Police Open Investigation Into Lost/Stolen iPhone 4G Prototype

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Posted April 23, 2010 at 4:05pm by iClarified

Silicon Valley police have opened an investigation into how Gizmodo came into possession of the iPhone 4G prototype, a law enforcement official told CNET on Friday.

Apple has spoken to local police about the incident and the investigation is believed to be headed by a computer crime task force led by the Santa Clara County district attorney's office, the source said.

The purpose of an investigation is to determine whether sufficient evidence exists to file criminal charges.

Gizmodo, part of Gawker Media, paid $5,000 for what they believed to be an Apple iPhone 4G prototype. The iPhone was reportedly lost by an Apple employee then found by someone who contacted the site.

There has been much discussion online as to whether the finder/seller or Gizmodo violated any laws by taking possession of the device. CNET has not been able to confirm whether the investigation is targeting Gizmodo.com, the seller, or both.

The computer crime task force is called REACT, which stands for Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team, and was established in 1997 with a goal of working closely with Bay Area technology companies.

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Police Open Investigation Into Lost/Stolen iPhone 4G Prototype

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Alegazzola - April 24, 2010 at 9:22am

Mmmm! I was thinking if Apple left on porpose to some hacker make or test a jailbreak and they can patch before the 4.0 event

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ABOMB - April 24, 2010 at 3:38am

my 3gs has cylay a $20 a year app. you think apple would implement some kind of security on their prototypes and found the found themselves.

AppIe - April 23, 2010 at 10:35pm

When iPhone proto-type finding is outlawed, only outlaws will find iPhone proto-types.

fenrry - April 23, 2010 at 5:02pm

Nop, is because all the bullshitry from a company who wants to bully everyone, they could have said "we lost it", but because they want to keep everything under the communist dictatorship ruling they decided to go with the "it's stolen", so ppl will be scared and returned it without making a fuss.

anon - April 23, 2010 at 4:13pm

unlikely.

x - April 23, 2010 at 7:08pm

but the phone is horrible i can not even call it iphone