HTC draws Apple link as it chases 'stolen' One S prototype
updated 08:40 pm EDT, Mon April 2, 2012
HTC inadvertently parallels iPhone 4 debacle
HTC triggered parallels with Apple's well-known iPhone 4 prototype leak in the past week after it shut down French site HTC-Hub. The phone designer claimed that the news outlet had bought a stolen One S prototype and had allegedly refused to hand it over after multiple attempts to get in contact. The company went so far as to turn to the President of Paris' Tribunal de Grande Instance (superior court) to order seizure under claims that it "must protect its intellectual property."
Editor in Chief Bruno Miguel flatly rejected the claims. It said it had only received a single warning, from a clerk at proxy firm Hopscotch. HTC wanted the phone back and wanted to know where it came from, but it hadn't threatened legal action or even started procedures to arrange for the phone's return, he said.
The site author added that his team had never been told of a review embargo and would never have tried to buy a phone early. HTC hadn't made an official One S press unit available to HTC-Hub.
Company representatives haven't spoken since the incident.
The attitude contrasts with that of Apple in 2010. Although Steve Jobs was upset at having lost the phone, he made direct efforts to get the lost and then resold iPhone 4 prototype directly, and was still kind in conversation after making direct overtures to Gizmodo. Legal action was taken, although it only affected the actual thieves and not those who had bought it, as in HTC's case. [via Unwired View]
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Joined: Apr 2012
Oh c***
I saw that phone and was gonna pick it up, but after a closer inspection, I thought it was one of those crappy, cheap bubblegum-filled kids toys. Little did I know a website would pay me up to $17.35 for it.