Apple Plays Hard- and Dirty?

[+ Lucky]

Remember that prototype Iphone "found" the other day? Well, the guy who runs the website Gizmodo, which wrote about it, had his computer hauled in Friday by the authorities:

Authorities Seize Gizmodo Editor’s Computers

 

By NICK BILTON As Brian Stelter reports on the New York Times Mediadecoder blog, the computers and servers used by Jason Chen, an editor with the technology blog Gizmodo.com, were seized by the authorities in California on Friday evening.

Mr. Chen wrote extensively about the missing iPhone 4G.

In a blog post on Gizmodo more details were shared about the raid. According to Gizmodo, the police entered Mr. Chen’s “home without him present, seizing four computers and two servers.” The authorities were using a warrant issued by a judge from the state Superior Court in San Mateo.

Gizmodo also wrote: “According to Gaby Darbyshire, COO of Gawker Media LLC, the search warrant to remove these computers was invalid under section 1524(g) of the California Penal Code.”

In a letter sent to the detective in the case, Mrs. Darbyshire said that Mr. Chen was a journalist working for Gawker Media and his home was actually a “de facto newsroom,” which could make the warrant invalid under California law.

Mr. Chen’s property was seized by a computer task force known as the Raid Enforcement Allied Computer Team, or React, which is responsible for technology-related crimes in the San Mateo area.

When reached by phone, investigating officers explained that they had been told not to comment on the case.

Stephen Wagstaffe, San Mateo County’s chief deputy district attorney, declined to comment also and said to “call back tomorrow,” when he might have more information.

Click here to view documents related to the raid of Mr. Chen’s home.

[MsGuy]

Lucky, I don't know squat about Ca Penal Code sec. 1524(g), and little enough about search and seizure generally, but Gizmodo's published account of how it came to be in possession of the iPhone 4G sounded a lot like a confession to criminal conversion (bar fly's part) and receiving stolen merchandise (editor's part).

 

One can only assume the folks at Gizmodo believed the scoop was worth calling down the wrath of Jobs (& potential criminal charges).

[+ Lucky]

My guess is that Apple couldn't care less about the validity of the warrant and has no interest in going to a criminal court. They wanted the info in the computer to find out who leaked it and how much damage was done. That the local DA did their bidding is a sign that the rich guy in town still controls the sheriff.

[Guest ChgoBoy]

Thank God you're back Lucky. Without you, we'd all be helpless hermits in the sand.

 

Or crabs, in your case.

[+ Lucky]

Catch me if you can!

How to Catch A Sand Crab

 

 

 

By Lucky Smith, Member Article Rating: (10 Ratings)

 

http://i.ehow.com/images/a04/k2/19/catch-sand-crab-200X200.jpg Catch A Sand Crab

 

 

 

 

Are you looking for a fun new activity to teach your fellow posters this summer? If you're not a regular beachcomber, you may never have heard of the 'sand crab'. Sand crabs are shy, yet tricky little creatures who feed in the wet sand left behind by breaking waves. This article will teach you some techniques so you and your escorts can catch your very own!

 

 

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

 

Things You'll Need:

 

 

• A Sandy Beach
  
• Your Hands
  

 

 

1. Step 1
   http://i.ehow.com/images/a04/k2/19/catch-sand-crab-1.1-120X120.jpg
    
    
   Sand Bubbles
   Take your position~ You're first tactical move for apprehending a sand crab is your position. Sand crabs are speedy little guys so you'll need to act quickly! Stand in the surf and wait for a wave to break and recede. As soon as the sand is exposed, start looking for tiny bubbles in the sand. This will be your target area~
   
2. Step 2
   http://i.ehow.com/images/a04/k2/19/catch-sand-crab-1.2-120X120.jpg
    
    
   Dig!
   Now it's time to dig~ Sand crabs don't like their position revealed! When some of the sand is pulled back from the waves, the sand crab will immediately start to bury themselves deeper. This is what causes the bubbles in the sand. Your goal is to nab one before it gets too deep. Start by digging at the site of the bubbles. Take a hand full of the dug-up sand and begin to sift through it. You'll know if you've been successful when you feel a little vibration in your hand. If you haven't caught one this time, wait for another wave to break and try again~
   
