Authorities Begin Evidence Examination in Gizmodo iPhone Case

[askthedust]

however the property was "aquired" the person aquiring it did not own it and was trying to sell it not return it. Gizmodo/Gawker paid the guy and accepted the phone. They even took it apart! I'm not sure how they thought they were in the right at all. When Apple contacted him about returning it he said only if they wrote a letter?

Not even remotely a 1st amendment issue.

 

[gwangung]

I love how you people think Apple controls the police. Something was stolen, they reported it, out of there hands now. Take the tinfoil hats off yeah?

Agreed. I mean, really. Billion dollar industry. A prototypes goes missing, money is involved. HOW STUPID DO YOU HAVE TO BE NOT TO INVOLVE THE POLICE?????

 

[Atkins]

It would be interesting to know who this unpaid, 3rd party, is. And what the level of expertise is.
Maybe it's Stephen Gary "Woz" Wozniak.....

It is completely unimportant who he is. Level of expertise? Lol.

I think it's the clout of Apple that is pushing this to the end...... NOT the DA.
The DA is probably just a puppet in this case. Apple wants blood and to set an example.
And I think they should push it so hard, that the entire pool of Journalists don't write free publicity for Apple in the future. Stop all coverage....
But, that won't happen........

Again with those conspiracy theories. And these are not journalists. And trust me after this affidavit no journalist will support them.

If this whole thing has hurt Apple in some way, then I agree with prosecuting them.

You really don't get who is suing who.

I guess California doesn't have real crimes to investigate

I thought stealing and destroying others' stuff is a crime.

That's our justice system. They need a "Special Master" and two months to read through one guys computer information. You could probably get a 12 year old to do it better in a couple of days.

Of course they need one. Guess why?

The iPhone was NOT stolen. It was lost. That Jason Chen paid for it is, well, unfortunate for him, but I for one do not believe a crime has been committed.

Another one that didn't read the affidavit.

The government of California should not use the mighty arm of the law to enforce Apple's bizzarre obsession with keeping its products secret.

And how about the stealing and destroying?

Chen, one might say, is a latter day Daniel Ellsberg while Apple is CLEARLY a repressive force fighting the 1st Amendment.

Ha! That's just nonsense.

Chen is not going to do time or pay a fine for this. He will have a very, very good lawyer,...

Yes, and on the other side there will be a good one too.

 

[macquariumguy]

This is good news. I hate thieves more than anything, so I say let the prosecutions begin!

 

[RoboCop001]

I guess you're pretty ignorant of corporate espionage.

APPLE GEAR SOLID
CORPORATE ESPIONAGE ACTION

Dun dun dundundun..... dun dun dun!

Steve! Steve!? STEEEEEEEVVVVVVVVVE!!!!!!!!!

 

[tingly]

The iPhone was NOT stolen. It was lost.

True (apparently), but California law defines it as stolen once the finder gets some sort of gain from possessing it without having made a reasonable attempt to return it. He knew the Apple guy's facebook account and not sending him a facebook message falls feloniously short of reasonable. His roommate told police just how unreasonable the attempt was.

I read about special masters somewhere. It's a lawyer or judge or something like that. What will make it take so long is likely to be the negotiations with the defense attorney.

 

[Peace]

APPLE GEAR SOLID
CORPORATE ESPIONAGE ACTION

Dun dun dundundun..... dun dun dun!

Steve! Steve!? STEEEEEEEVVVVVVVVVE!!!!!!!!!

Well thought out and informative post.

 

[Atkins]

First off, the whole issue of "stolen versus lost" has not been decided,...

Hmmm, why not? if you are talking about the bar - sure. But from the moment of the sale it is stolen.

 

[peterlobl]

lots of luck

The iPhone was NOT stolen. It was lost. That Jason Chen paid for it is, well, unfortunate for him, but I for one do not believe a crime has been committed.

without an investigation, how do you know it wasn't stolen?

chen paid for it as "found" property... um like back of the truck lucky, hmm?

 

[RoboCop001]

Well thought out and informative post.

Of course it's thought out!

Steve as Snake!

The board of directors as The Colonel!

