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Since a lot of people seem to be ignoring a key fact, here ya go:

Thinking about returning the phone the next day, he left. When he woke up after the hazy night, the phone was dead. Bricked remotely, through MobileMe, the service Apple provides to track and wipe out lost iPhones. It was only then that he realized that there was something strange that iPhone. The exterior didn't feel right and there was a camera on the front. After tinkering with it, he managed to open the fake 3GS.

There it was, a shiny thing, completely different from everything that came before.

He reached for a phone and called a lot of Apple numbers and tried to find someone who was at least willing to transfer his call to the right person, but no luck. No one took him seriously and all he got for his troubles was a ticket number.

He thought that eventually the ticket would move up high enough and that he would receive a call back, but his phone never rang. What should he be expected to do then? Walk into an Apple store and give the shiny, new device to a 20-year-old who might just end up selling it on eBay?

http://gizmodo.com/5520438/how-apple-lost-the-next-iphone

Edit - Oh, and Gizmodo has offered to return it to Apple also.
 
that's just wrong, it should have been returned to Apple after it was found to be a prototype/new iPhone. or it should have been left at the bar's lost and found, maybe even turn into the authorities for safe keeping. :mad:
 
I am guessing, if the guy isn't a total mental midget, that he made Gizmodo sign something that stated he would not get turned in.

The contract will anyway be illegal at formation. :D
English case: Re Mahmood
 
-No way Apple would let a low level programmer walk around with a prototype. All the other Apple products have been physically locked down to desks (remember the leaked iPad image)

They do let people take the iPhones out, actually. 2G iPhones were spotted in the wild before launch. Apple doesn't produce fake cases just for people to take the out and about on campus.

It's the only way to test the phones in actual, real world conditions.

-Johnny Ive says its a joke on Twitter.

Jonathan Ive doesn't have Twitter. It's a fake account.
 
So I assume the guy lost his job? Why the hell did they need to name him?

Unless of course the name of the guy is all a ruse!?
 
I have been told several times that taking any prototype hardware off the Cupertino campus or even taking it out of the bomb shelter is a firing offense. I cannot see anyone in the iPhone firmware group being so stupid.

My guess is that this is an intentional plant and would not be surprised that this is not the first attempt to do a plant that actually took to a media line. It is amazing how many things are opened up in public and are just ignored. Kinda like a UFO landing in Times Square in 1951 and no one cared.

Odds are it is a hardware prototype that is not the direction that the final design went and is a designated Red Herring. Glad to see a pub in Redwood City get some free press!

This is what someone suggested to me. The likelyhood someone actually had this so carelessly to be stolen back in March does not really pass the smell test. But if it is not true, it makes Gizmodo look even worse.

No matter if it is true or not, Gizmodo looks moronic.
 
Trafficking stolen goods? Hardly. As far as the original finder is concerned, it was abandoned property. Sure, they should've reported it to the police to give Apple a chance to reclaim it, but it's not stolen. That's like saying you stole the $5 bill you found on the street.

Lets say you check your bank account and instead of having a balance of $2k you have 2,000,000 dollars in your account. You immediately transfer it to your Swiss Bank Accounts. Did you do any thing wrong? If you don't know that is wrong...
 
If I lost my car keys and you picked them up, you wouldn't be stealing the keys. If you took those keys and broke into the car that I didn't lose, then you'd be stealing the car. Those are two different scenarios.

So even if I didn't steal the car and only took your keys, it wouldn't be stealing?
 
Does this surprise anyone? Gizmodo is probably the most anti-Apple blog out there. There bread and butter are the anti-Apple zealot readers who flock to their Apple posts to comment on how much they hate Apple products. And they've done plenty of other dickish things like this in the past, like this one
 
If it is lost, and picked up in a bar, many have argued salvage / abandonment / finders-keepers rights to avoid any criminal charges if someone tries to make a case of it.

