Criminal Investigation of Lost Next-Generation iPhone Spurred by Apple Requests

[coleridge78]

I think I read that the guy who found it called Apple and Apple claimed it wasn't their phone. If you tried to return it, the owner denies it's theirs, then is it stealing? I think there is a case that a reasonable attempt was made to return it.

You think you read, eh? Cite it. Let's see a link.

 

[Robert M.]

I wonder how many Gawker employees are now tasked with the job of setting up fake user names and posting on sites like this... Ya know, trying to get everyone to drink the Gizmodo Kool-Aid.

...It was lost....
... They tried to return it...
...I'ts Journalism...


LOL

I'm starting to wonder the same thing. I don't see how anyone with half a brain can take Gizmodo's side. Some of the people defending them are probably on their payroll! Gizmodo does employ quite a few Apple fanboys lol

 

[Silencio]

I wonder how many Gawker employees are now tasked with the job of setting up fake user names and posting on sites like this... Ya know, trying to get everyone to drink the Gizmodo Kool-Aid.

Beats me. They have to compete with the Microsoft, Adobe and Google astroturfers for bandwidth on here now. I guess with unemployment being so high nowadays it's easy to buy people off to fight your PR battles for you. I am far from a blind Apple sycophant, but it's getting a bit much.

No wonder my activity on these forums is pretty much limited to the Football (Soccer) thread now.

 

[hayesk]

Chen never stole the phone.

Plus, some other alcoholic probably would have kept the phone and sold it on Craigslist the day after.

Chen bought it knowing it belonged to Apple. Surely you aren't suggesting he thought the sale was legitimate.

Some other alcoholic may have kept the phone and sold it on Craigslist, but when you charge $5000 for it, you know it's not just another cell phone.

 

[quagmire]

I think I read that the guy who found it called Apple and Apple claimed it wasn't their phone. If you tried to return it, the owner denies it's theirs, then is it stealing? I think there is a case that a reasonable attempt was made to return it.

:sigh:

Two pages back......

Okay, I just finished talking to my dad about this.

A) The employee being drunk has no effect on the case Apple has against Gizmodo. Zero. Judge will laugh at that defense.

B) The founder did not do enough to locate original owner. Calling Apple's Tech Support in his opinion was a cop out hoping it would cover his ass. What he should have done was the following:

1. Leave his number with the bars owner. He agreed he wouldn't have left it at the bar.

2. use any personal information found in the phone to get in contact with the owner or someone who knew the owner.

3. Called Apple's Corporate Number. Since he knew he worked at Apple, calling their corporate number could have been able to put him on the phone with the owner and get his extension.

4. Go by Apple's Campus himself and talk to security.

5. Email Steve Jobs. I told my dad his email was public and he said that would have been an appropriate action.

6. Turn it into the police.

He failed to do those things which makes him taking the phone stealing. I repeat, the employee being drunk and stupidly losing/leaving the phone at the bar has no effect and doesn't make what the founder did any less illegal.

C) Gizmodo also at least civilly is guilty of misappropriation of trade secrets when they opened up the prototype and published what was inside the case. So Apple can sue Gizmodo for that.

D) Chen is not covered by the section Gawker's lawyer referenced. Any info the police gathers from the seized property can be used against him. The info can not be used against the source( aka the seller), but it doesn't protect the journalist himself( Chen) from doing illegal activity.

AppleCare does not handle lost property even their own.

 

[chembox]

It's the same in your state.

It's the same in every state.

It's the same in the UK and every commonwealth country.

It's been the same in nearly every part of every nation in the western world for at least 400 years. You are not allowed to keep something that ISN'T YOURS.

Good christ you're willfully ignorant.

Gizmodo's words on April 19th, before this legal mess:

He [finder of the prototype] 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?

Weeks later, Gizmodo got it for $5,000 in cash. At the time, we didn't know if it was the real thing or not. It didn't even get past the Apple logo screen. Once we saw it inside and out, however, there was no doubt about it.

They returned it after they verified it was really Apple's, the prototype is in Apple's hands. What's the problem?

PS: Only in California would the police raid your homes for a lost phone. Waste of taxpayer money, imo.

 

[Skuman]

Chen never stole the phone.

Receiving stolen goods is a crime (or at least it is where I live).

 

[TeamDNA]

Buying stolen property...... How many times does this need repeating?

IT wasnt STOLEN it was FOUND...... FOUND FOUND FOUND FOUND.. then SOLD..

you people saying screw giz and they should go to jail make me sick.. grow the f up .. dont worry about what they are doing and get your own lives in order ... so much immaturity and angst at a company that merely wanted to obtain a device that any gadget site would want... and for apple to press charges over Sh*t like this is stupid.. sorry your engineer got drunk and left his new iphone at a bar.

 

[archipellago]

If the law was broken, then all parties who broke the law need to face the consequences. There is so much (mis?)information out there, I don't know what to make of the whole debacle.

Haven't the california tax payers got something better to spend their money on?

oh....and about 'law breaking'

the under age chinese workers, Nokia and Kodak say Hi.



what goes around comes around.

 

[chembox]

Receiving stolen goods is a crime (or at least it is where I live).

receiving stolen goods != stealing

It's on a different level but they're still both crimes.

