Gizmodo's iPhone Leak: "We haven't been contacted by law enforcement"
4/25/2010 12:26:00 PM
kenmouse
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The fat might be hitting the digital pan for Gizmodo, the popular online tech blog that leaked a full set of photos, videos, and descriptions for Apple's rumored fourth-generation iPhone. CNET reported Friday that California authorities are investigating the matter to decide whether Gizmodo's $5,000 purchase of the prototype phone from its source violates California criminal law.Gizmodo hasn't revealed the seller, the undisclosed patron that found the prototype iPhone left in a Redwood City, CA bar by a 27-year-old Apple engineer.
The investigation was launched after Apple spoke with Santa Clara county police, and Fox News reports that it will likely be under the jurisdiction of the district attorney's office computer crime task force. Nothing has happened yet, however: "We haven't been contacted by law enforcement," said Gaby Darbyshire, chief operating officer of Gizmodo's parent company, Gawker Media, in an interview with Businessweek.
The legal question at hand is whether Gizmodo's purchase violates section 485 of the California Penal Code, which states that, "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."
According to Gizmodo, the unknown source that found the alleged prototype iPhone attempted to contact Apple by calling the company's support number. He or she was assigned a ticket number, but that's as far as the situation went prior to Gizmodo's unveiling. Beyond that, Gizmodo could potentially face charges if it was found that they knowingly receiving stolen property that was been obtained illegally.
As for the Apple engineer that originally lost the iPhone, Gray Powell has been keeping a low profile in the media throughout this ordeal. CNET interviewed his father, who said that his son "was devastated" regarding the situation. However, there's one small silver lining to the whole ordeal--Nicola Lange, Director of Marketing and Customer Relations for Lufthansa airlines' Americas region, has offered Powell a free business-class trip to Munich, Germany where he could, "literally pick up where you last left off." According to Gizmodo, Powell originally lost the phone at Gourmet Haus Staudt, a German specialty store and beer garden.
Steve Wozniak, Apple's co-founder, has chimed in with his own letter to Gizmodo, indicating that he's heard through his own sources that Powell hasn't lost his job based on the alleged leak.
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