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Comment by icebraining | Hacker News Reader

The options aren't just returning it or stealing it, they can simply leave it where it is to avoid the hassle of having to return it. Hence why having a custom of paying a reward might be beneficial for wallet losers in general.

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I'd like to feel like people would be ethically and morally motivated to make efforts to do the right thing rather than expect to be rewarded for doing the right thing. Perhaps it is how I was raised, but it seems weird to me that I would turn in a lost wallet with expectation to get something back out of it. This so-called "custom" is not my custom. It actually seems very childish, where one is still in the phase of learning the importance of taking care of their neighbor.

Sure, but if I had heard several news reports of people finding and returning wallets being falsely accused of theft and subjected to serious legal threats, at that point if I saw someone's wallet lying around, I would just ignore it and keep going.

The bug bounty isn't only about the money. It's also the company's way of advertising 'we aren't crazy assholes like those outfits you heard about on the news'.

(Yes, fixing the law would be a good idea. But in the meantime, a bug bounty is the solution.)

It's a bit far stretched but: You can expect people to be ethically and morally motivated or you can apply security patches to your servers.

I think I'm bikeshedding; the whole "finder's fee" nonsense bugged me. The analogy between lost wallets and servers doesn't actually hold. One can have thieves and indifference in both worlds, but the natures of the exposed items and victims are different. It is more acceptable to people -- though not any more right -- to figure that a faceless multi-million dollar corp can absorb a tiny theft/hit, but it is harder to allow pain to a relatable fellow human being. (...unless, of course, one is affected by bystander effect or pressured by authority)

Hassle free return, drop it in a mailbox. Leaving it is an option, but the custom of returning things to their owner exists because one good deed begets another.

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