Quote Originally Posted by [AK]Squidly View Post
They called Apple after they bought the device, took it apart and ran the story.

You guys need to get your facts straight, both about what happened and what constitutes theft in California. I know it's vogue to paint Apple as the no-fun gestapo these days, but they're the victims in this case. When you report a crime, the police get involved. When you are a party to a crime, you risk having the police show up at your door in a bad mood. None of this is a shock.

I like this quote from Jason Calacanis:

"You see a silver Mercedes parked in front of your house. There are keys in it. You get in the car and see that it has a bunch of new features that the standard Mercedes you drive lacks. Oh, and it belongs to someone named Dieter Zetsche. You take the car and drive it home, then call automotive magazines and offer to sell this prototype you found, and know the owner of, for 10x the street value of the car (say, $1M). What are you now? Yes, a criminal! Whether the item is worth $600 or $60,000 is not relevant."

The media thing is irrelevant. This isn't about protecting sources - this is about knowingly purchasing (aka fencing) stolen goods.
That's not a very compelling analogy. A pocket electronic device abandoned in a public bar is nothing like an automobile parked outside with the keys still in it. No one could reasonably expect a person's behavior towards the two settings to be similar. As to stolen goods, not stolen if Apple denies ownership. The guy who found the phone did contact Apple, he did something. Should he also have contacted the individual (Powell)? You bet! But legal obligation to do so is deniable - he contacted Apple who are the true owners. In any event, not Gizmodo's problem. And they did call Powell.

The timeline is pretty consistent with everything I heard. So before admonishing folks for not having their facts straight, what facts aren't straight? And no, if you're planning on going there, I don't consider hiding behind "it was the police, not us, who broke down the door" to be valid. That whole event is so wrong on so many levels it's just creepy.

I'm sure they have good lawyers - and they're going to need them. Because I bet there are plenty of sharks hoping to make their name pro-bono on Gizmodo's behalf on this mess. In the end, this will blow over - but Apple looks like a bunch of jackasses right now.