Updated: Gizmodo stole Steve Jobs' thunder (new iPhone debuted today)

Re: Steve Jobs must be pretty unhappy right now (new iPhone leaks)

Big Ragu: You're right, it is pretty naive of me. So in a more realistic sense, I hope they get sued to hell because I find them obnoxious and schadenfreude rules. Is that suitably jaded?

Also, as deskslave so eloquently put it, finder's keepers isn't a valid legal defense. The original guy could've returned the phone (he claims he tried to, but I'm pretty doubtful of this), but even if you accept that he couldn't return it then Gawker clearly knew whose phone it was, since they notified the guy who lost it before publishing the story. So they could've returned it, but didn't. They obviously knew it wasn't the property of the guy selling it when they bought it. That ain't legal.

Azrael: I guess Gawker might conceivably go for it for a big enough pile of money, but Apple almost certainly would not. All their PR is carefully controlled and orchestrated around big events with lots of subtle build-up beforehand and shiny Apple branding. Been that way for years and years, at the very least since Jobs regained control of the company in the 90's. It's not their MO to just drop something like this without Jobs getting up and giving a big speech while wearing tacky jeans and a black turtleneck and lounging in a chair for two hours. Maybe if they were planning on releasing this phone in a week or two I'd give this theory some credence, but by all accounts this is something that was still a way's off.

If Apple wanted to drive people crazy with buying frenzy, there's much better (and easier) ways to do it than this. Hell, I'd argue this hurts them hype-wise. They're going to have a harder time drumming up interest in a device that everyone already knows about than one people are dying for details about.

 

Re: Steve Jobs must be pretty unhappy right now (new iPhone leaks)

Journalists use documents that they don't own every day. Think of every leaked memo that's ever been reported in the Times or Post.

Should they have returned those documents to the "owner" and not reported on them?

Plus, the whole point was to get Apple to acknowledge that it was their property. As best as I can tell, they retuned it once they were formally notified that it was Apple's.

I get the sense that if this had been a big, mainstream media outlet that reported this story -- and they hadn't paid for it -- there would be little or no criticism.

 

Re: Steve Jobs must be pretty unhappy right now (new iPhone leaks)

There's a big difference between using a leaked document and buying a missing prototype from some random dude. I don't think anyone's got a problem with them running the info they did - in fact, I quite like seeing Apple get some comeuppance. But buying the prototype? That's shady. And you're right, YankeeFan, nobody would have a problem with this if it hadn't been bought, because the fact that it was bought kinda steps it up a little (at least in my opinion). If someone had just brought them a prototype, well, why wouldn't they report on it? Makes sense to me.

Ragu, I guess it's possible nothing comes out of this lawsuit-wise, but I'm not sure that argument about having no idea it was Apple's would hold up. Why would they pay $5000 if they didn't believe it was a real prototype? The fact that they bought it at all seems to imply they thought it was genuine. That said, I don't know what Apple would accomplish by suing them, so it's entirely possible that they won't.

And while I personally am not 100% certain on the law, I asked a prosecutor friend of mine about the legality of what Gawker did, and they seemed to think it was either definitely illegal or that a strong case could be made for it being illegal. Now, he's not a prosecutor in California, so it may be that it's different there. It also may be that he's overstating the case, since, I mean, he is a prosecutor, after all.

 

Re: Steve Jobs must be pretty unhappy right now (new iPhone leaks)

Well, since you're pretty doubtful, I guess that's that.

Gizmodo wrote about the difficulties in returning the phone, including stuff from a source who worked at Apple and ignored a call from the guy trying to return the phone because he (the source) had no idea there was an iPhone prototype that even existed, let alone one that had gone missing.

http://gizmodo.com/5520729/why-apple-couldnt-get-the-lost-iphone-back?skyline=true&s=i

 

Re: Steve Jobs must be pretty unhappy right now (new iPhone leaks)

I think Steve Jobs is Smocke/The Man in Black.[/crossthread]

 

Re: Steve Jobs must be pretty unhappy right now (new iPhone leaks)

I'm aware of that, and I'm suspicious of the whole thing because it sounds like he did the absolute minimum amount of effort to return it. Of course a customer tech support guy's not going to know anything about a missing prototype. Why would they?

I'd like to think that the guy didn't really know what he had and acted in good faith the whole time, but I keep coming back to the fact that he pitched it to multiple blogs for several thousand dollars. It doesn't add up.

edit: Misunderstood your post, the first time.

 

Re: Steve Jobs must be pretty unhappy right now (new iPhone leaks)

If it comes to VZW, I'll be right there in line for one. Just as long as the big VZW doesn't strip it of what makes it so damn fun - app store/iTunes etc..

 

Re: Steve Jobs must be pretty unhappy right now (new iPhone leaks)

Gizmodo: It's not about the iPhone.

http://gizmodo.com/5520772/its-not-about-the-iphone

 

Re: Steve Jobs must be pretty unhappy right now (new iPhone leaks)

If the iPhone does come to Verizon, it'll be interesting how those sort of issues pan out -- Verizon has a history of disabling features.

 

Re: Steve Jobs must be pretty unhappy right now (new iPhone leaks)

I would be stunned if they really would disable the app store. An iPhone isn't an iPhone without the ap store. I'd be stunned if Verizon would be that stupid and stunned if Apple would agree to it.

 

Re: Steve Jobs must be pretty unhappy right now (new iPhone leaks)

Shit just got real for Gizmodo and editor Jason Chen.

http://gizmodo.com/5524843/police-seize-jason-chens-computers