iPhone finder regrets his 'mistake' - Polidicks

[B][URL="http://edition.cnn.com/"][IMG]http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/3.0/global/header/intl/hdr-globe-west.gif[/IMG][/URL][/B] [URL="http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/04/30/wired.iphone.finder/index.html"]View full article[/URL] [release] [B]STORY HIGHLIGHTS[/B] [LIST] [*] Brian J. Hogan, 21, found an unreleased iPhone prototype, Wired reports [*] Hogan reportedly says he regrets not trying to do more to return it [*] Hogan reportedly sells the phone to Gizmodo for $5,000 [*] Authorities say they are looking into whether the sale was a crime [/LIST] [/release] [tab]Wired.com identified the person who reportedly sold a secret iPhone prototype to a blog editor, shown here.[/tab] [IMG]http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/TECH/04/30/wired.iphone.finder/story.apple.iphone.gizmodo.jpg[/IMG] [quote=CNN] [B]([URL="http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/04/iphone-finder/"]WIRED[/URL])[/B] -- The person who found and sold an Apple iPhone prototype says he regrets not doing more to return the device to its owner, according to a statement provided by his attorney Thursday in response to queries from Wired.com. Brian J. Hogan, a 21-year-old resident of Redwood City, California, says although he was paid by tech site Gizmodo, he believed the payment was for allowing the site exclusive access to review the phone. Gizmodo emphasized to him "that there was nothing wrong in sharing the phone with the tech press," according to his attorney Jeffrey Bornstein. Wired.com identified Hogan as the finder of the prototype by following clues on social network sites, and then confirmed his identity with a source involved in the iPhone find. Hogan has been interviewed by law enforcement investigators but has not been charged with a crime. His attorney says he is willing to cooperate with authorities. It's generally considered theft under [URL="http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/PEN/3/1/13/5/s485"]California law[/URL] if one "finds lost property under circumstances that give him knowledge of or means of inquiry as to the true owner" and yet appropriates the property for his own use "without first making reasonable and just efforts to find the owner and to restore the property to him." The person who found the phone "is very definitely one of the people who is being looked at as a suspect in theft," San Mateo County Chief Deputy District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe told Wired.com Wednesday. "Assuming there's ultimately a crime here. That's what we're still gauging, is this a crime, is it a theft?" On April 19, Gizmodo, which is owned by Gawker Media, published a bombshell [URL="http://gizmodo.com/5520164/this-is-apples-next-iphone"]story about the iPhone prototype[/URL], which had apparently been left at the Gourmet Haus Staudt in Redwood City. It was left behind by an Apple engineer named Gray Powell. According to the statement from his lawyer, Hogan was in the bar with friends when another patron handed him the phone after finding it on a nearby stool. The patron asked Hogan if the phone belonged to him, and then left the bar. Hogan asked others sitting nearby if the phone belonged to them, and when no one claimed it, he and his friends left the bar with the device. "Brian opened the phone onto a Facebook page but then the phone shut down," attorney Bornstein writes. "From that time on, the phone was inoperable the entire time Brian had it." Hogan didn't know what he had until he removed a fake cover from the device and realized it must be a prototype of Apple's upcoming next-generation iPhone, according to Gizmodo's account of the find. A friend of Hogan's then offered to call Apple Care on Hogan's behalf, according to Hogan's lawyer. That apparently was the extent of Hogan's efforts to return the phone. After the friend's purported efforts to return the phone failed, several journalists were offered a look at the device. Wired.com received an e-mail March 28 -- not from Hogan -- offering access to the iPhone, but did not follow up on the exchange after the tipster made a thinly veiled request for money. Gizmodo then paid $5,000 in cash for it. The owners of the bar told reporters that Hogan didn't notify anyone who worked at the bar about the phone. They also said Powell returned several times after losing the phone to see if anyone had found it and turned it in. Powell and Apple's outside counsel contacted the San Mateo County District Attorney's office last week to report the phone stolen, according to reports. "He regrets his mistake in not doing more to return the phone," says Bornstein's statement. "Even though he did obtain some compensation from Gizmodo, Brian thought that it was so that they could review the phone." Shortly after Gizmodo published its story, [URL="http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/04/dude-apple/"]people identifying themselves as representatives of Apple[/URL] appeared at Hogan's home seeking permission to search the premises, according to a source involved with the iPhone find. A roommate turned them away. Records show a Redwood City address for Hogan about a mile from the bar where he found the phone. Nobody was at home when Wired.com knocked on the door earlier this week. Hogan previously lived in Santa Barbara, where he attended Santa Barbara City College as recently as 2008, according to his Facebook profile, which was deleted last week. His attorney says he recently transferred schools and will resume his college education in the fall. He has been working part time at a church-run community center giving swimming lessons to children and volunteered at a Chinese orphanage last year while he was enrolled in a study-abroad program. "He also volunteers to assist his aunt and sister with fundraising for their work to provide medical care to orphans in Kenya," his attorney says. "Brian is the kind of young man that any parent would be proud to have as their son." In addition to Hogan, investigators have targeted Gizmodo editor Jason Chen, who received and reported on the phone. Last Friday, officers from California's Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team [URL="http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/04/iphone-raid/"]raided Chen's Fremont, California, home[/URL] and seized computers and other equipment. Gawker Media and others have said the search warrant violated state and federal shield laws protecting journalists from searches and seizures without a subpoena. The San Mateo County district attorney's office said this week that investigators will not examine the seized materials until the legality of the warrant has been resolved. Hogan's attorney, Jeffrey Bornstein, is a former federal prosecutor, who is now a partner at the San Francisco law firm K & L Gates. As a defense attorney, Bornstein notably represented the captain who steered a container ship into the San Francisco Bay Bridge in 2007. In an interview at his office Thursday afternoon, the lawyer said Hogan's family has relocated to an undisclosed location in anticipation of a media frenzy. "This thing has gotten completely, completely out of control," said Bornstein, referring to the public interest in the story. "He made a mistake," Bornstein added. "He should have just immediately turned that phone in."[/quote] Funny how he acts like he is regretting it all after he sold it and when he learned he may be charged.

