Search Warrant For Lost Next-Generation iPhone Ordered Unsealed

[ranReloaded]

I think, if the issue is "Big corporations like Apple have the power to move the police to do their biding", then the real problem is with the public institutions as well. Wrong in both sides! Everyone expects big corporations to be greedy for control, but the police/government giving in is more scary.

In any case, I don't see Apple wrong so far.

 

[ranReloaded]

One thing's for sure: The District Attorney won't be any help in Vietnam...

SEND RAMBO!!!

 

[mac jones]

I tend to think this was a personal shove match between SJ and Chen.

Standard little boy crap.

 

[CFreymarc]

LOL! "Ripped from the headlines." I wonder what name they'll come up with for the tech blog. Techmodo?

I am sure a script about this is being passed around in Hollywood for option bids as we speak.

 

[aliebel]

The reason people are so bent out of shape about this is because this is further proof that our country has become a corporatocracy.

If I had lost my phone (my personal phone or even some invention I was creating in my garage as part of my plan to create a new product and start a company), and someone found/bought it and returned it back to me, I PROMISE that there would be no police investigation like this. They wouldn't be issuing search warrants, busting down doors, sealing court documents.

Corporations have more privileges than ordinary citizens with none of the responsibility. A lot of people like myself are tired of it. But as long as our government is bought and paid for by lobbying and campaign contributions, it will never change.

You must not have enough faith in your local law enforcement. Granted if someone takes your phone and you have no idea whom took it; they probably arent going to be able to assist you very much.

But like in this case, you have evidence of someone (Chen) being in possesion of what believed to be your property (the prototype) and you take that to the detectives they will follow up on that and could lead to warrants etc. Which is what they did. I have seen it work for people I know, and you also see internet dramas unfold with real life actions all the time e.g. That lost sidekick story from a couple years ago. The guy was no one not a corporation, but had some leads and was persistant.

It's funny to see people say that Apple is some big juggernaut that influences anything they want too. Why don't you just see it for what it is, the police doing their job. I can't say anything to the supposed discrepancies in the search warrant. We will find out about that soon enough.

 

[Cougarcat]

I think we need a separate "Legal" page. Just look at all the "rumors" for today.

 

[Avatar74]

When any entity can use law enforcement at their whim it is not a good thing.

You mean like if I call the police at any hour of the night because someone stole my car?

Corporations are legal individuals, and all appeals to emotion aside, they have every right to report their property stolen just like you and I do. You can't have it one way and not the other.

 

[ethana]

2pm...eastern specific time.

Eastern Standard Time you mean?

 

[Anuba]

I want to see one episode of South Park dedicated to the iPhone leak, it would be hilarious

I was so hoping for that too, but SP is on a break and they like to stay fresh. Unless interest in this story is renewed in October due to a trial or whatever, they might consider it, otherwise it's too stale for a show that turns in episodes only hours before they air.

I'm sure Matt & Trey would've offered some great commentary on this matter. They're really good at articulating what everyone's thinking, but also at seeing both sides.

They would probably have Butters find the iPhone, and they wouldn't go easy on the corporatocracy aspect and raiding homes of scrawny nerds. I'm guessing the episode would make Gizmodo AND Apple AND Gray Powell AND random really drunken guy AND the authorities look like idiots.

 

[ChazUK]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7E18 Safari/528.16)

LOL! "Ripped from the headlines." I wonder what name they'll come up with for the tech blog. Techmodo?

I am sure a script about this is being passed around in Hollywood for option bids as we speak.

Let's hope no one loses the script in a bar.......

 

[koach]

First, we prefer the term "Plutocracy," which is an actual word. Look it up.

Second, I'm sure if someone just returned your prototype to you, what you say is correct. If they splashed it all over the Internet so that some competitor could get it to market first, then either (1) you're being deliberately disingenuous; or (2) you are not destined for business success.

Corporatocracy is an actual word too, look it up genius: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporatocracy

Both are good examples of what is happening to the United States.

My point is that if my personal phone (or even some world changing breakthrough device that I as a regular citizen built in my garage) went missing and was splashed all over the internet like this, the legal system would not give two sh*ts about it, and wouldn't do this level of investigation over it. The only reason this is happening is because corporations own this country.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

Nothing but I bet there is much more to their involvement than just that. When any entity can use law enforcement at their whim it is not a good thing. I await to see what this reveals.

? You base that bet on what? No wait, nevermind, don't think too hard about it. I'll take that bet. $5 says they did nothing illegal by reporting the theft and sale of their stolen goods containing trade secrets and providing the names of those involved.

...which is exactly what you or anyone else does when you have your property & IP stolen. When asked, "do you want to prosecute?" if you say yes, law enforcement does its job.

I see nothing out of the ordinary about any of this.

...but then, I've had quite a bit of my own property stolen, including a few innovations made public in our own industry before our launch. ...and I'll say, if a legally kicked down door is all Jason gets, he should consider himself lucky. Cause if I ever find the aholes who sabotaged my lifes work for a quick buck, I will positively go bronze age on their asses. No kidding. Flaming arrows, hot tar, the works.

 

[Anuba]

You mean like if I call the police at any hour of the night because someone stole my car?

Corporations are legal individuals, and all appeals to emotion aside, they have every right to report their property stolen just like you and I do. You can't have it one way and not the other.

Yeah, but if you called in a report of a stolen car they would file it away in the round archive (

). They wouldn't mobilize half an army, kick down doors and seize everything in sight. So this already is "one way and not the other". Apple shouldn't get special treatment, they can get in line behind the rest.