I believe the issue here is knowingly selling, purchasing and exposing to the public Apple's trade secrets. From the wiki:

18 U.S.C. § 1832,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_Espionage_Act_of_1996 criminalizes the misappropriation of trade secrets related to or included in a product that is produced for or placed in interstate (including international) commerce, with the knowledge or intent that the misappropriation will injure the owner of the trade secret. Penalties for violation of section 1832 are imprisonment for up to 10 years for individuals (no fines) and fines of up to US$5 million for organizations.

Gizmodo is either run by complete idiots or knew Apple wanted this out. It's as simple as that. We will know the answer when and if Apple files charges. No charges, no crime, no stolen phone. Just a huge PR coup for Apple and the pub that will now be filled with people hoping to score the next Apple tablet prototype.
 
For everyone that is saying giz did not buy stolen goods because the engineer lost it, how does giz know that's true. This guy that sold it could of easily snatched it when no one was looking. A company such as gawker can't just assume what that guy says is true. I mean how does " I found this phone, got into the Facebook profile and know who it belongs to, but I'll just sell it for 5-10k.". After all this gizmodo still agrees to buy it. Something doesn't add up here.
 
It would be so funny (kinda sad for gizmodo) if it turned out that this guy who lost a phone was just fooling around and made it on his spare time just to pull a prank. :D
 
Via the thread on this incident at TUAW:

Woody
Yeah, I'm not a lawyer either. I knew my state had a law about theft of misplaced property, so I looked to see if CA did too. If anyone is wondering, it's here. Section 485 is the one of interest:

http://law.justia.com/california/codes/pen/484-502.9.html

485. One who finds lost property under circumstances which give him knowledge of or means of inquiry as to the true owner, and who appropriates such property to his own use, or to the use of another person not entitled thereto, without first making reasonable and just efforts to find the owner and to restore the property to him, is guilty of theft.


Michael Rose
Michael Rose said 9:48PM on 4-19-2010

Here are the relevant sections of the California criminal and civil codes. If you are a California lawyer and are reading this, please comment.

Civil:
http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/CIV/5/d3/4/6/4/1/s2080.1 — phone was not turned over to the cops as required, civil liability applies

http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/CIV/5/d3/4/6/4/1/s2080 — person who found it did not act in good faith or as a depositary (taking it apart)

Criminal:

http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/PEN/3/1/13/5/s485 — question is what constitutes a ‘reasonable and just’ effort to track down the owner. It seems plain that the participants knew without question that the device was an Apple prototype, and they already knew the guy’s name. Guilty of theft.

— the property was obtained in a manner constituting theft, as above. Property was both concealed and sold. Every person who either bought it or sold it knowing what it was is potentially facing one year in jail.
 
are you kidding?

this little 'event' just kept thousands from getting stuck in a contract with a blackberry, android or a palm. The past iphones had been missing things it should have had on day one. This leak tells us the wait for the REAL IPHONE may finally be over! All the other 'iphones' were kids toys, just getting our appetites wet for the grown up's iphone. This leak shows us apple is at the table ready to deal with a phone that will be the phone you always wished you had.
 
go directly to jail

Anything left in a bar is in the possession of the bar. If you pick it up and take it home it is theft. You find a bag of money on the street and don't take it to the police same thing. If you then sell it, well thats another felony.

We have a least 3 felonies here.

The fact that Gizmodo is involved is not a surprise. Journalistic integrity is not something that has ever crossed their path.

The fact that they know the name of the person believed to have left the phone in the bar would pretty much make the prosecutors case.
 
I love how your all so quick to point fingers and make accusations. Like you would hand over an iPhone prototype to a bar's lost and found what a joke! Taking the phone is not a crime, if apple wont admit it's theirs. I think you all upset that you did not find the phone yourselves!
 
There is only one problem with this whole situation

If Apple doesn't sue Gizmodo (which they have more than enough grounds to), then it was clearly a plant. In turn, the plant will cause hype for the 4G. However, I personally dont think the 4G needs hyping. This will drive down the sales of the 3G/S left over the next 2 months.
This is unless Apple is planning a surprise release which I doubt.

Hmm
Or.. we could always still be looking at a knock off.
 
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