And the elevator in the back is the only way up!

 

[cmkilger]

I'm tired of all this iphone news =/

Just wait until next week.

 

[sharpycl]

It will be very interesting to see how this plays out. I don't know much about the case but if a crime was broken than steve has every right to push for whatever penalties that gizmodo has comming to them.

Again I don't know much about the case but from what I have read, if someone stole something from me I would want justice too. Gizmodo knowingly bought a prototype item from what sounds like some 3rd party who somehow aquired the item. My guess is it is no different than buying a stolen car. Whether you knew it or not it is stolen.

I hope whatever justice due is properly served.

 

[barberio]

I'm at a loss as to how the "This isn't a real crime" thing can stand up in people's heads as a serious argument...

Imagine for a second that someone came to you with a bag full of diamonds, with the dealer's name embroidered onto the bag. The guy tells you that he found the diamonds in a bar, that he tried calling the diamond dealer but couldn't work out a way to return it, so would you like to buy the diamonds from him for a third of their market price?

At this point, if you don't have the guy clocked as a thief, you really shouldn't be allowed out on your own.

Even if we go with the iPhone 'finder''s story, he was still obliged by law not to profit from the sale of someone else's property. He should have handed the item into his local police station if he couldn't return it to Apple himself. Even if he innocently found the iPhone in a bar, the moment he tried to sell it on to a third party it became criminal theft.

 

[wrast]

So Giz...was it worth it?

 

[E.Lizardo]

What are you talking about.

Why would you not consider this a "real crime".

If you felt that someone stole from you and there is mounting evidence of a crime would you not want justice?

California is doing the right thing.

Don't waste your time.Anyone who thinks at this late date that a "real crime" wasn't committed or that the perp should not be prosecuted is simply not going to understand coherent thought or logic,let alone the law and the facts of this case.
Or they DO understand and simply don't know right from wrong.

 

[tkingart]

There appears to be a lot of speculation floating around. I'm no legal expert, but isn't it up to the courts to decide whether or not a crime had been committed? There seems to be conflicting stories regarding lost and stolen that needs to be examined, an affidavit is not a judgment. I believe it would be prudent to wait for all of the evidence to be presented, and allow the legal system to take its due course.

I may be mistaken- but I do not believe this is corporate espionage, but I do believe that it is a waste of tax payers dollars and law enforcements time. I'm going out on a limb here, and guessing that maybe murderers, serial killers, and child abductors use computers too- of which an expert could be spending time searching for evidence, like tracking down missing children.

 

[E.Lizardo]

If this whole thing has hurt Apple in some way, then I agree with prosecuting them.
However, I believe that Apple received much more free media on this than what it has cost them. And did it really cost them?

What I don't agree with is SJ in going after them just because he's pouting over losing the secrecy of surprise at WWDC.

I really think this secrecy thing is very childish when carried to SJ's extreme.

I guess you missed the Chinese knock of already for sale.

 

[Mark Booth]

Suggestions of Steve Jobs being "childish" are extra humorous in a thread populated with so many childish comments regarding the law and its application to this situation. Brian Hogan, Jason Chen and possibly others could be facing felony charges. There is nothing childish about being charged with a felony. This is very serious business for all involved. Being convicted of a felony would be life-altering.

Just as Gawker/Gizmodo wants to get the most page views for the hot story, so a district attorney wants to go after the "big fish". The bigger the fish, the better. Jason Chen is not a big fish.

The cnet article mentions that Chen and his attorney have come to an agreement over how the seized computers will be examined. This is the first indication we've seen of some level of cooperation by Chen. We already know that the thief, Brian Hogan, is cooperating with the investigation.

There can be little doubt that neither Hogan nor Chen want to be charged with a felony. Who would? And in that vein, I'll restate what I've said all along... Hogan and Chen will do everything they can to avoid being charged with a felony. If that means becoming cooperating witnesses against a "bigger fish", than that's what they'll do.

This story is far from over and I only see it getting bigger and more interesting.

Mark

 

[E.Lizardo]

The iPhone was NOT stolen. It was lost. That Jason Chen paid for it is, well, unfortunate for him, but I for one do not believe a crime has been committed.

