Police raid after iPhone prototype lost in bar

Police have raided the California home of Jason Chen, the technology journalist who revealed details of Apple's top secret iPhone 4G prototype. The Gizmodo blog's publisher says officers removed computers belonging to Chen despite a US law which forbids the use of search warrants to confiscate the property of a journalist.
 
The saga began when Gizmodo revealed it had paid $5,000 for a prototype handset - with previously unseen features including a front-facing camera - which it says was left in a bar by an Apple employee. The site published photos of the set, even taking it apart to reveal its workings.
 
The handset (above) caused an immediate sensation online, with techno-geeks and Apple groupies gagging for a glimpse of the future. In just 12 hours, Gizmodo received three million visits from those anxious to see the phone before its release, which is expected to take place this summer.
 
The blog also revealed the identity of the Apple employee who lost the handset – one Gray Powell. It is thought he left the phone accidentally in Gourmet Haus Staudt, a German beer garden near San Francisco, where it was found by a passer-by and sold through a middle man to Gizmodo. This could mean that the phone is classed as stolen property under California’s penal code.
 
Chen says he and his wife arrived home after a dinner out on Friday to find that police had smashed in their front door and were in the process of removing four computers and two servers. They produced a warrant saying they were looking for photographs on the computers showing the phone, and any information relating to searches on ‘Gray Powell’.
 
Now, in an open letter to California police, a lawyer representing Gawker Media, Gizmodo’s parent company, says the police warrant was not valid because there is an exemption applying to journalists.
 
"Detective Broad," writes Gaby Darbyshire, "Perhaps you are not aware of section 1524(g) of the CA Penal Code... It is abundantly clear that under the law a search warrant to remove these items was invalid. In the circumstances we expect the immediate return of the materials that you confiscated from Mr Chen."
 
The police action has added fuel to online criticism of Apple for acting in a high-handed, almost totalitarian manner. The computing superpower also dented its cuddly image last week with its decision to ban prominent US cartoonists from its app store because they had attacked Tiger Woods. Apple says it is opposed to "ridicule", but critics said the ban amounted to censorship of the news. ·