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Legality of Gizmodo's Next-Generation iPhone Acquisition Examined

Robert M. said:
The guy should also be sued. Gizmodo should have had some integrity... If I ran the site and someone contacted me trying to sell an Apple prototype, I would have contacted Apple. Why burn bridges? :rolleyes:
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Great point. The worst that can happen is you could still sleep at night. And, best case, Apple throws you a bone or something somewhere down the line.
 
8CoreWhore said:
... they published the photos first... violating trade secret laws.... remember Think Secret?
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no trade secret laws were violated because Apple took the device out into "the wild"... Apple is responsible for securing their prototype...if Apple hasn't asked Gizmodo to "cease and desist" yet doesen't that just reek of controlled leak? if anyone is to feel Apple's wrath it would be the incompentent engineer that lost it and seems to be capitalizing off his 15 minutes of fame...The letter that Apple's general counsel sent is not even legally responsible...in fact Gizmodo is so scared of apple that they used the letter to verify that the phone is real, and the story is still on their front page...Obviously Apple is involved because the phone was lost in mid March if I'm not mistaken, and they knew it was gone since March and they just sent a letter asking for it back this week...probably Apple trying to demo an upgraded remote wipe feature as a marketing ploy and failed
 
While the authenticity was certainly in question, the $5K price tag paid by Gizmodo certainly indicates that Gizmodo was hedging its bet that the device was in fact the Apple iPhone. Even if the device was not authentic, it would still be larceny, just not such a valuable larceny. In this case, the issue of authenticity may go to who is the true owner is (whether it's Apple or the dude that lost the phone), but mistake of fact isn't going to be a valid defense. The finder would have "thought" the dude was the owner either way.

I used to read ThinkSecret and had completely forgotten about it. Hopefully Gizmodo doesn't end up in the same situation.
 
bdkennedy1 said:
From Wikipedia:

In the United States, larceny is a common law crime involving theft. Under the common law, larceny is the trespassory taking (caption) and carrying away (asportation, removal) of the tangible personal property of another with the intent to deprive him or her of its possession permanently. In almost all states, it has become a statutory crime through codification.

And since Gizmodo paid $5,000 for it and disassembled it, it's grand larceny.
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Try citing Wikipedia in court and see what happens.

There are not enough
icon_lol.gif
in the world for some of the drivel in this thread.
 
The phone was on the property of the bar owner so it was the bar owner's property. It was removed from the property, therefore it was stolen.


ShiftyPig said:
Get lost with this. The man made an effort both at the time and the next day in contacting Apple.

There needs to be an IQ test to sign up for this place.
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???

why are some of you so emotionally hot over this? you come to a rumors site and you're disappointed that you got some rumors verified? None of you own Apple and Steve Jobs wouldn't p*ss on you if you were on fire...stop acting so magnanimously, because if you would have found the iPhone you'd probably sell it too
 
MacBOS said:
o!... so now everyone wishes this never happened a! "lets just wait till the day comes" lets just get a magic marker and erase this and make it all go away.

Its not what it looked like before wen everyone was going nuts over the pics and the video.

(speaking in general don't take it personal) just quoted you to make a point :)
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I've been sick of the rumors for months now. Same thing before the iPad was announced. There are SO many rumors and only a small percentage ever end up being true. I mean, none of this truly matters until the actual product is released to the public anyway...
 
satcomer said:
Well criminal cahrages are going to fly because the Gray dude called the bar the next day looking for it “The guy was pretty hectic about it,...”.

To me the guilty ones is the guy who found it for not notifying the bar owners and selling it to so-called "journalists". Gizmodo is guilty of buying known stolen goods by California code.
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Correct. There will be no civil suit. Waste of time. There will be criminal charges or nothing, and since the "perps" have posted admissions of "conspiracy" to blogs they own or control, the chance of nothing at all happening is slim, unless Apple themselves approach the authorities asking for forgiveness.

If nothing comes of this, you know to a near certainty that is precisely what happened.

Rocketman
 
No lawsuit will come until Fall. Apple wants to look good for now. Once the 4th gen iPhone is selling well, you'll see the crawls start coming out.:D
 
bdkennedy1 said:
The phone was on the property of the bar owner so it was the bar owner's property. It was removed from the property, therefore it was stolen.
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Thanks for your amateur but incorrect opinion. In the future, keep clutter like this to yourself.
 
For some, a trial for this case will be as ridiculous and compelling as that in the last episode of Seinfeld.

I, however, think Gizmodo and the "finders-keeper gone seller" is dead wrong. It is stealing. The fact that the man sold it should be a dead giveaway. Then the fact that Gizmodo went ahead and published photos of what they bought is just stupid. Stupid people get in trouble with the law.

Apple or whomever should make a lesson out of these fools. Take down the Gizmodo website. Lock them all up, if not for stealing, then stupidity.
 
saxamoophone said:
Ok, don't compare this with just Gizmodo
A) Just took photos of it.
B) Gave it back to apple when asked.
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Unlawful possession of stolen property. When the guy left the bar with it, he stole it. It doesn't matter what they did with it or that it was returned. It was acquired illegally.
 
billchase2 said:
I've been sick of the rumors for months now. Same thing before the iPad was announced. There are SO many rumors and only a small percentage ever end up being true. I mean, none of this truly matters until the actual product is released to the public anyway...
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I hear you completely. and i am tired of all this to but you know this is what tuts macrumors horn :D

can you imagine a macrumors without the rumors:D
 
I would have thought that apple would use one of the many 'find my iphone' services on all pre-release phones that are loose in the wild. Things would have gone a lot smoother for Apple had they gone this route. The story would have been more like....

The beta tester leaves it at the bar, get's home and realizes it's lost. And then either he, or apple, tracks it via gps to wherever it happens to be and retrieves it. This way it wouldn't even matter if somebody picks it up and moves it to a new location.

This certainly sounds to me mistake that could have been avoided. They sell me their tracking software, why isn't it good enough for them to use themselves? Are they trying to tell me something?
 
ShiftyPig said:
Get lost with this. The man made an effort both at the time and the next day in contacting Apple.

There needs to be an IQ test to sign up for this place.
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He never reported it to the police. He simply took it (ie, stole it).

Any reasonable, thinking person would have left the phone with the bar's owner, because a reasonable person would have known that someone who lost something at a location would return to look for it.

The Apple employee would have gotten the phone back if the bar was holding onto it. The Apple employee could not possibly have gotten it back if some unknown person took the phone into his own possession.

Asking around for an hour does not constitute "effort".
 
GREEN4U said:
Apple or whomever should make a lesson out of these fools. Take down the Gizmodo website. Lock them all up, if not for stealing, then stupidity.
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I'd bet the lawyers have meetings and come to a settlement, getting promises not to do such-and-such. Think Secret was shut down only cuz the sole reason for its existance (exposing trade secrets) was agreed away.
 
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