iPhone & Gizmodo

[k0ruptr]

I just think since it was RETURNED, they should leave the guy the fuck alone.

[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.

[JediKooter]

Originally Posted by tyketime

Not so fast, Master Jedi:



And more evidence:

I highly doubt that Apple suggested a Elian Gonzalez style raid on the guys house from Gizmodo.

Real life story: The building I was in was broken into and laptops and other items were stolen out of peoples' offices, however, I don't know what happened with all of that and I assume it was handled by the sheriffs department. The big difference though, this was on Apple property and I could see where it would make sense if Apple did push for an investigation in that instance.

I do find it odd though, that Apple's own attorney was not aware that Apple was already a part of the task force (REACT) that the DA referred them to. I wish I could find it, but, I heard on the radio this morning, that it was not Apple that asked for the investigation, but, the employee who lost the iPhone asked for the investigation. It was a very short blurb and they didn't say if Apple had 'suggested' he do it or anything else like that.

So, we'll see. If Apple did indeed spear head the breaking into the Gizmodo dudes house, then that's a first that I've heard of something like that.

Actually now, reading back, I want to be clear as to what I'm arguing about...I'm arguing that Apple did not led/spear head the storming of the reporters house, however, I can kinda see where they would ask the REACT team to investigate the matter, even though (to me) it seems to be a clear case of profiting on lost/stolen property and trying to get the scoop before some other website did. If Apple did indeed ask for that guys house to be raided, that is just wrong in my opinion and they have everything coming to them, if they do get sued.

[gstelmack]

My favorite summary of this comes from The TechReport: Apple giveth, and Apple breaketh down the door to taketh away - The Tech Report

Originally Posted by article

1. On March 18, 2010, Apple engineer Gray Powell took a disguised prototype iPhone 4G to a German bierhaus in Redwood, California, to test the phone's new Fraulein Attraction Processor that Apple had scored in its acquisition of P.A. Semiconductor.
2. After viel bier, Powell stumbled home or into a cab or, more likely, to a tattoo parlor to get a third "Zune Suxxorz Ballz" tat.
3. A dude (now identified as 21-year-old Brian "Terry Bollea" Hogan) at the bar found the iPhone and, after waiting around for its owner to return (so he claims), took it home to spoon.
4. The next morning, The Hulkster discovered the iPhone had been remotely bricked. It was then that he noticed the phone felt different than a standard issue 3GS. Sure enough, the shell was nothing but a clever ruse hiding the flat-bottomed girl within.
5. Powell called the bar. No phone. Full-on freak out commenced.
6. A friend of The Hulkster, possibly Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, called an Apple support number and mumbled something about having a prototype iPhone with "sweet nunchuck skills.dis54" The lowest-level Apple minions hung up.
7. Beefcake allegedly dialed up some tech sites and got Gizmodo to cough up five large for the non-working but still dissectible prototype.
8. After much poking and prodding, Gizmodo published a couple of articles and videos of the phone. Nerd bowels across the world spontaneously, simultaneously evacuated.
9. Apple sent a letter (demanded by Gizmodo) requesting their phone back. Gizmodo complied.
10. Gizmodo editor Jason Chen's house is raided by The Man at the request of Apple. No, not at the request of Apple. Yes, at the request of Apple. No, at the request of some guy in a black turtleneck named Steffan Jobes. The police actually broke down Chen's door while he was at dinner. And nothing harshes an In-N-Out buzz like finding the fuzz going through your wife's dainties upon your return. Trust me.
11. The Internet and Jon Stewart called B.S.