The government of California should not use the mighty arm of the law to enforce Apple's bizzarre obsession with keeping its products secret. If Apple wants thing perfectly secret, it can restrict access, etc., but it should not rely on the threat of prosecuting journalists acting in the public interest to keep its products safe.

Chen, one might say, is a latter day Daniel Ellsberg while Apple is CLEARLY a repressive force fighting the 1st Amendment.

As others have shown many times under California law the phone is legally considered to be stolen,and Chen knowingly bought stolen property.
Sorry,your personal ideas of what is illegal don't change reality.

 

[JAT]

Chen is not going to do time or pay a fine for this. He will have a very, very good lawyer, the kind of guy who eats your average Assistant District Attorney for lunch, and they'll throw arguments at the jury until Apple looks like the bad guys (for what it's worth, I think Apple is the bad guy already). Even if convicted, Chen will end up with a tiny slap on the wrist. This is one of those cases where the real penalty is the agony and disruption for everyone involved, not whatever a judge says when he bangs his gavel.

Possible, but not likely. Let's hope not. I'd like the statutes about theft to be upheld, because I own stuff. Not much stuff, but it's still mine.

I may be wrong, but from the way the police are now using 'Bait Cars', it seems to not only be a problem selling one, but also just picking one up and taking it home with you. I guess the 'Finders, Keepers' is only a rule for kids.

Finders Keepers is not an acceptable rule at my house. You want Big Brother? Try being a parent, that is your job. My kids have just about stopped pulling this bs line out, because all that happens is everyone loses, and the item becomes MINE. At least, for a while.

I love how you people think Apple controls the police. Something was stolen, they reported it, out of there hands now. Take the tinfoil hats off yeah?

It's funny how the Apple haters are the ones that claim Apple rules the world, and they accuse the Apple lovers of thinking that way.

 

[igazza]

why so much hate for Gizmodo? i loved this story

 

[gwangung]

There appears to be a lot of speculation floating around. I'm no legal expert, but isn't it up to the courts to decide whether or not a crime had been committed? There seems to be conflicting stories regarding lost and stolen that needs to be examined, an affidavit is not a judgment. I believe it would be prudent to wait for all of the evidence to be presented, and allow the legal system to take its due course.

I may be mistaken- but I do not believe this is corporate espionage, but I do believe that it is a waste of tax payers dollars and law enforcements time. I'm going out on a limb here, and guessing that maybe murderers, serial killers, and child abductors use computers too- of which an expert could be spending time searching for evidence, like tracking down missing children.

I will note your first paragraph conflicts with your second.

 

[Atkins]

There appears to be a lot of speculation floating around. I'm no legal expert, but isn't it up to the courts to decide whether or not a crime had been committed? There seems to be conflicting stories regarding lost and stolen that needs to be examined, an affidavit is not a judgment.

There's nothing conflicting about the facts from the affidavit and what the law is.

I may be mistaken- but I do not believe this is corporate espionage, but I do believe that it is a waste of tax payers dollars and law enforcements time.

It wasn't meant as an espionage, but it kind of ends the same. We'll see.

I'm going out on a limb here, and guessing that maybe murderers, serial killers, and child abductors use computers too- of which an expert could be spending time searching for evidence, like tracking down missing children.

So because there are murderers, let's forget about the thieves?

 

[Mark Booth]

why so much hate for Gizmodo? i loved this story

I also despise the National Enquirer. 'nuff said.

Mark

 

[tingly]

There appears to be a lot of speculation floating around. I'm no legal expert, but isn't it up to the courts to decide whether or not a crime had been committed?

It's just the court of public opinion, harmless as long as none of us serve on the jury. The comments of the people involved have done a pretty good job of convicting themselves. I can't see how they aren't guilty.

I may be mistaken- but I do not believe this is corporate espionage, but I do believe that it is a waste of tax payers dollars and law enforcements time.

Criminal laws go on the books when a society thinks that their enforcement is a good use of time/money. As a California citizen, I'm very comfortable with the DA continuing the investigation, especially this part which is a money/time freebie for the county.