Legal Eagle: Alright. Thee- the man himself, Mark Rober. Uh, thanks so much for, uh, for joining today.
Mark Rober: Good to be here. Let's get to the bottom of this.
Legal Eagle: Out of curiosity, at this point, how much glitter and fart spray do you think you've gone through?
Mark Rober: Like in- like w-what metric? By- by pounds or by, like, number of boxes?
Legal Eagle: Well, I mean, uh, you know, you're a NASA engineer, so, uh, you know, gr-kilograms, probably more than pounds.
Mark Rober: (laughs) We gotta stick with freedom units.
Legal Eagle: (laughs)
Mark Rober: We're talking probably, like, 44 pounds of glitter. So, that's like 20 kilograms, give or take of- uh, don't quote me on that -ish, uh, kilograms of glitter. And I would say, probably, we've gotten, like, 50 boxes stolen or somethin'.
Legal Eagle: Wow.
Mark Rober: At this point.
Legal Eagle: And I know that you've gotten law enforcement involved; both in the porch thieves and on tracking down some honest-to-goodness scammers who were taking advantage of, uh, you know, sometimes the elderly. Um. Has anything come from that, uh, coordination with law enforcement?
Mark Rober: So, (clears throat) we've literally had, like, Department of Justice, like, FBI, Homeland Security, Scottland Yard, INTERPOL, like, all of them at some point, in some capacity have reached out, um, including, like, I think it was, like, Microsoft's fraud team, like, companies as well. We will just give them our information and we'll just, like, "Here you go, do with it what you want." They generally don't follow back with us and-and say what happened, for whatever reason. It's not necessarily a two-way street. If we're looking for, like- with like, local jurisdiction, like this year (swallows) we're gonna work with San Francisco PD and-and, kind of tackle the car- uh, people smashing and grabbing, uh, cars and, like, stuff from cars. So, if we're working more like that, then-then there's more back-and-forth but otherwise, uh, we just kind of, just, give 'em all the data and let them do with it what they will. They have told us they like what we're doing. A: because it's like we do stuff technically that they just won't, for what- don't have the resources or ability to do it in their department. But B: we can get away with stuff that they can't do because we're, like, private citizens, I guess. But, somehow they could use that information so it's, like, in certain cases they'll be like, "no, we love what you're doin', please keep doin' it," for whatever reason they're either legally or constrained from a resource standpoint- can't do it, so they love when we f-feed 'em whatever we get.
Legal Eagle: Yeah. Well, I mean, that's- that's a great example, uh, y-you know, the police are bound by the Constitution. Uh.
Mark Rober: Pfft! Lame!
Legal Eagle: (laughs) Yeah, theoretically. Theoretically, they should be bound by the Constitution and, you know, you get people saying, "Oh, that infringes on my First Amendment rights," when it doesn't actually involve the government and the First Amendment doesn't apply to anything but the government. You are a private citizen so there are- there are rules that, um, define what the government can do with information that's created by private citizens. Mark, I noticed that a lot of the people in your videos, uh, have blurred faces. Uh, is there a particular reason why- why you do that?
Mark Rober: Uh, we might as well just state it on your channel. I put this in descriptions sometimes.
Legal Eagle: Sure.
Mark Rober: But basically, if someone doesn't sign a release, I don't- their face is then blurred and, uh, I don't wanna ruin anyone's life over, like, a stupid decision to, like, steal a package. So, by default, faces are blurred. If you see a face that's not blurred that's because they signed a release and we went back later and said, "Hey, uh, will you sign a release so I could put this in a dumb video?" And, uh, and they've signed it.
Legal Eagle: Are you able to- to prevent future, uh, package thieves?
Mark Rober: It's kind of a case-by-case basis. There's one two years ago, these two college students took it and, uh, uh, they were hilarious. I didn't end up turning their f-footage to the police or anything but then Discover Channel- we're doing something. So, then Discover Channel tracked them down and then I interviewed them. And I was like, I asked them, like, "So, have you guys stolen any packages since?" And they're, like, "Ah man, I got in so much trouble from my mom and my grandma," and then they're like, you know, someone else- a package came to their house accidentally, just shipped to the wrong address and he's like, "I frickin' personally walked that thing to Georgia where it, you know, where- where it actually was supposed to delivered to," cause it's like, "I didn't want anything to do with it." He was like, "I was gonna go through hell or high water to make sure it got to the right person." So I was like, "Ah, well, my job is done here." You know? I think they learned their lesson.
