Police Bash In Gizmodo Editor's Front Door and Seize Computers

Gizmodo's Editor-In-Chief, Jason Chen, arrived home late Friday night to find California's, REACT Task Force in the process of confiscating his personal computer gear at the bloggers home office. The 18 items seized by the task force included a 16GB iPhone, 32 GB iPad, IBM Think Pad, two Macbook Pro computers and a 500 GB external hard drive.

"According to Gaby Darbyshire, COO of Gawker Media LLC, the search warrant to remove these computers was invalid under section 1524(g) of the California Penal Code." Source: Gizmodo

On Monday, April 19th, Chen chose to run an exclusive story on Gizmodo.com that included unveiling a prototype of Apple's next-generation iPhone which Gawker Media admitted purchasing for $5,000. The price of the device may prove to be far greater than first imagined, as police try to determine if a crime has been committed in the transaction of the mislaid iPhone.

"They made me place my hands behind my head and searched me to make sure I had no weapons or sharp objects on me," Jason Chen wrote in a brief statement about the seizure at his home office.

"Other than the things they took, it doesn't seem like they did any damage other than the front door, when they bashed it open."

[Gizmodo]

Comments

[Antwoine]

Oh wow, my comment was deleted.. (o_0)
Dang, I was just takin' it on "A Citizen of the United States" post above..
I did use plenty of harsh and explicit words, but that's the point..
This is no fun anymore..

[A Citizen of the United States]

I initially thought this was some kind of late April Fool's Day spoof, but it is, unbelievably, real. Who the F*** does Steve Jobs think he is? It was his (or his employee's) incompetence that put the iphone prototype on the bar stool, not Gizmodo's. From that point forward any protected interest in purported business secrets was, intentionally or not, waived. Invoking the police power of the state -- and doing so in such a crass, ham-handed way -- is unforgivable. Jobs has become what he hated as a start-up entrepreneur, the would-be monopolist able to bring down the power of the state on anybody that dares threaten him, or worse, as here, make people laugh at his incompetence and vanity. Gizmodo needs to strike back at APPLE with a civil rights action under 42 USC 1983 for conspiracy to invade privacy. Steven Jobs - GFYS!