Three Foxconn Employees Charged With Leaking iPad 2 Design

110350 shenzhen mactop ipad 2 case

DigiTimes reports on an article [Google translation] from Chinese site sznews.com claiming that three Foxconn employees have been charged with leaking the design of the iPad 2 to accessory manufacturers well ahead of the device's launch.

Several online shopping retailers in China were able to sell iPad 2's protective case products before the iPad 2 was even launched, leading Foxconn to suspect that there might have been some employees leaking the design of iPad 2 which it reported to the local police.

The local police on December 26, 2010, arrested three employees that were suspected of leaking the design, and officially charged the three employees for violating the company's trade secrets on March 23, 2011, the reported added.

Cases for the second-generation iPad began appearing in early December, four months ahead of Apple's official unveiling in early March. Details on some of the physical changes in the new models, such as a larger speaker opening were detailed by late December, although not all of the features accommodated by the second-generation cases were positively identified until the device's introduction.

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Top Rated Comments

bdkennedy1 Avatar
188 months ago
If you don't like the rules of your job, then quit. Otherwise suffer the consequences.

too bad 3 people will have to die in a chinese jail to protect apple's trade secrets (or rather, secrets that were intended to be revealed a few months later)
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tinman0 Avatar
188 months ago
Oww that's so cute, you actually believe that all those workers in china that work for Apple are there by choice and can just quit and get another job somewhere else. Trust me you would not work in thier conditions.

And that somehow excuses their actions?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SBlue1 Avatar
188 months ago
hey, they didnt know what intellectual property is. after all this is china, the land of the copycats. :)
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tinman0 Avatar
188 months ago
too bad 3 people will have to die in a chinese jail to protect apple's trade secrets (or rather, secrets that were intended to be revealed a few months later)

Yeah, fancy that, a nation that still believes in crime and punishment.

"Can't do the time? Don't do the crime".
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RawBert Avatar
188 months ago
I wonder how much these dudes got paid for the leaks. However much, it wasn't worth it.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tlevier Avatar
188 months ago
HumanCENTiPAD!

Anyone? No one?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)