US tech website Gizmodo has escaped prosecution after it paid for and published photos of the unreleased iPhone 4 last year.
Prosecutors in California have decided to file charges against the man who found the prototype device in a bar in Silicon Valley and a friend of his.
Twenty-two-year-old Brian Hogan, who picked up the device in a bar in Redwood City, and 28-year-old Sage Wallower have both been charged with misappropriation of lost property.
But it's been decided not to prosecute Gizmodo, which handed over money for the device and published photos as an exclusive. After being contacted by Apple legal department, the website eventually handed the device back.
It had been left in the bar by an Apple employee, who'd been field-testing it.
Gizmodo, and its parent company, Gawker, are - not surprisingly - delighted:
"We are pleased that the District Attorney of San Mateo County, Steven Wagstaffe, has decided, upon review of all of the evidence, that no crime was committed by the Gizmodo team in relation to its reporting on the iPhone 4 prototype last year," Gawker said in a statement. "While we have always believed that we were acting fully within the law, it has inevitably been stressful for the editor concerned, Jason Chen, and we are glad that we can finally put this matter behind us."(Via: ars technica)
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