“I’ve covered cases like the ‘trade secrets’ disputes between Apple and various news sources, and even had a couple of cases where companies (including one or two very big ones) have wanted to sue me,” Betteridge reports. “I’ve learned about this stuff because I’ve had to, in order to avoid ending up in court.”
Betteridge reports, “I’ve been looking through the various statutes which might just affect Gizmodo’s legal case over the putative new iPhone.”
Full article here.
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Frankly I’m not happy about what they did….when every idiotic tv “news” show is falling all over themselves to show what the thing looks like it doesn’t make me respect Gizmodo. $5000? Seriously?
Gizmodo are scumbags
Keep us informed, bozo
I don’t know why the guy who lost it didn’t track it afterwards. If the guy who found it called Apple, I would think the guy who lost it would have followed that lead. In any case, everyone in Gizmodo should go to prison for sharing with Google, HTC, and Dell and others, trade secrets of my favorite company.
While I don’t really agree with Gizmodo, I don’t think you can really say they did anything illegal as the “trade secret” was exposed by an Apple company employee leaving a prototype on a barstool.
Yes, send them all to jail! and maybe we could send them some iVaseline.
Excellent article… recommend reading the whole thing. I think he hits the nail on its head. Criminal action by both the finder & GIZMODO? Yes. Apple to pursue charges? Unlikely. Ethical? Up for debate…
Just watch what happens next time gizmodo want media passes to an Apple event. They might find it a little difficult.
If I was Gawker, they had to have weighed how many page hits they’d get versus how their access to Apple for all their properties would be diminished. I guess they think they made the right choice.
If I were Nick Denton (or one of his peons), I would be more concerned about Job’s ability to patiently wait for his chance to stand on your jugular.
Technovia: “However, if something is seen from a public space, it loses its trade secret protection. You can photograph it, describe it, or examine it in any way which doesn’t violate any other laws. You probably can’t open up a car and poke around in its innards, but that wouldn’t be because it was a trade secret – it would be because you can’t do that with someone else’s property.”
Even if you left your keys laying in the street beside your car, that would not justify someone getting in and driving it away, much less selling it to a chop shop to tear apart.
Gizmodo is clearly in the wrong in this case, and they will have to face the potentially significant consequences. And the person who found the reputed iPhone 4G, even if he/she did “contact Apple” and did not receive a prompt response, is also clearly in the wrong, although a judge or jury would likely tend to be somewhat lenient in this example.
The world is full of thieves who would prefer to be called opportunists. The way that I was raised, you don’t return lost property expecting a reward, and you certainly don’t sell it.
I guess I know of at least one site who’s not going to be liveblogging at the June 22 event.
I think one measure of the journalistic integrity of a story is if it has any reasonable benefit that society should know about. Then it’s generally considered a valid reason to publish the story. I don’t think Giz posting this on their website has any redeeming qualities to the public at large, only to their personal benefit (and profit).
Powell is going to go through one elevator ride of his life with Jobs.
I think the real question is: Has Gizmodo or any of the people related to Gizmodo signed an NDA (NonDisclosure Agreement) with Apple?
If so, and I believe they would have signed one to attend some of the events they attend, then they are fasked.
You can’t claim that you had a “momentary moment” of lapsed integrity and plead journalistic freedom.
(I know I have had to sign NDAs with Apple that make the Developer NDA look like a walk in the park).
My personal opinion is that Gizmodo should never be allowed near another Apple event. Period.
And charges should be brought against them for possession of “stolen” property. And in the eyes of the law, the phone was stolen. You can hem and haw about it and make all sorts of justified excuses but, in reality, the phone was stolen as soon as the guy received it and did not turn it in to the bar manager. And Gizmodo taking possession (with or without the exchange of money) is trafficking in stolen property. Period.
Fry their a$$e$! Period.
Once Gizmodo paid money to receive obviously stolen property their futures became limited. They’re on an elevator ride without benefit of the car. Going to be a sudden stop.
Unless this is all a big PR ploy by Apple. Talk about buzz.
Simple, selling and buying stolen property is a crime.
Today every asshat will do anything for his 15 seconds of fame.
Because they knew full well how this is going to hurt Apple and help all the tech copiers how never spend a dime on innovation.
Gizmodo reports 95% on these ripped off crap from China etc.
So, yeah scum.
Hit Whores, who knowingly broke the law.
