When Gizmodo acquired the "lost"
iPhone, they thought it was all great fun to post pictures and details
for the world to see - but when they had their computers taken, they
think it very wrong for someone to go looking through them.
Imagine This
Let's imagine a similar but slightly different scenario. Gizmodo
editor Jason Chen forgets his laptop at a local café. When he
goes back to find it, it is gone. The café owner doesn't have
it.
Technically, he lost it. He wasn't robbed so there isn't a crime to
report to the police yet. The most he can do is check back at the
café to see if it gets turned in later.
Meanwhile, the person who found his laptop is busy calling the
laptop manufacture looking for the owner. Too bad they can't help him.
Instead, the "finder" decides to find out which website that will pay
the most for it.
The site that buys the laptop wants to make their money back. So
they search through the computer and find out who owned it. They gather
personal and financial information, etc. Then, for fun - and especially
for site traffic - they post all these details. Instead of returning
the laptop, they demand a printed letter from the owner, which they
also post.
At the end of the day, the laptop is returned, but the damage is
already done. All the personal and financial information is making its
way around the Internet. People are accessing his bank accounts,
etc.
The owners of the website claim that no harm was done - after all,
the laptop was returned.
I'm not sure that the Jason Chen would feel the same in that
situation.
Protecting Journalists
Now the lawyers at EFF (Electronic
Frontier Foundation) want to claim journalistic protection for those
who plastered the personal information to the Web. They think that even
if they committed a crime, they should be free from search
warrants.
The police come along with a warrant and break into the blogger's
home to gather evidence. This is hyped up as a plot by Jason Chen to
get revenge. The truth is much simpler: Cops don't trust criminals to
leave evidence alone. Every cop show I watch has the police busting
into the homes of drug dealers, murders, gang member, etc. They like to
get the evidence secured quickly and get the arrest(s) done. They don't
need Jason Chen's permission to gather evidence if a crime has been
committed.
To gather evidence, they need a warrant. They get this from a judge.
The blogger, Jason Chen, and your second cousin have nothing to do with
this process. This is done through the courts and is handled by our
legal system.
I will say this for real cops (not those on TV). They do try to get
your stolen goods returned. I've had my motorcycle stolen, and the
police officer actually helped me push it back home. Cops will help the
average person, just like they will help a big corporation. You can't
believe all the bad news on TV as being true for all cops.
Chen's Laptop and Apple's Prototype
Luckily for Jason Chen, he didn't loose his laptop to some sleazy
blogger who would post all of his personal information on the Internet
for fun and profit.
Instead, Chen's laptop is in the hands of the police, who will
follow due process and search it or return it as the law allows. At the
end of the day, if innocent, he's lost nothing more than access to his
computers.*
Apple is not so lucky. Even though Gizmodo returned the iPhone
prototype, the damage is done. The details were leaked, so the surprise
that Apple wants when releasing a new product is gone. They can't get
it back.
Gizmodo has cost Apple far more than the $5,000 they paid for the
prototype iPhone.
Marketing and publicity cost money. Apple uses the publicity
generated from a new product release to save on marketing costs, and
they spend it elsewhere. The value may be hard to estimate, but it
cannot be ignored in judging Gizmodo's actions. They cashed in on this
publicity themselves with all the hits their site got.
Jason Chen is none to happy to have the shoe on the other foot.
Lawyers are coming out to protest the taking of his property. They may
be right, but this was done legally with a warrant.
Compared to what he's done to Apple's, he's gotten off easy so far.
