This scenario already happened with Jason Chen/Gizmodo and the iPhone 4G prototype that was left at a bar, and what happened is the cops raided his house and seized his stuff. You would think HN folks would at least remember that…
You think WOTC couldn’t have found a friendly judge if the guy didn’t comply with their thugs? The judiciary in the US is just as corrupt as the police.
Oh please, they’re not going to present it like that but use the same spiel the Pinkertons used on this YouTuber about being part of a criminal conspiracy etc. Judges in the US issue spurious warrants all the time, not the least at the behest of corporations. The iPhone prototype was no less ridiculous.
We’ll put aside the material differences between the iPhone/Gawker case, for instance, the reporter having knowingly purchased an object the seller found on a bar stool. What forcing due process also does is create a paper trail. That’s how Gawker got the warrant rescinded. It’s also notable that these miscarriages are newsworthy. I understand the comfort of conspiracies, but in this case, the lie of a corrupt judiciary does more of a corrupt cop’s work than the system’s failings themselves.