3. Step 3
   http://i.ehow.com/images/a04/k2/19/catch-sand-crab-1.3-120X120.jpg
    
    
   The Reveal~ Continue to brush away the excess sand to reveal your catch. The successful sand crab hunter will now be holding one or more of these little wonders! Sand crabs are often used for bait and since they have the most sensory neurons of any animal, are used in neurological testing. If you're not planning on doing any fishing and don't have any lab tests scheduled, it's only fair you return your catch to his home. Wait again for a wave to break and dig a hole in the wet sand. Place your crab back in the hole and wish him luck~
   

 

 

 

Tips & Warnings

 

• Dig quickly! Sand crabs are fast~You'd be might lucky to be a sand crab!
  

[SFSteve]

My guess is that Apple couldn't care less about the validity of the warrant and has no interest in going to a criminal court. They wanted the info in the computer to find out who leaked it and how much damage was done. That the local DA did their bidding is a sign that the rich guy in town still controls the sheriff.

 

Apple is located in Santa Clara county, the warrant was issued in San Mateo county. Except for a couple retail stores, I don't think Apple has any corporate presence in San Mateo county. So wrong DA & Sheriff. But yes, how dare Apple act to protect their property and trade secrets.

 

For me, a far more interesting quote about Apple today from another news article: "If, instead of spending $5,700 on an Apple PowerBook in November 1997, you decided to put that cash into Apple stock, you would have $330,563.38 today.

 

Steve

[+ Lucky]

Um, those Apple execs no doubt live in San Mateo county too....it's much nicer and further from the help.

[instudiocity]

Um, those Apple execs no doubt live in San Mateo county too....it's much nicer and further from the help.

 

Um, I think the predicate crime was committed in San Mateo County, specifically the taking of the property from the bar in Redwood City.

 

And there is a Bay Area Task Force that runs across county lines that reacts to computer/technology crimes.

 

California has had a law on the books since the mid-1800's focused on taking property not belonging to you and when the value is in excess if $400 it's a felony.

 

Guzmodi paid $5,000 to the unknown person who turned the phone over to them. Kinda makes it a felony. If you consider an experimental prototype's value, it could conceivably exceed $400 even if it's not $5,000. Either way at least one felony was committed.

 

The guy who sold the iPhone to Gizmodo took the phone from the bar without notifying the bar owner he was taking it. If he'd left his number, the employee who lost the phone would have been able to contact him and retrieve the phone. But the taker of the phone made no attempt to find the rightful owner while instead enriching himself by collecting the $5,000 from Gizmodo.

 

Gizmodo knowingly paid $5,000 to recieve property that was held against CA law. So this 'journalist' received stolen property, actually bought it.

 

I dunno about you but i'm not sure I want either perp walking the street.

 

BTW, once a crime is suspected to have occurred, no one, not even His Highness Steve Jobs can nor should prevent law enforcement from investigating.

[MsGuy]

Damn but I've learned a lot from this board.

 

http://i.ehow.com/images/a04/k2/19/catch-sand-crab-1.1-120X120.jpg

 

I've seen those bubbles in beach sand since I was a kid and never thought of them as anything but air trapped by a wave.

 

Next time I'm down by the ocean, I'll see if I can catch me some crabs! Assuming BP plugs that well before it slicks everything up.

[MsGuy]

I dunno about you but i'm not sure I want either perp walking the street.

This is intended as hyperbole, right?

BTW, once a crime is suspected to have occurred, no one, not even His Highness Steve Jobs can nor should prevent law enforcement from investigating.

Again, surely not intended to be taken literally, right?

----

"That the local DA did their bidding is a sign that the rich guy in town still controls the sheriff." Lucky

 

Sheriffs exist to keep grubby peon hands off the rich guys' goodies. Yeah, they may serve summons and write speeding tickets & what not, but that's tacked on just to keep them busy between hangings.

 

Please note also that the cooperation of an "independant magistrate' was required for the warrant. Judges know who lives in the big house on the top of the hill too.

