There was a longish discussion about this yesterday at http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1284949 if you're interested. I'm not a lawyer but I think what Gizmodo did violates the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (which California has adopted). I think it violates the economic espionage act too, but grellas has already discussed that.
Edit: bizarrely, Gizmodo mailed me earlier (after the CNet report had appeared) to clue me in on how Apple disguises their prototypes. It seems not to have occurred to them that this, if anything, emphasizes the idea of the phone being a trade secret.
I wonder if they think only the guy who sold them the phone is at risk of prosecution, and that the California Shield Law (which offers reporters a defense against contempt of court charges for refusing to reveal a source) gives them all the legal cover they need. Seeing as how their COO and legal adviser is not a US lawyer (http://gabydarby.blogspot.com/), they may be in for a surprise.
How Apple Conceals Prototype iPhones
There's a reason why more people haven't seen the next iPhones before Steve Jobs makes an announcement: They're in disguise.
This iPhone, which looks drastically different from the 3GS, was enclosed in a custom-molded plastic case so it could be used in public without attracting attention. In regular use, you would think that this was just a standard iPhone with the writing scratched off the back. Very clever.
The plastic case, which comes apart easily, looks just like a 3GS. When you pry the case apart, three bits—the power button, the mute switch and the volume rocker—quickly shed off. It's weird that these bits are made of plastic, when the corresponding parts on the 3GS are made of aluminum/metal.
To reassemble the case, all you have to do is make sure the little plastic bits are in the right place before popping the front back on. A very ingenious solution to protect future designs from lookeyloos. One of the best bits is that the case looks like a case FOR an older iPhone. iPhone cases are seen so often, that even if this one looks weird and doesn't match up to the 3GS body, it can be easily dismissed as just being a lousy case.
Seeing as how their COO and legal adviser is not a US lawyer (http://gabydarby.blogspot.com/), they may be in for a surprise.
Usually people with a "C" in their title don't actually do the work for the departments they manage. The CTO of my company is not a Haskell programmer, but we have working Haskell production applications.
Edit: bizarrely, Gizmodo mailed me earlier (after the CNet report had appeared) to clue me in on how Apple disguises their prototypes. It seems not to have occurred to them that this, if anything, emphasizes the idea of the phone being a trade secret.
I wonder if they think only the guy who sold them the phone is at risk of prosecution, and that the California Shield Law (which offers reporters a defense against contempt of court charges for refusing to reveal a source) gives them all the legal cover they need. Seeing as how their COO and legal adviser is not a US lawyer (http://gabydarby.blogspot.com/), they may be in for a surprise.
How Apple Conceals Prototype iPhones
There's a reason why more people haven't seen the next iPhones before Steve Jobs makes an announcement: They're in disguise.
This iPhone, which looks drastically different from the 3GS, was enclosed in a custom-molded plastic case so it could be used in public without attracting attention. In regular use, you would think that this was just a standard iPhone with the writing scratched off the back. Very clever.
The plastic case, which comes apart easily, looks just like a 3GS. When you pry the case apart, three bits—the power button, the mute switch and the volume rocker—quickly shed off. It's weird that these bits are made of plastic, when the corresponding parts on the 3GS are made of aluminum/metal.
To reassemble the case, all you have to do is make sure the little plastic bits are in the right place before popping the front back on. A very ingenious solution to protect future designs from lookeyloos. One of the best bits is that the case looks like a case FOR an older iPhone. iPhone cases are seen so often, that even if this one looks weird and doesn't match up to the 3GS body, it can be easily dismissed as just being a lousy case.