....go home
My BS detector is off the scale that this pinhead from MSNBC is running a scam. Did this individual come in wearing a sign saying "I'm Iranian"? How would the clerk know the nationality of people walking in the door? Other than the drug induced haze at MSNBC, nothing in the article supports how this revelation was divined?
It's a new app that lets you identify the nationality of a person.
???--The author.
Ugh duh the purchaser will normally volunteer this info. The first statement, I would like to buy an IPAD. Answer with a question, would this be for you or for a gift? Answer it is a gift to my "whatever" in Iran. UH... HELLO! People will normally ask if it is for them because then they can try to upsell the product from a WIFI 16GB with no 4G to 64GB with 4G.
People on this board apparently do not understand the up-sell thing. NORMAL questions... the clerk is right. Congratulations!
Apple should just root the OS on their devices and build in the iRan app that fires off if the GPS shows it in Iran. The iRan app will make it an iWeight instead of a phone. Simple solution.
And if they decide not to turn on the GPS??? Think it through.
And if they did install the iRan app you don't think they would make sure the GPS couldn't be turned off.
Think it through. Besides my comment was in jest, but then there are always people like you.
Bill, I thought that was funny :-)
Bin, aren't you the life of the party.
this is ridiculous. once you sell to the customer, it would be them that took responsibility of selling somewhere else. why not just order it online? i would call a lawyer and sue apple for millions.
and you would lose. badly. and apple would run up a quarter of a million or so in legal fees, which you would have to pay.
That is the whole idea. Now throw out those in your government that are so hostile and seek peace.
It's a real shame that geopolitics has come to this. Sanctions such as this should not be left in the hands of store clerks. An American is an American no matter their national origin.
Steve, we don't know he's a citizen. Are you just going to believe everything you hear? Besides, if he IS a citizen he should be jailed for trying to go around the law. Hmmm... they have to swear to uphold the laws of the land. The patron clearly didn't realize this. DUMBA$$
Reba - great observations (I'm guessing you're an analyst of some kind..). The presumption must be that customers are liars. So since retail clerks can't KNOW for SURE who is or isn't a citizen, the easy solution would be to require all customers to produce a valid passport, which could also be scrutinized to make sure there are no stamps in it from Iran. Oh, and they could also be required to swear regarding the laws of the land, prior to completing the purchase. (I'm pretty sure most will do the latter voluntarily)
A sales clerk has no authority to require someone to produce a passport
The article states that the people were buying the iPad for a cousin IN Iran. I'm not sure how the employee would know this, unless told so by the people buying the item, but if the customers said: "I'm buying this for my cousin in Iran" then the store employee was legally obligated to refuse to sell the item to them. It's kind of a crazy law, but it's the law.
If an person of Iranian decent walks into an Apple store speaking Farsi, the store employees should not profile them. Speaking Farsi is not a crime... nor should it be. Heck, 20% of the kids in Beverly Hills High School speak Farsi... and they all have iPads... but the real question is what was said to this clerk. If the buyers made it known that the product was destined for illegal export, then the clerk acted correctly. Otherwise, a Farsi speaking customer should be treated the same as anyone else walking into the store.
The chances of him knowing that it is illegal to knowingly sell something to someone in America who will be sending it to Iran is nearly zero.
Did you know that it was illegal before reading this news story? No - I'm not talking about 'Trade with Iran' - I'm talking about some schmuck selling an item to an American who then sends it overseas. Didn't think you did. I didn't either and I'll bet there's almost zero people making comments here that knew it also.
I'm leaning towards the clerk being a bigoted jerk - but I will let the facts determine what really happened.
Of course Apple would never tell their sales people about transactions that could get Apple employees thrown in jail/fined.
oops, bad autocorrect
Should have typed descent not decent. Apologies to the word police
The answer to your question is most likely: Bigot.
Most Americans aren't aware that selling something to an Iranian here in America could be twisted into getting them into trouble. The chances of this one store clerk being smart enough to have that information? Nearly freaking zero. Therefore he's just another dumb SOB using something he heard to harrass those that he thinks are 'the enemy'.
Actually, if you read the article and check Apples website, all employee's are carefully trained in company policy; in this instance the company policy mirrors almost exactly- as stated in the article- the current US embargo rules. The rules specifically state that an INDIVIDUAL who sells a prohibited item to an Iranian who intends to end it overseas can be imprisoned and/or fined $250k, and the company they work for up to $1mm. Therefore, as the article states, when the Iranian customers told the clerks that are mentioned here that they were intending to send or take the items back to Iran, the clerks- being properly informed as to US law- declined to sell it to them. Perhaps if the Iranians had bothered to know what the US laws are that pertain to them, they wouldn't have tried to buy the items, or at least not mentioned what they were going to do with them. So instead of criticizing the Iranians for being oblivious of sanctions against their country, the clerks are vilified for doing their job remarkably well. If the Iranian American Council is unhappy with the embargoes- which they oddly refer to as "profiling" , they should work on changing things at home, not trying ti change things here. Apple should give the clerks a bonus by the way for adhereing to the law- and the Iranians who tried to make the purchases, especially the idot that complained to the reporter who wrote this article- should be prosecuted for breaking the law. But I guess its easier to call the clerks "racists & bigots" right?
I have worked in several companies where they train their employees on this subject often. They have all been in the technical field of course. But it really isn't that uncommon. If this man had sold this Ipad to this girl knowing that it will end up in Iran, he would have been held accountable if the government wanted to press the issue.
Since the US has sanctions against Iran, THEY ARE THE ENEMY!
only in america... still dealing with ridiculous governmental policy BS
Easy solution - just have customs and US postal and Fedex check for this stuff. Let the store sell to whoever they want. If we want to enforce it at the store, have the individual purchasing show a US drivers license or passport.
