Read more.A tech blog bought a prototype of the next Apple phone and published, but what will Apple do about it?
Read more.A tech blog bought a prototype of the next Apple phone and published, but what will Apple do about it?
I'm not 100% sure on US law but I imagine it's not too different to UK law in regards to lost property. In the UK you're legally obliged to make reasonable attempts to return the property to its' owner including (but not limited to) handing it in to the police. Irrelevant whether it was a knock off phone or as it turned out a genuine prototype. You only have a right to something you've found once it's been given to the police and not claimed and/or the original owner not found within the prescribed time in law.
So the guy that found it is certainly in legal trouble if Apple want to make something of it and if the law in the US is the same as the UK. As for Gizmodo I think they've essentially admitted handling stolen gloves and certainly paying out $5000 for it leaves little defence that they weren't aware of that if it came to court. And beyond civil suits we're definitely in the realms of criminal charges at this stage if the courts and Apple were to pursue it.
We should all write to Gizmodo and insist that the phone belongs to us and they return it immediately.
At the end of the day, Gizmodo doubtlessly have what they need by now. They didn't pay $5,000 to give it as a gift to a CEO, it was to get the scoop on something that probably millions of people are interested in, and nobody else has a hope in hell of getting the same story. Which they've now written.
Where it goes now is probably no big deal to anybody apart from Apple. Apple have already lost, no point risking PR damage by going on the attack as far as I'm concerned.
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