You are a blogger. Scratch that. You are an editor of a high-profile tech news website. You get a lead about some guy who claims to have Apple’s latest creation in his hands. Lo and behold, it turns out to be real.

In best Keanu imitation: “WHAT do you do? What do YOU do?”

If you’re Jason Chen, editor and writer for Gizmodo.com, you take the thing apart and cover it every which way, after pressing 5,000 smackers in the finder’s palm. You set the internet on fire with an unheard of story: that a leak of epic proportions has just gone down, despite the locked-down, fortress-like strategy of one of the most loved and hated technology companies in the world. And so that’s how you introduce the public to the next-generation iPhone, months ahead of release.

In the aftermath, you even defend yourself against rumors that you’re conspiring with said company in an under-the-table deal to build hype. And in the end, you return the device to the company — after dissecting the unreleased smartphone in public view.

What do you get for this trouble? You get raided by a computer-crime task force consisting of agents from various law enforcement organizations.

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Chen’s account of what happened

According to the account posted by Chen on Gizmodo, he and his wife went out to dinner Friday night, only to come home and discover that the garage door was half-open. When he tried to go in, there were officers — who had been there for hours — flashing search warrants. They searched his home, his car and his person (with both hands behind his head).

Agents from the Rapid Enforcement Allied Computer Team ransacked Chen’s Fremont, CA-based home. They confiscated computers, hard drives, cameras, a cell phone and other gadgets — not to mention credit card bills and banking records. (According to the warrants, these devices may have been used to commit a felony, and so were subject to seizure.)

So far it looks like Gawker Media, which owns Gizmodo, is standing by Chen. The organization, which owns several other tech and media sites, cites California’s shield law, a piece of legislation that protects reporters. The law was passed to keep journalists from being forced to hand over anonymous sources or unpublished material to law enforcement during a search. And, it adds, this should apply to Chen’s possessions as well.

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Whoa. This was unexpected…

If Chen was accused of infiltrating Apple headquarters, by illegally breaking and entering — heck, even trespassing — in order to expose trade secrets, the context for this hard line approach might be somewhat understandable. But, according to all accounts, the guy got a lead on a lost — not stolen — prototype.

I’m no legal expert, but I’m having a hard time distinguishing where the felony could’ve taken place. Was the problem that he paid to get possession of it? And would the authorities still be involved if he had procured it or even still paid for it, but then returned the device without covering it? And what’s not known yet is whether the investigation was launched at the behest of Apple, or if there’s something here that motivated state and federal agents to act on their own.

Until more details surface, it’s hard to know how to take this. The big question for me, as well as other journos on the webs and beyond, has to do with the end effect of all this. Will it be detrimental to journalism as a whole? While it may not be disconcerting to everyone, here’s the rub: If this criminal investigation goes the distance, will other tech websites and blogs all have to think twice before publishing certain kinds of information?

What would you, as the viewing public, think if your media outlets only covered select news or information, of the type that wouldn’t get them in hot water?

I genuinely think this has the potential to open up a can of worms. But what do you think? Is Chen rightfully under the microscope for suspicious behavior that suggests criminal activity? Or was he right to procure and then cover the device? Weigh in.

Via: ABC News, Gizmodo