« Another LG LU2300 Rumor: Aloha for Verizon?
The Daily Mixr 4/29 »


“Finders keepers, losers weepers,” right? As it turns out, the finder might be the one crying in the Apple iPhone prototype scandal. 21-year-old Brian J. Hogan has been named as the discoverer of the lost device. His lawyer states that Gizmodo cajoled him into selling the unit, reassuring him “that there was nothing wrong in sharing the phone with the tech press.” Hogan’s story is that he thought he was selling the phone for Gizmodo to review, but Jason Chen instead proceeded to perform disective surgery on the invaluable prototype.

Hogan says that he regrets not having been more proactive in trying to return the prototype to Gray Powell or Apple. Although Hogan has not yet been charged with a crime, he is cooperating with the police. Chief Deputy District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe is evaluating whether or not the incident constitutes grand theft. Wired reports that aside from asking around the bar if anyone had lost an iPhone, and letting his “friend” contact AppleCare, Hogan made no other attempts to return the prototype. He did not even inform employees at the bar, where Powell had urgently searched after losing his phone. Last week, Apple and Powell contacted officials to report that the prototype was “stolen.”

From my interpretation, Hogan did not do anywhere near enough to locate the phone’s owner before selling it for $5,000. By Californian law, he has, in my view, committed grand theft by selling something that was not his. Gizmodo is also guilty of buying trade secrets that it knew did not belong to the seller. Hogan can be forgiven for being a bit careless, but Gizmodo and its legal counsel should have known better.


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« Another LG LU2300 Rumor: Aloha for Verizon?
The Daily Mixr 4/29 »

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Wow so much drama, thanks for keeping us updated!

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