Gizmodo to Cooperate With Probe Into Lost iPhone Prototype
Gizmodo said it has reached an agreement with California authorities over access to some computer and other material related to an investigation of how the technology website obtained a prototype of the new Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPhone months before its release.
In April, Gizmodo published details and video of the new iPhone 4 model. The website said it paid to obtain the phone, which was allegedly left behind in a bar by an Apple employee. The San Mateo County, Calif., district attorney’s office opened an investigation into whether crimes were committed in how the iPhone 4 details got out.
Gizmodo and its parent company, Gawker Media LLC, had been resisting efforts by the district attorney’s office to search computers and other equipment seized from the home of Jason Chen, the Gizmodo editor who wrote about the iPhone prototype. Gawker had said that it was inappropriate for law-enforcement officials to seize materials from a news organization just with a search warrant, which news organizations can’t challenge in court.