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Will Gawker face potential lawsuit over iPhone leak?

updated 08:35 pm EDT, Tue April 20, 2010

Publisher paid $5,000 for iPhone prototype


Although Gawker Media appears to be confident it will avoid any legal trouble after publishing details of an alleged iPhone prototype, DailyFinance suggests the situation might leave room for criminal charges a lawsuit from Apple. The debate centers around whether or not the discoverer made reasonable attempts to return the device to its owner, and if the publisher received stolen property by paying $5,000 for a device which was obviously lost.

The prototype was allegedly lost by an Apple employee who left it on a stool at a Redwood City bar. An unnamed middleman found the iPhone and claims to have asked around the bar to find the owner. After unsuccessfully hunting for the owner, the middleman took it home and called Apple directly. Apple's support representatives allegedly dismissed the suggestion that the man was in possession of a lost prototype.

Although many people would have asked around and then surrendered the device to the bar staff, expected the owner to return or call, the middleman instead pocketed the prototype. The bar owner, Volcker Stoudt, confirmed that nobody had left the phone, and that the Apple employee "called constantly trying to retrieve it." The middleman also decided against calling the Redwood City Police Department.

"The most reasonable effort would have been to bring it back to us, because he knows that person would be going back to us first," said Volcker. "Why not just make it simple and bring it back?"

California law requires finders of lost property to make "reasonable and just efforts to find the owner and to restore the property to him." Purchasers of property, such as Gizmodo, are similarly directed to make sure that the seller legally possessed the property.

"We weren't convinced the phone was even a genuine prototype until the weekend," said Gawker founder Nick Denton. "And we didn't discover the name of the Apple engineer who lost it until Monday. We called him and -- after Apple officials got back to us -- we returned the device to them."


by MacNN Staff

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Comments

  1. ZinkDifferent

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jan 2005

    -5
    04/20, 09:32pm | report spam | Reply |

    Uh huh....

    Not likely to be believed. Far more likely Gizmodo stole it themselves and are now hiding behind the claims of anonymous contributors.

  1. rtamesis

    Dedicated MacNNer

    Joined: Jan 2000

    -4
    04/20, 09:58pm | report spam | Reply |

    Industrial espionage

    It wouldn't surprise me if Gizmodo had hired someone to spy on the Apple employee and steal the device in that bar for them.

  1. kgav

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jan 2010

    +8
    04/20, 10:56pm | report spam | Reply |

    Common Sense

    Common sense would have been to:

    1. Turn it into an employee of the establishment it was found in.

    2. If you are untrusting of the establishment's employees then leave your name and own phone number with the employees of the establishment so that they can pass it on to the owner.

    I think the "finders" actions display dubious intent. He found someone else's property and managed to make $5,000, I suppose if he had turned it into the Bar he'd not have made any money.

    Comment buried. Show
  1. ilovestevejobs

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Feb 2007

    -12
    04/20, 11:06pm | report spam | Reply |

    who gives a s***

    its only a phone

  1. facebook_Derek

    Via Facebook

    Joined: Apr 2010

    +2
    04/21, 12:59am | report spam | (1 reply) Reply |

    No... not just a phone

    It's not just a phone, it's a BILLION DOLLAR business where millions have been spent in research and design FOR THIS VERSION ALONE.

    This is like a kid breaking into your house and taking your manuscript which you have poured your heart and soul into, then selling it to a supposed reputable news organization, where it is promptly photocopied to h*** and intentionally published for the world to see, before any attempt is made to contact the rightful owner. Then they politely say they were sorry and had no idea it was even yours, despite the fact that your name is printed on it, and it is their business to analyze these types of manuscripts.

    I hope Apple sues the living h*** out of these punk wanna-be checkbook "journalists" in civil court, and I hope criminal charges are filed against the profiteers. They broke the multiple laws. Knowingly or unknowingly, they broke it big time and Apple has a pretty decent chance of putting them out of business.

    Gawker/Gizmodo revealed trade secrets by photocopying the s*** out of it before giving it back, then playing coy. If they weren't sure they had something very special, they would have NEVER spent so much time analyzing it before contacting Apple.

    I hope Apple buries those arrogant jerks. They just gave companies like LG, Nokia and RIM a huge peek into their competition. And they ruined Christmas for the rest of us.

