14 DAY TRIAL // Three Foxconn Electronics employees have been arrested and charged with leaking the iPad 2 design specifications to accessory makers who got a head start in manufacturing protective cases for the tablet computer, according to a Chinese source.
Picked up by industry publication DigiTimes, the Chinese-language sznews.com report reveals that three employees from Taiwan-based Foxconn Electronics, a subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industry, have been charged with leaking the iPad 2’s design.
By learning of the technical particularities pertaining to the iPad 2, companies outside of China making profits by selling iDevice accessories were able to craft iPad 2 cases that fit perfectly on the post-PC devices upon launch
In doing so, these case manufacturers implicitly leaked the iPad 2 design months ahead of the gadget’s debut.
This prompted Foxconn to suspect three employees with access to the specs. Factory officials reported this to local police who, on December 26, 2010, arrested the three employees for violating the company's trade secrets.
The Foxconn staffers in question were officially charged on March 23, 2011, according to the reports. Details on the penalty received by the three employees are not available.
Softpedia readers may recall that several iPad 2 case design leaks hinted at some of the obvious changes Apple had made to the shape and size of its popular tablet computer, one of which being the rear compartment housing the speaker.
Some case designs, however, hinted that there may be additional ports on the iPad 2, such as an HDMI port, or a Mini DisplayPort. None of those rumors materialized.
It should be fairly obvious that it was not Foxconn management who kick started plans for an investigation into the leaks, but Apple, who is notorious for going to great lengths to secure its intellectual property.