Comments on: Has Gizmodo broken the law with its iPhone story?

By: Are There Other iPhone HDs In The Wild?

Are There Other iPhone HDs In The Wild? — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 17:55:03 +0000

[...] Gizmodo is denying allegations that the whole thing was an Apple leak (which I agree with), and the legality of their story is now a subject of much debate. Share var a2a_config = a2a_config || {}; a2a_config.linkname="Are There Other iPhone HDs In The [...]

By: Gizmodo’s iPhone leak: Breaking the law or breaking the news? « Digital Newsgathering

Tue, 04 May 2010 18:59:35 +0000

[...] Betteridge, creator of the technology blog Technovia, is one of these skeptics. He recognizes that in publishing their findings, Gizmodo might find themselves in a legally compromised position [...]

By: CT

CT — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 22:44:30 +0000

@DU: Wow... diehard Apple fan are we? Way to jump straight to name calling. If you read the Gizmodo article, they said nothing about any applications or anything that you couldn't see just by looking at the phone. So where in that is a trade secret? If it really was so secretive, why was the guy able to take it out of the Apple facility in the first place. And even more so, to go get drunk at a bar with it? Really??? If he had really done that, he would have been fired the next day on top of having to face charges by Apple for losing it.

Now if you read my post, I said it could have been, anything could possibly be. But you know what, I applaude you on your name calling, you are the all wise one!!! I'm so sorry... Just goes to show how intelligent and openminded some people can be. =) Cheers!

By: mortmain

mortmain — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 08:09:54 +0000

I agree with your interpretation of potential legal troubles for the seller of the phone, but the culpability of Gizmodo is no where near as clear. The very fact that you (and everyone else, including legal experts from every nook and cranny) are debating whether the seller could actually be charged with stealing the phone, how is it possible to prove that Gizmodo “knew” the phone was stolen when they purchased it? The question of whether it was stolen is not even clear! Even if the seller were convicted of theft, it is not enough to say “we now convict Mr. X of theft of the phone, therefore the phone is considered stolen property, therefore Gizmodo must have known at the time that it was stolen property.” The NYTimes general legal counsel George Freeman said that the Times would have published a story and photos of the phone without a problem, but would not have paid for it because of the “stigma” attached to paying for stories.

By: DU

DU — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 02:45:21 +0000

CT, you are an idiot. Everything about the phone is a trade secret. Do you think if your phone runs out of power, that the spirit inside of it must have died? Moron.

Rubes like you might try a stunt like this for cheap publicity. Apple doesn't do cheap. Stop trying to paint them in your eyes.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 00:17:49 +0000

Ian, I’ve been following this story both here and on GigaOm’s site, here in the U.S. First and foremost, I’d like to say that it is very refreshing to read posts that are well written and spelled correctly. After reading your first post I thought; wow, this guy’s definitely not from the U.S.! Everything’s spelled right! The question I have is this: Are the views of this story outside America similar to the nonsensical garbage I read here in the U.S.? Or, are we Americans just bored to death? Some of the ideas put forth on several other blogs are so moronic that I honestly feel dumber for having read them. I am of the highest hopes that many of these people never reproduce. Thanks, and continue the great work!

By: Are There Other iPhone HDs In The Wild? | iPhoneBizBlog

Are There Other iPhone HDs In The Wild? | iPhoneBizBlog — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 23:31:33 +0000

[...] In the meanwhile, Gizmodo is denying allegations that the whole thing was an Apple leak (which I agree with), and the legality of their story is now a subject of much debate. [...]

By: CT

CT — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 22:04:53 +0000

All this argument about the internal workings of the phone and trade secrets.

1) The phone wouldn't start up so how are they going to expose any internal secrets. 2) If I listed a bunch of components I can physically see inside a phone, not to mention all the other parts I can't, would anyone be able to build another phone like it?

Am I saying this was just and lawful, no, obviously they shouldn't have sold it/bought it. But they are over doing it. AND for all everyone knows, this could have just been a ploy by Apple to advertise the phone before it came out.

By: TechBlog

TechBlog — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:24:59 +0000

Gizmodo, the next-gen iPhone and the law: Discuss...

So far, I've not written about the "lost" next-generation iPhone story. I've been a fascinated lurker in this case, and I have very mixed feelings about it all. For those who haven't been following the story, here are the basics:......

By: Hm

Hm — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 15:20:36 +0000

Seems to me that Gizmodo are the biggest losers in all this and deservedly so (and I mean ‘losers’ in every sense of the word). Here they had a chance to do the right thing – give the phone back to Apple – and win some valuable brownie points and free press as the good guys at the same time. But they chose the low road and will most certainly now be the very last organisation that not just Apple, but probably a lot of tech companies will go to with their new products. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. Quite aside from the legality of it all, I just find their actions to be thoroughly unprofessional and thoughtless. If Apple do decide to take them down I doubt there would be a lot of sympathisers.