Apple has filed lawsuits based on much less[1] and was willing to take the PR hit for it. I'm aware the circumstances are different, but Apple's obsession with secrecy has led it to take PR hits before.
A lawsuit is much different than criminal charges and yet they also lost the cases you linked. This time they would be up against a much more formidable defense too--Gawker has money and connections.
It would be a really tough sell to send a blogger to jail for taking pictures of something that was in a public place.
Indeed so. But as Gizmodo paid for, took possession of, and then publicized the device, it seems pretty clear that they've crossed a line into criminality. The US customs service spends money on finding and seizing knockoffs, including the iPhone, and I wouldn't be that surprised if they moved on it; even though they might only seeks a token penalty like 1 day in jail.
Gawker has money and connections
And Apple doesn't? :) Really, the only reason I can think of not to come down on Giz like a ton of bricks right now is the perception that they've been throwing their weight around with developers lately.
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Apple has filed lawsuits based on much less[1] and was willing to take the PR hit for it. I'm aware the circumstances are different, but Apple's obsession with secrecy has led it to take PR hits before.
[1] - http://www.eff.org/cases/apple-v-does
A lawsuit is much different than criminal charges and yet they also lost the cases you linked. This time they would be up against a much more formidable defense too--Gawker has money and connections.
It would be a really tough sell to send a blogger to jail for taking pictures of something that was in a public place.
Indeed so. But as Gizmodo paid for, took possession of, and then publicized the device, it seems pretty clear that they've crossed a line into criminality. The US customs service spends money on finding and seizing knockoffs, including the iPhone, and I wouldn't be that surprised if they moved on it; even though they might only seeks a token penalty like 1 day in jail.
Gawker has money and connections
And Apple doesn't? :) Really, the only reason I can think of not to come down on Giz like a ton of bricks right now is the perception that they've been throwing their weight around with developers lately.