 

[Ports]

Round Two...... Ding! Ding! Ding!

"Lets get ready to rumble"

 

[bdkennedy1]

I was at Jason's house Friday night and got this

 

[Goona]

I really still think this is all a set up. Do you know how much publicity Apple and Gidmodo are getting from this?

Why on earth would an APPLE ENGINEER just "loose" the NEXT IPHONE??? He would be guarding that piece of technology WITH HIS LIFE.

Apple is just trying to hype up the iPhone, even more than it already is.

Just like they released the iPad, then announced iPhone OS 4.0... they are just trying to over hype.. and its working

Just my opinion, but I guarantee a different iPhone will be launched this Summer.

Damn some of you are so deluded. You think this useless debacle will sell more iphones.

 

[quagmire]

IT wasnt STOLEN it was FOUND...... FOUND FOUND FOUND FOUND.. then SOLD..

you people saying screw giz and they should go to jail make me sick.. grow the f up .. dont worry about what they are doing and get your own lives in order ... so much immaturity and angst at a company that merely wanted to obtain a device that any gadget site would want... and for apple to press charges over Sh*t like this is stupid.. sorry your engineer got drunk and left his new iphone at a bar.

It was stolen when the founder didn't do all that he was required to do according to the LAW to return it to the owner and then sold it. That is when it became theft. Look a few posts up and see what my dad( aka a lawyer who would know a thing or two about the law) said on this situation.

You need to realize finders keepers don't apply in the adult world. Maybe at the playground when you're 3, but I would assume you have grown up from that stage of your life.....

 

[gwangung]

IT wasnt STOLEN it was FOUND...... FOUND FOUND FOUND FOUND.. then SOLD..

Well, according to Gizmodo.

Hm. They have a stake in saying that, don't they? And in trying to spin it as favorably as they can for themselves?

 

[chembox]

Meanwhile, Apple's stock is still steadily rising...

http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=...=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=on;source=undefined

 

[archipellago]

It was stolen when the founder didn't do all that he was required to do according to the LAW to return it to the owner and then sold it. That is when it became theft. Look a few posts up and see what my dad( aka a lawyer who would know a thing or two about the law) said on this situation.

I would trust your dad as much as I would trust you...

Nil, zero, zilch...etc.

 

[Mystic385]

Chen is English right? If he hasent become an US citizen and he gets convicted, won't he be departed from the US? That would be sad over an iPhone prototype imho.

If you're not a US Citizen do you become departed? The worst we'd do down here in NZ is deport you. (deported)

So the headline would read..."Jason Chen ... Recently Departed, for Crimes Against US Law."

 

[Chic0]

You're comparing a $20,000 item to a $200 phone? I can somewhat see what you're trying to say, but that's a horrible comparison, because to steal a vehicle you need to break into it.

Yes i know what he was getting at. Yes there is a significant difference between the price of a phone and a car.

Having worked as a tester for another major telecommunications company, I know that prototype phones cost significantly more to make that the models that are released. Prototype phones can cost up to a few thousand pounds to manufacturer. This is partly because they are not always made by machine, but by hand.

 

[SteveSparks]

They should not have mentioned the engineers name in their post. I suspect there is much more to this story than we know, especially since all we are getting is the Gizmodo version. They are going to not reveal all the details unless it suits their muck raking purpose.

 

[coleridge78]

Gizmodo's words on April 19th, before this legal mess:


They returned it after they verified it was really Apple's, the prototype is in Apple's hands. What's the problem?

Look, you're obviously a paid astroturfer. This has been explained directly to you repeatedly. If your theory had any validity, I could squat in your house for a few days or steal your car for a few days and be free and clear once it was returned.

For the interest of those who are reading this who aren't paid trolls:

http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/PEN/3/1/13/5/s484
http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/PEN/3/1/13/5/s485

Not that "permanently" appears nowhere.

 

[quagmire]

I would trust your dad as much as I would trust you...

Nil, zero, zilch...etc.

So what/who would you trust? Playground rules of finders keepers?

Do you have a law degree? Are you certified by the bar? Please tell me your background on the law so you can so expertly say this isn't stealing......

Society is screwed if morality has deteriorated this much.......

 

[bdkennedy1]

What part of removing an item that is not yours from private property is stealing, do you not understand?

I would trust your dad as much as I would trust you...

Nil, zero, zilch...etc.

 

[chembox]

Authorities put Gizmodo-iPhone investigation on hold, study ramifications

The examination of the computers and devices seized on Friday by local law enforcers from a technology blogger that got his hands on an unreleased iPhone prototype has been put on hold while authorities discuss if the operation conflicted with California's shield law.
...
At the heart of the matter is the question of whether law enforcers overstepped their authority by seizing Chen's belongings or if the shield law's protections evaporated when Gizmodo agreed to purchase an item reported as stolen property.


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/techchron/detail?&entry_id=62276

 

[brammp]

You're comparing a $20,000 item to a $200 phone? I can somewhat see what you're trying to say, but that's a horrible comparison, because to steal a vehicle you need to break into it.

Uhh, $200 phone? In this case, the "phone" represents intellectual property and perhaps (likely) new patents, of which increase the value of the phone to an area of, oh I don't know, priceless. I'm pretty sure that the value of the 4G phone is way north of even $20,000 (to use your example).