[+ Lucky]

This quote from SFGate.com:

 

Peter Scheer, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, said the California Shield Law and the Federal Privacy Protection provide ample protection against a search warrant on a reporter. Those statutes should force law enforcement officials to serve subpoenas rather execute a search warrant to give a reporter time to assert legal protections.

Scheer said some of the protections go away if Chen was the target of a criminal investigation. Specifically, he said law enforcement officials may be trying to use the $5,000 payment by Gawker Media as a sign that the news organization took possession of the device to prove it received stolen property.

But he said such a reading of the law is an untested and extreme attempt to undermine protections already laid out in case law. In the Bartnicki vs. Vopper case, the Supreme Court ruled in 2001 that a media organization cannot be held liable for publishing documents or tapes illegally obtained from another party.

"This is a real reach to proceed criminally against the press under these circumstances, and I think it's an abuse of prosecutorial discretion," Scheer said. "The general understanding has been and still is that the press is allowed to do its job of reporting the news even if the source for that news may have broken the law."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/27/BU8D1D588S.DTL#ixzz0mItBHGYC

[+ Lucky]

"BTW, once a crime is suspected to have occurred, no one, not even His Highness Steve Jobs can nor should prevent law enforcement from investigating."

 

So, if the judge, the DA, and the sheriff acted illegally, they should be investigated? Fat chance.

[instudiocity]

Quote:Originally Posted by instudiocity

I dunno about you but i'm not sure I want either perp walking the street.

 

This is intended as hyperbole, right?

 

Quote:BTW, once a crime is suspected to have occurred, no one, not even His Highness Steve Jobs can nor should prevent law enforcement from investigating.

 

Again, surely not intended to be taken literally, right?

 

No hyperbole in the first line, a guy that would take something that doesn't belong to him out of a bar without attempting to find the owner, would take something of mine, too. And a guy who would buy something he knows was questionably obtained isn't necessarily a law-abiding citizen either.

 

I literally understand the criminal law to be that if a law enforcement official suspects a crime has been committed he literally has sole discretion in presenting the case to the prosecutors and the prosecutors have sole discretion in charging the offender. But I don't believe Steve Jobs descends from royalty.

[instudiocity]

This quote from SFGate.com:

 

Peter Scheer, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, said the California Shield Law and the Federal Privacy Protection provide ample protection against a search warrant on a reporter. Those statutes should force law enforcement officials to serve subpoenas rather execute a search warrant to give a reporter time to assert legal protections.

Scheer said some of the protections go away if Chen was the target of a criminal investigation. Specifically, he said law enforcement officials may be trying to use the $5,000 payment by Gawker Media as a sign that the news organization took possession of the device to prove it received stolen property.

But he said such a reading of the law is an untested and extreme attempt to undermine protections already laid out in case law. In the Bartnicki vs. Vopper case, the Supreme Court ruled in 2001 that a media organization cannot be held liable for publishing documents or tapes illegally obtained from another party.

"This is a real reach to proceed criminally against the press under these circumstances, and I think it's an abuse of prosecutorial discretion," Scheer said. "The general understanding has been and still is that the press is allowed to do its job of reporting the news even if the source for that news may have broken the law."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/27/BU8D1D588S.DTL#ixzz0mItBHGYC

 

I believe Gizmodo's paying $5,000 to someone who by Gizmodo's own admission knew the property he's selling to Gizmodo (uh, giving to you for a reward) was not his property, constitutes receiving misappropriated property.

 

I believe the reward recipent's (THIEF'S) admission as reported by Gizmodo that the THIEF knew the name of the owner, Gary Powell having seen Mr. Powell's Facebook page on the iPhone constitutes a willfulness on both Gizmodo's and the THIEF's to not return the property but to convert it to their own profit - the THIEF'S reward and Gizmodo's profits.

 

Journalism hasn't yet acknowledged that buying stolen property is a function of the discipline. Receiving stolen property to exploit the public's right to know may be a borderline criminal act but PURCHASING STOLEN PROPERTY is a willful criminal act.

 

The federal and state shield laws do not cover conspiracy to deprive someone of their property, nor receiving stolen property, nor rewarding THIEVES for stealing property. It shields journalists from disclosing their sources. Once the check was written and the merchandise changed hands, the shield drops.