 

[Stephen123]

If an individual left their phone at a bar, someone sold it to the press and the press published the content of the phone, that press outlet would be sued, prosecuted and despised. It's only because the phone belonged to large corporation that anyone has any sympathy for Gizmodo.

 

[koach]

You must not have enough faith in your local law enforcement. Granted if someone takes your phone and you have no idea whom took it; they probably arent going to be able to assist you very much.

But like in this case, you have evidence of someone (Chen) being in possesion of what believed to be your property (the prototype) and you take that to the detectives they will follow up on that and could lead to warrants etc. Which is what they did. I have seen it work for people I know, and you also see internet dramas unfold with real life actions all the time e.g. That lost sidekick story from a couple years ago. The guy was no one not a corporation, but had some leads and was persistant.

It's funny to see people say that Apple is some big juggernaut that influences anything they want too. Why don't you just see it for what it is, the police doing their job. I can't say anything to the supposed discrepancies in the search warrant. We will find out about that soon enough.

Except that is not what happened. The police went to Chen's house AFTER the phone was returned. If I went to the police station and said "John Smith at 123 Main St. bought my phone from some guy on a street corner, but then gave it back to me. will you search John's house and look to uncover evidence as to who sold it to him?" I would get laughed out of the police station for such a request.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

The only reason this is happening is because corporations own this country.

No, this happens all the time. The only reason this is any different than most cases is because the potential amount of money at risk is astronomically huge. ...and you're actually paying attention to this one.

Just because the first tree you hear fall in the forest is a big one, doesn't mean no other trees fall in the forest, or that this tree was special to anyone but you.

 

[mrtravel123]

Apple's influence only goes so far. A judge issued the warrant, not Apple. It's not like Apple can just call the police to get a door bashed in. It must go through several steps, including examination and approval by a judge.

It's more of a PR mess for Apple than anything else. BUT, if Apple hadn't done something, imagine if this continued to happen? At some point a company needs to protect their interests.

When you are buying and selling something that everyone pretty much KNOWS belongs to someone else (Apple), you're no longer "committing" journalism.

 

[Gasu E.]

Judge Clifford V. Cretan in Redwood City today ruled against the San Mateo County District Attorney's office, which argued that unsealing the documents will reveal identities of potential witnesses and compromise the investigation. Media organizations argued they should have access to the documents based on constitutionally protected free-speech rights.

Judge Cretan? I will die if the DA's name is "Moran".

 

[ThunderSkunk]

Yeah, but if you called in a report of a stolen car they would file it away in the round archive (

). They wouldn't mobilize half an army, kick down doors and seize everything in sight. So this already is "one way and not the other". Apple shouldn't get special treatment, they can get in line behind the rest.

They would if that were necessary to get your car back. If, however, instead of your yugo, someone traded your IP & trade secrets, and asked you even after you got the original back, if you wanted to prosecute, and you said yes, then that is exactly what they would do. ...and did.

 

[koach]

No, this happens all the time. The only reason this is any different than most cases is because the potential amount of money at risk is astronomically huge.

The amount of potential money should have nothing to do with it. If I claimed to have invented a [insert world changing device that would make billions of dollars] in my garage, and it was lost, sold, then returned to me, there would be no investigation like this.

It really amazes me that there are people that refuse to see how much special treatment corporations get in this country. They have all of the rights of a person with none of the responsibilities. They have influential people and politicians bought and paid for. Government agencies will often bend over backwards to accommodate them. How anyone can look at the last 10 years and not see how much worse this has gotten boggles my mind.

 

[iLunar]

Yeah, but if you called in a report of a stolen car they would file it away in the round archive (

). They wouldn't mobilize half an army, kick down doors and seize everything in sight. So this already is "one way and not the other". Apple shouldn't get special treatment, they can get in line behind the rest.

You're just too prone too exaggeration. Half an army? Give me a break.

Gizmodo acted illegally. Any amount of crap they get is because they acted illegally, whether that be from one individual or a corporation. Gizmodo acted illegally.

 

[timewasting]

Corporatocracy is an actual word too, look it up genius: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporatocracy

Just because something is on the web, especially in Wikipedia, doesn't mean it's true. It's in urbandictionary/wikipedia, which means give it a few years before recognition by people who cogitatively evaluate the "wordiness" of the word. If it does pass muster, it should undoubtedly show up on LSSU's banished word list.

 

[iLunar]

The amount of potential money should have nothing to do with it. If I claimed to have invented a [insert world changing device that would make billions of dollars] in my garage, and it was lost, sold, then returned to me, there would be no investigation like this.

It really amazes me that there are people that refuse to see how much special treatment corporations get in this country. They have all of the rights of a person with none of the responsibilities. They have influential people and politicians bought and paid for. Government agencies will often bend over backwards to accommodate them. How anyone can look at the last 10 years and not see how much worse this has gotten boggles my mind.

I agree with you. However, not in this case, and not because it is Apple. Gizmodo is also a corporation (parent company being Gawker). They are not bloggers working out of their mom's basements not making any money. They acted illegally to the benefit of their own business (ad revenue).

There is a time and place to be anti-corporation (cough BP cough), but I truly don't see how this case is one.

 

[ct2k7]

I personally think that revealing the documents isn't a good thing.

 

[citi]

Except that is not what happened. The police went to Chen's house AFTER the phone was returned. If I went to the police station and said "John Smith at 123 Main St. bought my phone from some guy on a street corner, but then gave it back to me. will you search John's house and look to uncover evidence as to who sold it to him?" I would get laughed out of the police station for such a request.

If they felt that the way Chen came into possesion of said product was illegal, there is the likelihood that they have acted criminally with other products. So they grab his computers to see if there is a trail of criminal activity.

I don't see this as out of the ordinary.