  1. charlituna

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Sep 2009

    +2
    04/21, 01:02am | report spam | Reply |

    here's the trouble

    the guy pocketed the phone. even without knowing what he had, he saw a free iphone and went for it.

    once he found out, he was 20 minutes from Apple HQ. 30 minutes in traffic. Same with a major Apple store, he could have turned it into them.

    and no way did Gizmodo pay money unless they were pretty darn sure they knew what they were getting. and they admitted to paying the money. and supposedly the guy saw the facebook account of the owner on the phone so it's hard to believe that he didn't give up that name as proof that it was real, in order to get the money

    so either they are lying about how they got the phone, or perhaps the whole thing is a lie. there are enough holes to question the tale. and Gizmodo is run by folks just stupid, crazy and a-hole enough to do it. Particularly after the fight with Apple about Jobs health and the dissings on the site, being denied a review ipad, the stuff with the small cut of damaged imac i7s etc.

  1. sribe

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jan 2003

    +2
    04/21, 01:34am | report spam | (1 reply) Reply |

    even worse that that

    "...once he found out, he was 20 minutes from Apple HQ. 30 minutes in traffic. Same with a major Apple store, he could have turned it into them."

    Padded envelope, couple bucks postage, taken care of without even a 20-minute drive... Not like it's hard to find Apple's address or anything. The guy was a sleaze bag who first stole what he thought was an iPhone, then subsequently discovered it was something that could get him even more money. That's assuming gizmodo is even telling the truth at all...

  1. macnixer

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Mar 2006

    +6
    04/21, 03:23am | report spam | Reply |

    $5K is not worth the moral loss

    May this person have some sleep. It is immoral to profit out of someone else's property. Unfortunately that is what the finder did. Whether or not someone knows that he found and kept the phone for a making immoral profit, maybe no-one knows him that he has committed a sin, but (him/her)self knows about it. This person will have trouble sleeping over it. The $5K is nothing compared to the pain one has to live with for the rest of their life.

    I am not sure if someone would believe it but this is what I did when I found someone's iPad touch, a nice camera in a little purse in a park in a north-western state. I looked for a number I could call. Failing which I found a little wallet with a student ID and the address in there. I was with my child at that time. We were enjoying the park but I asked my child to accompany me to the address and we drove to the owners house. After I handed the purse to the girl's mother, she said her daughter was really crying and had gone back to the park with her dad to see if she could find her purse. I said nothing as I had nothing to talk about. The lady gave me a hug and thanked me. The hug from a stranger to a stranger was probably more than I expected. My child was so glad that I returned it. I have set an example that my dad had taught me and I am sure my grandpa must have instilled the same moral values in his child to so that I would inherit it and pass on. BTW, my next in plan if there was no address was to get police help.

    Remember one thing, here the phone was lost by a corporate worker and no family was involved but do moral values differentiate between a small family and corporate entities?

    I do not care whether Gizmodo gets sued or the person who found / stole the phone is jailed. I will not be affected but the one who does not return or ensures a return someone else's property has committed a sin.

  1. facebook_Brian

    Via Facebook

    Joined: Apr 2010

    +7
    04/21, 06:51am | report spam | Reply |

    Theft of Found Things

    Aside from Gawker, I just wish people would think of someone other than themselves when they find lost property. Last year, I left my phone in a restroom at the grocery story. I hadn't gotten far when I realized my mistake, but the room was occupied by the time I got there. I waited and an employee came out and I asked if he'd my phone and I described my case. He said it wasn't in there, but that he'd seen a guy who works in the meat department carrying an iPhone with that kind of case. He took me there and the guy looked panicked. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out my iPhone. I took it and thanked him. I wanted to punch him because rather than turn it into the store manager or make an announcement, he was stealing it. And yes it was stealing in California if you take something rather than turning it in. I'm sure this kid didn't know the law, but he should have known the ethics.

  1. MacMan2000

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Aug 2008

    +3
    04/21, 08:50am | report spam | Reply |

    hmmm

    Based off of Apples past history when it comes to rumor sites and leaks of products real of mystical... Just think of what happen to ThinkSecret and how they are now shut down. Along with that, many of the rumor sites switched from hard rumor reporting to light rumors and other news coverage. I honestly think apple has a case here, this hit all the news wires, but at the same time it has caused a buzz that could move the release date up.

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