iPhone 4G HD leak calls up legal hell for someone

In the continuing sorry story of the iPhone 4G or HD lost in a bar, speculation is rising that someone's getting a felony charge. The local D.A. is said to be on the case, while the "careless" Apple employee lies low. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers think of theft.

By Richi Jennings. April 26, 2010.
(AAPL)

Your humble blogwatcher selected these bloggy morsels for your enjoyment. Not to mention HDTV...
 
 
Nick Bilton looks at the legalities:

Authorities ... in California are considering ... filing criminal charges in connection with the sale of a ... iPhone [4G prototype]. ... The San Mateo district attorney ... has the option of filing felony charges ... since the technology blog Gizmodo paid $5,000 for the device.
...
Charges would most likely be filed against ... [those] who sold the prototype iPhone and possibly the buyer. ... California law prohibits the sale of stolen goods ... a person who uses someone else’s lost property ... may be guilty of theft.

Dave Parrack preaches chapter and verse:

[Last] week’s technology news [was] dominated by the iPhone 4G after a prototype version of the new device was leaked. ... An ... unknown person ... picked up the iPhone 4G ... allegedly did the bare [minimum] ... to return the item ... before hawking it to tech blogs.
...
I certainly think the person ... needs to be ... questioned over their actions. ... A California law dating back to 1872 ... states that if the finder of lost property “appropriates such property to his own use” then they are guilty of theft. ... This incident isn’t going away any time soon.

Chris Smith is neither simple, nor silly:

Gawker representatives said that the company hasn’t been contacted by law enforcement ... we’ll assume its legal team is already preparing a solid defense. ... It’s simply silly to assume that a giant like Apple will not want some sort of retribution.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak weighs in:

Was the engineer not allowed to have this iPhone out of the secure areas? ... Was he/she not allowed to use this iPhone outside and be seen with it? ... It appears that ... nothing that made it a new iPhone were shown to others ... by the engineer. The later analysis ... has some interesting points but none that are total shockers.
...
[I've] heard that the engineer who lost his iPhone 4G has not been fired. Perhaps the case was examined on an individual basis. ... I'm glad for now. I hate to see people lose their jobs ever.

But Paul Suarez "wouldn't be surprised" if "Apple orchestrated the leak":

Many folks think this is bad news for [Apple]. ... I think Apple deserves a little more credit ... it must know a thing or two about turning lemons into lemonade. ... How does a company ... [with a] notorious love of secrecy ... end up in a situation like this?
...
I see three options. First ... Apple's policies are lax, and the company has been lucky something like this hasn't happened before. Second ... Powell ... took the prototype offsite without Apple's blessing. Third ... Apple planted the device ... and hoped for the ensuing media circus. ... At this point it doesn't matter [which it is]. ... The company has a prototype device in the spotlight.

Meanwhile, Fake Steve Jobs offers his usual off-color remarks:

The police are ready to pounce, and we are definitely going to do everything we can to make sure you clowns spend time behind bars. ... Jason Chen ... is gonna be a very popular guy when he arrives in prison. He’ll look a lot like he does in the photo, except he’ll be wearing some lipstick, and ... [OK, that's quite enough -Ed.]

 
And finally...
 
Why HDTV sucks [Cory Doctorow points out the extra tooltip, when you mouseover the panel]
 

Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and security. A cross-functional IT geek since 1985, you can follow him as @richi on Twitter, pretend to be richij's friend on Facebook, or just use good old email: itblogwatch@richij.com. You can also read Richi's full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.

 
 
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