In case you haven't been following the bugaboo with the misplaced/lost/stolen 4th generation iPhone, let me provide a quick recap according to this story at Gizmodo:

1. Apple baseband engineer field testing next generation iPhone visits bar Gourmet Haus Staudt.
2. Engineer is separated from phone. Details are sketchy on exactly how despite one detailed account.
3. "Finder" of phone unlocks it (apparently not passcoded) and browses content, quickly finds owner's name and personal information. Device is remotely wiped the following day.
4. Weeks pass.
5. Gizmodo buys iPhone for $5000 from "Finder" after being solicited via e-mail.
6. Gizmodo publishes story with pictures (including disassembly) after a week in possession of the iPhone. Cat is released from bag.

Now of course, that's not the whole story. There are twists and turns all over the place. Let's summarize those:

• Engadget was also solicited for purchasing the prototype. Since they seem to have some morals and a decent legal team (AOL's), they declined to purchase the unit. Source
• Gizmodo in their story above also felt it was necessary to post the information (name, FB profile, etc) obtained by the "Finder" about the engineer. Effectively rubbing the guy's face in it.
• Much to do has been made that Gizmodo broke the law by purchasing property it almost certainly knew to be stolen as defined by the law. Source
• Local law enforcement has indeed opened an investigation and subsequently raided an employee of Gizmodo. Source
• Finally, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has come out to support Gizmodo's stance that the search was illegal due to a shield law that prevents law enforcement from conducting raids to reveal reporter's sources. Source

The tech news circles on the Internet have been lit up with activity from this singular drama. It's interesting and entertaining from many angles and whatever the outcome from the investigation or additional litigation, it will be precedent setting.

From what I've read and what common sense would seem to indicate is that the EFF's argument is invalid since nobody believes the police raided Gawker Media (Gizmodo's parent) employee Jason Chen to find information pointing to the seller of the device. Rather, they were looking for evidence they knowingly purchased stolen property. There's a big difference between the two. It's not hard to see why the EFF would like to believe it's an online journalism issue and wants to get involved but it's a bad legal call in my view. However, I am not a lawyer.

Gizmodo's tounge-in-cheek coyness through out this entire story from reveal to fall out is nauseating. They're proud they paid for the "story". Back on planet Earth though, what they really paid for was a lost (and quite possibly stolen in the true spirit of the word) device and just happened to also write a story about it. In any case, they're proud of it. They also happily "outed" the Apple engineer that it belonged to and even going so far as to poke fun at the man. Snarky wit isn't as pleasing when an innocent person is possibly getting destroyed by it.

The Apple engineer as of this writing appears to be still gainfully employed though. My best guess is that if Apple is to pursue a civil case against Gawker, it would be in their best interest to keep him around to support the case. It's impossible to tell if he is still carrying on with his work as usual or if he's been disciplined or re-assigned but I keep my hopes up that Apple hasn't been too harsh on him. After all, we're all human and make mistakes. I certainly have during my career and are better in the long run as they've all been learning situations.

Gizmodo is now in defense mode. They may be somewhat panicking, it's hard to tell from the outside. They're still playing their innocence card and playing up advice from their COO and former lawyer that the case is indeed about information and thus are protected by shield laws. Their latest tactic is getting former Gawker employees to post stories at their new gig suggesting Apple is directly ordering law enforcement to raid Gawker. It's worth noting that the linked story's disclosure at the end was NOT present during initial posting. It was seemingly added after Daring Fireball's John Gruber pointed that fact out. Less than forthcoming for sure.

The story still rages on day by day. I'm sure I'll be writing about this topic again. For the time being, Apple has yet to pursue a civil case and I don't think it make sense for them to until after the phones release. After all, they wait until the last possible moment to file FCC papers for their new phones, why would they want more publicity about a phone they haven't announced yet? The criminal investigation will presumably continue in the direction that most sane people see what the crime actually was (that being: theft of property). And we all will have to patiently wait for the official announcement of next generation iPhone at WWDC 2010 in a little over a month.