A look at the legal issues Gizmodo faces with regards to trade secrets law, lost property law, and theft and stolen property has been posted by Technovia. Gizmodo recently purchased and published information and photos of an unreleased, supposedly lost, iPhone 4G prototype.
Interestingly, while violating trade secrets laws seems like the most obvious concern, it actually does not apply.
So, in my view, neither Gizmodo nor the finder of the phone have a trade secrets case to answer. By testing the phone in public, even under a disguise, Apple lost its trade secret protection.
Rather, Technovia believes Gizmodo could potentially be found guilty of receiving stolen goods.
A year inside for Messers Denton and Chen, and a big enough set of damages to bankrupt the company may ensue. Or it may not. In fact, I think the odds are that Apple will make no attempt to get criminal charges pressed (and it’s pretty unlikely the police would pick it up otherwise), and will take no civil action against the finder of the phone.
You can read the full explanation at the link below...
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Interestingly, while violating trade secrets laws seems like the most obvious concern, it actually does not apply.
So, in my view, neither Gizmodo nor the finder of the phone have a trade secrets case to answer. By testing the phone in public, even under a disguise, Apple lost its trade secret protection.
Rather, Technovia believes Gizmodo could potentially be found guilty of receiving stolen goods.
A year inside for Messers Denton and Chen, and a big enough set of damages to bankrupt the company may ensue. Or it may not. In fact, I think the odds are that Apple will make no attempt to get criminal charges pressed (and it’s pretty unlikely the police would pick it up otherwise), and will take no civil action against the finder of the phone.
You can read the full explanation at the link below...
Read More