Legal Eagle: Well, uh, Mark it- if Batman had a YouTube channel, I think he would aspire to- to do exactly what you're doing. Um, I-I think you're doin' really good work. Uh, my final question for you is: If Mark Rober found himself in jail, how would he engineer his way out of imprisonment?
Mark Rober: (laughs) Ah, man. That's- I mean, what kinda jail is it? I gotta know, like, what the weaknesses are, right? And I- a- it- it usually, I think, those things come down to a little bit of, like, combination of social engineering. You kinda gotta observe, know when the guards gone rest, make friends with the guard, you know? Depends on how long the jail sentence was because, also, I'm not gonna, like, break out if that gives me, like, 20 more years. So, you gotta balance it all. But, uh, yeah.
Legal Eagle: Let's say you're wrongfully imprisoned for life. You are a completely innocent man but you have no hope of parole and you're in- you're in Alcatraz. How does Mark Rober "Mark Rober" his way out of Alcatraz?
Mark Rober: (deep breath) Yeah, I'm goin' to El Chapo, baby. I'm digging a tunnel.
Legal Eagle: (laughs)
Mark Rober: That's- I'll invent a machine that's, like, the fastest digging tunnel machine and that's how I'm gettin' out, I think. I'm callin' it right now.
Legal Eagle: Maybe there's a colaboration with Colin Furze and, uh- and digging his tunnel.
Mark Rober: Dah! (laughs)
Legal Eagle: Digging the tunnel out of, uh- of jail.
Mark Rober: Good point. I feel like I've- I'm on Colin's grass here on this one. Alright, well if I get one call- phone call from jail, you know who it's going to now, sorry Mom, I'm callin' Colin.
Colin Furze (clip from Colin's video): Ohohoho! You've got a lot of tidyin' up to do here, Furze. You got a lot of tidyin' up!
Mark Rober: Alright, well thanks for the call and by the way, thanks for, uh, bein' a lawyer and, uh, you making me sleep a little bit better at night. Sometimes it's a little sketchy with these things, so knowing a lawyer of your caliber has looked at this and-and cleared my name, uh, means I can rest a little easier and there's a higher probability we'll do Glitterbomb 5.0 and 6 and 7 and who knows where we'll be at when we get to Glitterbomb 10.0 but.... Now, if I ever get sued, uh, I'm sendin' 'em your way. You- you're my representation at this point, so thank you.
Legal Eagle: Thanks so much for joining, Mark. I'll send you my engagement letter and you can send me a retainer.
Legal Eagle: Alright. The man himself, Mark Rober. Thanks so much for joining today.
Mark Rober: Good to be here. Let's get to the bottom of this.
Legal Eagle: Out of curiosity, at this point, how much glitter and fart spray do you think you've gone through?
Mark Rober: Like in what metric? By pounds or by number of boxes?
Legal Eagle: Well, you're a NASA engineer, so kilograms probably more than pounds.
Mark Rober: (laughs) We gotta stick with freedom units.
Legal Eagle: (laughs)
Mark Rober: We're talking probably 44 pounds of glitter. So, that's like 20 kilograms, give or take. Don't quote me on that. And I would say, probably, we've gotten 50 boxes stolen or something, at this point.
Legal Eagle: And I know that you've gotten law enforcement involved; both in the porch theives and on tracking down some honest-to-goodness scammers who were taking advantage of, sometimes, the elderly. Has anything come from that coordination with law enforcement?
Mark Rober: So, we've literally had
Department of Justice, FBI, Homeland Security, Scottland Yard, INTERPOL,
all of them at some point, in some capacity, have reached out, including
Microsoft's fraud team; companies as well. We will just give them our
information and we'll just, "Here you go, do with it what you want."
They generally don't follow back with us and say what happened, for
whatever reason. It's not necessarily a two-way street. If we're looking
for- with local jurisdiction-- Like, this year we're going to work with
San Fransisco PD and tackle the car- people smashing and grabbing cars
and stuff from cars. So, if we're working more like that, then there's
more back-and-forth but otherwise, we just give them all the data and
let them do with it what they will.
