More on the iPhone / Gizmodo debacle: A Q&A with an attorney in the NYT.
It appears that the legal cards are stacked against Apple in this one. I'm still not sure how anybody could claim that they didn't know what they had when the iPhone was found, however. The fuss Gizmodo made on their web site over their treasure proves that.
In Gizmodo's favor: They did return the phone when finally asked.
A co-worker painted this scenario for me: If I found secret new plans for Main Street development laying in the Madison parking lot, would this not be news-worthy for our local paper? Is this not also proprietary information not yet meant for public consumption?
It's a good scenario, but in that case I see it as something of interest to the public. An iPhone is private property, created by a private company, sold to private buyers. Somehow I still don't see this as being so in the public interest that trade secrets and property ownership rules can be violated.