The move to interview the man who found an iPhone protype in a California bar comes amid heated debate over whether the related raid on a gadget blog editor was legal.
The prototype has been the subject of intense scrutiny and argy bargy after Gizmodo bought the device for $US5000 and published extensive details online.
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It was found in the bar by an unnamed man after it was misplaced by Apple engineer Gray Powell while he was celebrating his birthday. Apple says it was stolen.
This week, the house of Gizmodo editor Jason Chen was raided by police over the matter. A significant number of items were seized, including documents, computers, servers, digital cameras, hard drives, mobile phones, laptops and other gadgets.
Gizmodo publisher Gawker Media argues the raid was unlawful because Chen is a journalist and protected by US shield laws. The company had already returned the prototype to Apple, but only after all of its secrets were revealed.
The controversy surrounding the raid has deepened after it emerged that Apple sits on the steering committee of the Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team (REACT) taskforce, which was responsible for the raid on Chen's house.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney's office told Yahoo! News in a statement that Apple provided the taskforce with "advice, recommendations, strategic input and direction", but the extent of the company's involvement in the Gizmodo raid is not yet clear.
Authorities have already confirmed that their criminal investigation into the alleged theft of the iPhone prototype from the bar came at the request of Apple. Nobody has been charged with a crime.
Following the raid on Chen's house, law enforcement officers were able to identify and interview the man who took the phone from the bar, the San Jose Business Journal reported. However, the man has not yet been identified and it is not yet clear if he is the same person who sold the phone to Gizmodo.
But Wired.com reported today that, according to insiders, Apple representatives also visited the house of the phone finder and asked for permission to search his house. A roommate reportedly refused to let them in.
The source told Wired that the goal of shopping the prototype to tech blogs was not to make money but to confirm that it was in fact the next iPhone. Nevertheless, legal experts have said both the finder and Gizmodo could face criminal charges.
Some have found it curious that REACT, a taskforce set up to investigate high-tech crimes, was handling a case involving a phone left in a bar.
However, the risks to Apple as a result of the intellectual property leak are far greater than one missing handset. Apple is known for being one of the most secretive tech companies in the world, and the leak of the prototype killed some of the mystique surrounding the upcoming device and might dissuade people from buying the current iPhone model.
Matt Zimmerman, spokesman for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the raid on Chen's house was unlawful because reporters such as Chen were protected from police searches aimed at uncovering confidential sources and seizing other information developed during newsgathering activities.
"The police appear to have gone too far," said Zimmerman, adding police were putting the interests of Apple ahead of citizens' rights.
"Now that First Amendment lawyers, reporters, and others have highlighted the potential legal improprieties of this search, the taskforce should freeze their investigation, return Chen's property and reconsider whether going after journalists for trying to break news about one of the Valley's most secretive (and profitable) companies is a good expenditure of taxpayer dollars."
Authorities have said Chen's computers, hard drives and servers would remain untouched until investigators determined whether Chen was in fact protected by US shield laws. A crucial question will be whether shield laws apply, given that the prototype was believed by law enforcement officers to have been stolen.
Meanwhile, Nokia, by contrast, has taken a very different approach to leaks. Its new smartphone, the N8, fell into the hands of a Russian blogger, who published extensive details before the launch day.
Nokia did not initiate a police raid or sack any staff, instead opting to ask for the prototype back politely in a blog post. The company made a veiled attack on Apple in its post.
"While we are determined to protect our intellectual property and maintain the surprise when a shiny new gadget is introduced, we are not going to do so at the expense of the working conditions we enjoy here at Nokia," the company wrote.
"We are not the Secret Police, and we want to maintain our culture of openness."
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