They have told us they like what we're doing. A: because we do stuff,
technically, that they just don't have the resources or ability to do it
in their department but B: we can get away with stuff that they can't do
because we're private citizens, I guess. But, somehow they could use
that information. In certain cases, they'll be like, "no, we love what
you're doing, please keep doing it." For whatever reason they're either
legally or constrained from a resource standpoint and can't do it, so
they love when we feed them whatever we get.
Legal Eagle: Well, that's a great example. The police are bound by the Constitution.
Mark Robert: Pfft! Lame!
Legal Eagle: (laughs) Yeah, theoretically. Theoretically, they should be bound by the Constitution and you get people saying, "Oh, that infringes on my First Amendment rights," when it doesn't actually involve the government and the First Amendment doesn't apply to anything but the government. You are a private citizen so there are rules that define what the government can do with information that's created by private citizens. Mark, I noticed that a lot of people in your videos have blurred faces. Is there a particular reason why you do that?
Mark Rober: We might as well just state it on your channel. I put this in descriptions sometimes. But basically, if someone doesn't signa release, their face is then blurred and I don't want to ruin anyone's life over a stupid decision to steal a package. So, by default, faces are blurred. If you see a face that's not blurred, that's because they signed a release and we went back later and said, "Hey, will you sign a release so I could put this in a dumb video?" And they've signed it.
Legal Eagle: Are you able to prevent future package thieves?
Mark Rober: It's kind of a case-by-case basis. There's one two years ago, these two college students took it and they were hilarious. I didn't end up turning their footage to the police or anything but then Discover Channel tracked them down and then I interviewed them. And I asked them, "So have you guys stolen any packages since?" And they're like, "Ah man, I got in so much trouble from my mom and my grandma." And then they're like, a package came to their house accidentally, just shipped to the wrong address and he's like, "I frickin' personally walked that thing to Georgia where it actually was supposed to deliver to. I didn't want anything to do with it." He was like, "I was going to go through hell or high water to make sure it got to the right person." So I was like, "Ah, well, my job is done here." I think they learned their lesson.
Legal Eagle: Well, Mark, if Batman had a YouTube channel, I think he would aspire to do exactly what you're doing. I think you're doing really good work. My final question for you is: If Mark Rober found himself in jail, how would he engineer his way out of imprisonment?
Mark Rober: (laughs) Ah, man. What kind of jail is it? I got to know what the weaknesses are, right? And it usually, I think, those things come down to a little bit of a combination of social engineering. You kind of got to observe, know when the guards gone rest, make friends with the guard, you know? Depends on how long the jail sentence was because, also, I'm not going to break out if that gives me 20 more years. So, you got to balance it all.
Legal Eagle: Let's say you're wrongfully imprisoned for life. You are a completely innocent man but you have no hope of parole and you're in Alcatraz. How does Mark Rober "Mark Rober" his way out of Alcatraz?
Mark Rober: Yeah, I'm going to El Chapo, baby. I'm digging a tunnel.
Legal Eagle: (laughs)
Mark Rober: I'll invent a machine that's the fastest digging tunnel machine and that's how I'm getting out, I think. I'm calling it right now.
Legal Eagle: Maybe there's a colaboration with Colin Furze and digging his tunnel.
Mark Rober: (laughs)
Legal Eagle: Digging the tunnel out of jail.
Mark Rober: Good point. I feel like I'm on Colin's grass here on this one. Alright, well if I get one phone call from jail, you know who it's going to now. Sorry Mom, I'm calling Colin.
Colin Furze: Oh! You've got a lot of tidying up to do here, Furze. You got a lot of tidying up!
Mark Rober: Alright, well, thanks for the call and, by the way, thanks for being a lawyer and you making me sleep a little bit better at night. Sometimes it's a little sketchy with these things so knowing a lawyer of your caliber has looked at this and cleared my name means I can rest a little easier and there's a higher probability we'll do Glitterbomb 5.0 and 6 and 7 and who know where we'll be at when we get to Glitterbomb 10.0. Now, if I ever get sued, I'm sending them your way. You're my representation at this point, so thank you.
Legal Eagle: Thanks so much for joining, Mark. I'll send you my engagement letter and you can send me a retainer.