Also, for all Iranian immigrants impacted by this, I am sorry but you have to blame the leaders in your home country for these types of problems, not the salespeople or the US government.
I as the son of an Iranian American and a member of the US Armed Forces, I am completly appalled by this story and not suprised to find out this has happend in GA. It makes me wonder if Iraninan Americans are having the same issues in other places like Irving, CA where the Persian American population is significantly higher. Next time I have to leave my family to go and defend the rights and freedoms of this country it will be hard not to think of this situation and how far removed we've become from the original ideals this country was founded on... better yet, this Apple Store employee can go to Afganistan for 9 months and I'll stay at home and play with my ipad.
Chris,
You should be blaming the government, not this apple clerk. Since you are in the military, would you ever try to smuggle a weapon home from Iraq (lets say you killed an insurgent with an AK and want to ship the AK home)?
Whats the penalty for that?
The kid faced 5 years in prison.
Thanks for your service to our country. Your quarrel is with our countries policy towards your fathers ancestral home, not the store clerks, or Apple for that matter. They are following the orders of the US government- just like you when you go overseas- and they were correct in every instance referenced here, the Iranians were planning on sending or taking the items back to Iran which is against the law. If you are really horrified, as you say, try sending a note like the one you wrote here to an Iranian newspaper and watch what happens to whatever family you still have there- then you will REALLY be horrified.
Have you guys considered the possibility that the sales clerk knew that the item was going to be sent to Iran because he or she also spoke Farsi?
Why should a Farsi-speaker be allowed to work in an Apple store? After all, they might send something to Iran themselves.
/s
Gumps: to bad....learn to live with it. after all...4500 plus KIA by muslims.....and the store associate did the right thing. Followed the law...don't liek it? You're cordially invited to exit and drop the passport on the way out.
Have a nice day
So...Don in Montana-5260510, are you a Native American? If so, you might have some grounds for your comment. It not, you or your ancestors undoubtedly came over on a boat and were undoubtedly subject to the same kind of attitude you are expressing...get a grip.
The rest of you alleging some fault by the Apple employee, the article seems to indicate that the IPad was intended for Iran. How this came to light is a bit unclear; before you jump the employee case it might be nice to know if he speaks Farsi himself or someone else in store who speaks Farsi alerted him to the situation. I think a little better reporting would have clarified this.
How did it come to light this was being shipped to Iran, maybe people should try this cool thing called TALKING WITH PEOPLE!
See, this is how it works:
Clerk "Hi, how are you today? Find everything ok? Is this your first iPad? Is it for you or a gift for someone"
Shopper " I'm good, no this isn't for me. I'm sending to my sister in Iran"
Pretty sneaky huh!
John, I'm sure you know that many of the people who post here hate to be confused with facts. You are completely correct. We don't know the details of what happened during that transaction, and those are the key details.
Only the people involved know what was said, and I'm sure Apple has told the employee to say nothing at all publicly about it.
Perhaps the customers asked if the 4G LTE version of the iPad would work properly in Iran? We'll probably never know.
Exactly, but we do know that the clerk learned that the person was going to ship it to Iran. Maybe the person asked if a function would work in Iran, maybe the clerk asked a question and they said they were shipping it there. After that point, if the clerk sold it to them, THEY BROKE THE LAW.
If I wrote a prescription for someone that I was knowingly going to abuse it too, I can be held liable. If the person was Asian, Black, Hindi, etc...........that makes me a racist?
Every restaurant I go into has a sign that says "we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone" There is nothing wrong here. All you terrorists - just move along!
Rocky,
You know those signs have virtually no authority. By law, even with such a sign prominently posted, you cannot legally refuse to serve a customer in a protected class... and that includes Race, Religion, National Origin, Gender, and in some places Sexual Orientation.
Wondering if they could refuse service to a white christian straight man? Has anyone ever refused service to a white christian straight man??
Jeff....I can post it and i can enforce it, and you can get all the lawyers you want....protected class? you sound like a good dumbass democrat....always worried about some "protected class"....
There are no Iranian-Americans. Either you are a US citizen, or you are a foreigner.
AMEN to that!! Ask my wife...she was born adn raised in the Philippines....she says....she is american 1st and filipina 2nd. Instead of saying crap like I am chinese, african, asian, indian, german....whatever american....you should say american 1st ... evrything else is last!!
Who benefits from these stoopid US policies? Certainly not the average US citizen.
Now we should impose sanctions against Mexico and enforce them against all Spanish-speaking illegals.
This type of comment could only originate from an ILLEGAL
The basic facts are that Obama has done more to penalize Americans for incidental support of Iran that he has done to penalize countries for major support of Iran. Obama is a BULLY! of the little people! Putin told Obama to eat sh!! and he did, his own! He blamed Bush for serving Sh!t on a Shingle! Bush said "take your head out of your arse". Obama said "Duh". The Corrupt Chicago Democrat is in trouble. His drug gangs are killing people in the hoods and mugging people around the children's hospital. Chicago Blacks are now on a par with al Qaeda. So now America is fighting al Qaeda and Black Drug Gangs (aka, liberal democrat imbeciles). Obama goes to Hollywood to obtain money - they will pay for their drugs from Obama. The US news media? NBC will prepare edited lies video to support the supreme commander of illegal drugs. Obama will retain the support of the news media as long as they continue to get free cocaine from Mexico. NBC journalists are enthralled!
Except the law in question was signed in October 1984 by Ronald Reagan.
Jamie Alvarez,
Wow! Feeling a little stressed and bias'd there are you? Since Bush's I.Q. is 89 and Obama's is 147, I'm not sure how you get off saying any of that, including accusing our CIC as a drug dealer. Oh I know why! Because your don't care about facts.
"Facts are stubborn things" - John Adams