I-Phoney??

Image attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/s0mpho/3114260702/sizes/m/

There was a recent incident in the US where a young Apple employee accidently left his I-Phone in a bar. Losing personal items (especially at a bar) is common. What was not common about this incident was that the I-Phone he left behind was actually a prototype of the (not yet released) next generation I-Phone. I have a feeling this young engineer is currently working on updating his CV. The "lucky" finder of this phone soon discovered that his newly found treasure was not a typical I-phone and that in fact it was quite unique. He contacted Gizmodo, told them about the phone and was given $5,000 to send it to them. Gizmodo then proceeded to Blog about the phone much to Apples dismay and frustration. Click Here to see a video review of the new phone. Most recently a special police department named REACT-Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team) raided one of Gizmodo's editors home and confiscated 4 computers and 2 servers. Their warrant said they were looking for property that was used in a felony. So the question is: Who committed a crime? Is it the person who found and sold the phone or is Gizmodo guilty of possessing stolen goods. Gizmodo has not released the name of the person that found/sold the phone and the new question is: Does a Blogger qualify as a journalist since journalist can use the "shield law" to protect their sources. It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out in the near future.