back to article iPhone 4 prototype journo off the hook

The saga of the Gizmodophone – the iPhone 4 prototype found in a bar and exposed on the web – is nearing its end: prosecutors have decided that Gizmodo's Jason Chen won't be charged with wrongdoing in the long-running phone follies. "The difficulty we faced is that Mr. Chen and Gizmodo were primarily, in their view, engaged in …

COMMENTS

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  1. NoneSuch Silver badge
    Happy

    If I had found it...

    Insert into vice and over-tighten...

    Strike repeatedly with ball-peen hammer...

    Blowtorch anything that is left...

    Drop remnants into the sea...

    Walk away knowing I did a good days work.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Trollface

      @None Such

      Silly me, I'd rather have the $5,000 instead all those sour grapes.

  2. Edward Clarke
    Happy

    Keep laughing

    "Sucks for him. He stole the phone. Shouldn't have stole the phone."

  3. Richard 116
    Unhappy

    Gray Powell?

    What happened to him?

    1. Oz
      Joke

      At a guess...

      "Feed him to the pigs, Errol.... "

  4. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

    A DA who decides that enough is enough?

    Praise Be!

    Now I want to know how many taxpayer $$$ have been blown on this Apple Ego Trip.

    1. ThomH

      Not so much of an ego trip

      Property stolen from Apple (the theft having occurred at the moment the defendant decided not to return the thing) was sold at a profit. That's a crime. Asking the police to investigate a crime isn't an ego trip. The attitude of the defendant also seems sufficient to push the crime from a legal wrong to a moral wrong.

      Busting gung-ho through an editor's door once it's become obvious that you're part of a high profile story potentially sounds like a bit of an ego excursion but there's not a shred of evidence to suggest Apple directed the police investigation. Chen was mistreated in my opinion, but you're far too quick to point the finger of blame.

  5. bazza Silver badge

    Big problem for the case

    Apple could hardly claim to have suffered economic damage as a result of the premature outing of the iPhone 4. That wouldn't have helped the chances of a prosecution succeeding.

    1. Steve Evans

      @Bazza

      In fact the sceptic in me can't help but think it did exactly the opposite, feeding the ithing media feed frenzy... They couldn't have got more column inches in the run up to the launch if they'd tried.

      Said sceptic is also wondering what stunt they'll do for the next one? Start watching those bar stools people!

  6. EngineersAnon

    And now...

    The only remaining question is how much damages the editor will receive from the state. Given that all the equipment he uses for work at home was confiscated on the basis of a warrant to investigate a prima facie bum charge, I expect at least six figures.

  7. Tim Brown 1
    Coat

    I wonder if...

    ...Steve Jobs was listening to It's My Party when he heard the news...

    It's my iPhone and I'll sue if I want to,

    sue if I want to,

    sue if I want to,

    you would sue too if it happened to you

  8. James Micallef Silver badge
    FAIL

    Why is he off the hook?

    Surely if Hogan is guilty of misappropriating / stealing (and benefited $5grand), surely Chen by the same reasoning is guilty of handling stolen property (fencing). Why did the police even try to use an information-dissemination related charge against Chen when they had him for a real crime?

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