Wait, selling stolen property is a mistake? Shocking. [quote]It's generally considered theft under California law if one "finds lost property under circumstances that give him knowledge of or means of inquiry as to the true owner" and yet appropriates the property for his own use "without first making reasonable and just efforts to find the owner and to restore the property to him." [/quote] That should be common sense. If I found a prototype BMW in my driveway, I wouldn't sell it to Road & Track - I'd fucking call BMW about it.

-snip-

Not surprised.

I feel sorry for the guy to be honest. It's pretty believable that Gizmodo would have done/said anything to him to get the phone off him considering how much they love their apple news.

[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;21692035] If I found a prototype BMW in my driveway, I wouldn't sell it to Road & Track - I'd fucking call BMW about it.[/QUOTE] Are you sure about that?

Whoops, I apologize after being 5,000 dollars richer.

[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;21692035]Wait, selling stolen property is a mistake? Shocking. That should be common sense. If I found a prototype BMW in my driveway, I wouldn't sell it to Road & Track - I'd fucking call BMW about it.[/QUOTE] Even if some people would be willing to pay several million dollars for it?

[QUOTE=Mindtwistah;21692835]Even if some people would be willing to pay several million dollars for it?[/QUOTE] Even if I could go to jail for selling it? [editline]11:58AM[/editline] I would drive it around for a few days and then call them about it. I wouldn't disassemble it or do any of the shit that Gizmodo did.

[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;21692035] If I found a prototype BMW in my driveway, I wouldn't sell it to Road & Track - I'd fucking call BMW about it.[/QUOTE] No, you would take it out for a test drive [B]THEN[/B] call BMW

id keep the bmw

[QUOTE=Van-man;21694017]No, you would take it out for a test drive [B]THEN[/B] call BMW[/QUOTE] True, but I wouldn't immediately pawn it off to the highest bidder.

i'd pimp it out and return it to the owner after 2 years

He did make some effort to return it though, he rang them up and got transferred around. It's not his fault they didn't get back when they had the chance.

Nobody makes this much fuss when any other phone is stolen, just cuz it's unreleased doesn't make it much worse.

Apple's fault giving a prototype to a drunk who left the phone in a bar so someone else could take it.

[QUOTE=Tudd Fudders;21695300]Apple's fault giving a prototype to a drunk who left the phone in a bar so someone else could take it.[/QUOTE] Yeah I know, totally Apple's fault that one of their engineers in the phones main function (calls) received a prototype of the newest phone, completely disguised in a custom case that looks just like the older version, and he just happened to leave it at a bar

[QUOTE=Jimbojib;21695181]Nobody makes this much fuss when any other phone is stolen, just cuz it's unreleased doesn't make it much worse.[/QUOTE] A regular phone is just a regular phone. This particular phone was an iPhone [B]prototype[/B]. You have to understand that this is highly confidential stuff, especially when it comes to Apple and how they handle their stuff. It was an idiotic move on Hogan's part. He really should have just returned the damn phone.

hogan is a cunt

[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;21692035]Wait, selling stolen property is a mistake? Shocking. That should be common sense. If I found a prototype BMW in my driveway, I wouldn't sell it to Road & Track - I'd fucking call BMW about it.[/QUOTE] Do note that it was disguised as a normal iPhone, and iPhone =/= BMW in value :colbert:

[QUOTE=Datsun;21696837]A regular phone is just a regular phone. This particular phone was an iPhone [B]prototype[/B]. You have to understand that this is highly confidential stuff, especially when it comes to Apple and how they handle their stuff. It was an idiotic move on Hogan's part. He really should have just returned the damn phone.[/QUOTE] Boo hoo. They should learn to be more cautious with their prototypes. It's just the same as when journalists find leaks of other prototypes, except someone profited a small amount off of it. If I was Hogan though I'd have only given it to Gizmodo on the basis that my identity was never given, then kept low about it.

[QUOTE=Datsun;21696837]A regular phone is just a regular phone. This particular phone was an iPhone [B]prototype[/B]. You have to understand that this is highly confidential stuff, especially when it comes to Apple and how they handle their stuff. It was an idiotic move on Hogan's part. He really should have just returned the damn phone.[/QUOTE] Exactly. This basically amounts to corporate espionage.

[QUOTE=Analtrickery;21697244]Boo hoo. They should learn to be more cautious with their prototypes. It's just the same as when journalists find leaks of other prototypes, except someone profited a small amount off of it. [/QUOTE] They need to do real world testing. They were cautious, they even disguised it as a iPhone 3GS.