[tyketime]

Originally Posted by JediKooter

If anybody here actually thinks that Apple is pushing the investigation, they are completely out of touch with how Apple operates. Trust me, the last thing that Apple wants is to open itself up to being sued because they pushed the police department to raid someones house.

In these cases, all Apple will do is ask for it's property back since it is a prototype. If the person doesn't return the property, they get sued, Apple doesn't send in the police for christs sake.

How do I know this? I worked there for almost 5 years and dealt with prototypes and other than in instances where the prototype has to be tested in real world environments, that prototype does not leave the campus and a lot of times does not even leave the specific building it resides in. Prototypes have been lost before, they will get lost again in the future and Apple will do the same thing...ask for it back.

Not so fast, Master Jedi:

The California criminal investigation into the case of the errant Apple G4 iPhone that Gizmodo.com unveiled before legions of curious Internet readers last week is noteworthy in its potential to make new media law. But it's also striking for another reason: The raid that San Mateo area cops conducted last week on the house of Gizmodo editor Jason Chen came at the behest of a special multi-agency task force that was commissioned to work with the computer industry to tackle high-tech crimes. And Apple Inc. sits on the task force's steering committee.

And more evidence:

Stephen Wagstaffe, the chief deputy district attorney in San Mateo County, told the San Jose Business Journal that an attorney for Apple approached the DA's office last week seeking a criminal investigation. The DA then referred the lawyer and another Apple employee to REACT:

Wagstaffe said that an outside counsel for Apple, along with Apple engineer Powell, called the District Attorney's office on Wednesday or Thursday of last week to report a theft had occurred and they wanted it investigated. The District Attorney's office then referred them to the Rapid Enforcement and Allied Computer Team, or REACT, a multi-jurisdictional, high-tech crime task force that operates under the Santa Clara County District Attorney's office.