Apparently that was some special phone.
Posted on 04/26/2010 4:17:17 PM PDT by Smogger
Cops break open front door and seize computers in investigation of lost iPhone prototype.
It looks like the police are taking this pretty seriously.
Armed with a search warrant, members of California's Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team broke into a private home Friday night and seized computers and other electronic equipment, according to a report posted Monday on Gizmodo.
The home belonged to Jason Chen, the Gizmodo editor who published photographs and videos of a top secret prototype iPhone left at a bar by a young Apple engineer. Gizmodo has admitted paying $5,000 for the device, which it turned over on request to Apple (AAPL), but only after cracking it open and publishing details about its parts and specifications.
It's not clear at this time whether Apple or the local district attorney initiated the investigation. Apple has not replied to a request for clarification.
The search warrant, signed by a San Mateo County Superior Court judge, said the equipment seized may have been used to commit a felony.
"My wife and I drove to dinner and got back at about 9:45," begins Chen's description of the event. "When I got home I noticed that the garage door was half open, and when I tried to open it, officers came out and said they had a warrant to search my house and any vehicles on the property 'in my control.' Then they made me place my hands behind my head and searched me to make sure I had no weapons or sharp objects on me."
Photocopies of the warrant and a list of the equipment seized (including one box of business cards for "suspect chen") are available here. Chen's full statement below the fold.
(Excerpt) Read more at tech.fortune.cnn.com ...
Exactly who stole anything here?
Material fact? I said they could have chosen to serve the search warrant when someone was home. Cops have certain leeway as to when to serve a search warrant you know. In fact it’s generally supposed to be during daylight hours unless it’s a high risk warrant. Too bad they rarely exercise their best judgement. Expediency and all.
Wanna bet?
A year from now, Gizmodo will still be in business, and they wil be as strong as ever.
so much for apple inducing me to buy one of their big brother phones.
This is a civil not criminal action.
The guy who found it tried to return it to the morons at Apple severals times.
http://gizmodo.com/5520729/why-apple-couldnt-get-the-lost-iphone-back
VERY interesting information if you follow the link to the supporting documents. It would appear that the search warrant is invalid because Chen is employed by Gawker as a JOURNALIST. California’s own laws may have been violated in carrying out this warrant and seizing property.
It will be interesting to see how this pans out because as a journalist Chen is NOT required to provide ANY information about where or how he got his information...
Here’s the link that includes copies of the Search Warrant, as well as Gawker’s COO who has already contacted the Police Department regarding this event on Chen’s behalf — not the conclusion of the letter (copies to Counsel).
http://gizmodo.com/5524843/police-seize-jason-chens-computers
apple is big corporate and has the lobbyists and lawyers to have more justice than regular peeples.
I wonder how the house fared with the stun grenades.
(this is like the RIAA or MPAA suing fans)
“Isn’t there some murder by yet another illegal allien that the California police should be stopping right now?”
Uhhhh - if you were a jack booted, wannabe Rambo, wouldn’t you rather try out your nifty “door breaching equipment” on a computer geek’s door instead of a door of an MS-13 drug house?
I suspect the copyright has expired long ago.
*note the conclusion
Don't try to make a Guy Fawkes defense. No single act he did was a crime, per se, BUT he did try to blow up Parliament!
Possession of someone else's property without a good explanation of why you got it is pretty much evidence of participation in a theft to one degree or the other.
You will notice Apple wasn't going after the device ~ they had that ~ they went after his pictures of the design.
The kid who busted into Sarah Palin's emails probably thought what he did was legal ~ he's going to jail for a long time!
Remember, theft wasn't invented yesterday so everybody has had thousands of years to work their way through all the known or knowable theft schemes and have written laws to penalize people who involve themselves in them. I am confident the law will work for Apple to protect their interest in their own property.
The article clearly states it was left at a bar.
Apparently that was some special phone.
Seems to me that if the guy tried to give it back and Apple wouldn’t take it, the phone was abandoned property. Where’s the theft?
I doubt if there is even much of a civil case here.
As I understand it, the Apple workers left his phone in some bar. That's his own carelessness and stupidity. The guy who found it, didn't go and steal it from anybody. It's like finding a $50 bill in the street.
Further, he made several attempts to return it to Apple, without success, before "selling" it” to Gizmodo. In addition, Gizmodo, went out of their way to return said device to Apple anyways, after detailing everything that happened on the Gizmodo web site. I think this is all about Apple trying to generate hype for their phone..
The explanation is in the article along with the person who found it attempts to return it TO APPLE.
http://gizmodo.com/5520729/why-apple-couldnt-get-the-lost-iphone-back
...unless you are in Europe and then can claim “innocent buyer” status. Then in europer you can claim legal ownership. This is why you have tranaction rooms in certain airports in europe.
He didn't.
The Apple worker forgot he had a phone with him, and left it at some bar. That's his fault. Noobody stole anything from him.
Plus the guy that found it, made serous attempts to find the owner and return it, without any success.
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