I get a kick out of the idea that since lovers and haters of Apple can’t stop talking about Apple that this means Apple will do anything for publicity and they are the ones who “leaked” this phone. Because remember when that iPad was found at a bus stop? Or the first unibody aluminum MacBook showed up on Pogues doorstep? Anyone who has a clue knows this isn’t any kind of marketing ploy. Apple and Jobs simply don’t do thus.
And Gizmodo bought stolen property, so they are more than likely in trouble. Imagine being a 27 year old engineer who gets to plan a Potential lawsuit with the help of Apple legal.
Kill Google!!!
Kill Adobe!!!
Kill Gizmodo!!!
…
Who’s next on the list?.. don’t you dare eyeball Apple or Jobs, you hear me!
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@ MinInOz:
This has nothing to do with whether Gizmodo signed a NDA. This has to do with violations of California law, and the supposed “we tried to contact Apple and got no response” are either false or seriously misleading. If a phone call to Apple stating, “I have the 4G iPhone which was lost at a bar last night” was actually made, Apple’s black helicopters would have descended on the guy before he hung up the phone.
Tearing the iPhone apart is absolutely a violation of California law. I expect Apple will file charges, and likely the case will be prosecuted because of pressure from Apple to do so. Also, other Silicon Valley tech firms want to know that the prosecutor’s office has their back in stolen tech cases, so it would be bad for re-election not to prosecute. And frankly, it appears to be a pretty easy case to win at this point – Gizmodo did publish tons of photos and the names of people who contributed to the article.
I hope both the “finder” and Gizmodo get what they deserve.
What do they call it when you make a false leak to find out who the spy is???
If I had found the iPhone, I would have wrote an email to Steve to make him aware of the fact. Lately, Steve is so reacheble to everybody that the excuse about not being able to contac Apple is too lame. I think I even would have become a great friend of Apple and Steve and have received a very nice reward for my action. This bozo lost a great opportunity to take very good decitions. Even keeping the thing for myself as a souvenir was a better decition.
It is worth reading some of the Gizmodo articles, which do go through:
1. their thinking on why their legal team believed they were safe legally
2. why the calls to Apple’s call center did not result in any action by Apple or Gray Powell
3. why Apple may have had a difficult time tracking the phone, etc.
They went to lengths not to irreparably damage the phone (whether it was damaged I don’t know) and, aside from showing that the parts inside said “Apple”, did not really divulge any information that may or may not be considered a trade secret. For instance, I don’t think the presence of a particular feature that is obvious to do constitutes a trade secret, eg front facing camera. Was it a secret that they were doing it? Yes. Does it reveal something that keeps them from competing or harms an advantage they have over a competitor? No. If Apple believed that they had a strong case in any area, they would have smacked a no cease and desist letter on Gizmodo or Engadget when the articles first appeared.
As many have pointed out, the person that found this had several options at his avail to tell Apple, eg emailing Steve Jobs. Though all assume that this person is reads tech blogs.
I speculate that Apple was not too upset because Gizmodo didn’t get any real detail on the tech innards (oh, the battery is bigger!! So fucking what.) and the design is not the final design. It certainly does not strike me as a final Apple design and, if it is, someone is asleep at the wheel – it looks like something sold at Radio Shack. I usually assume that, with regard to the aesthetics of design, Apple is on point, so I am guessing that is just a mock up. If it isn’t, then I will certainly be buying a case when I buy it the first day it is out.
and by “a no cease and desist”, I just mean “a cease and desist”…
Gizmodo is wrong in every way I can think of. What they did is exactly what I expect of them. They are “rockstar journalists” out to serve their best interests.
I would have emailed jobs and said hey I have your prototype…
Not torn it apart and post a video announcing to the world ” hey guys this is the next iPhone”
that prototype is as much the next iPhone as Jason chen is Steve jobs.
My personal boycott of gizmodo continues as it has for a long time.
Forget about trade secrets for a moment. A fine for stealing someone else’s phone, and some jail time for Gizmodo staff and the “acquirer” might make them think twice about pulling a stunt like this in the future.
Gizmodo is a site by little stupid kids. Every since they got thrown out from CES I don’t care for them and never read anything they publish and the name Gizmodo have always disturbed me, it sound stupid and childish.
Steve Jobs is definitely not happy. Here’s a video of his reaction to the whole fiasco:
http://www.thecynch.com/video-steve-jobs-speech-on-gizmodo-iphone-4g/
-Cynthia
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