Apple porridge

A court in Shenzhen, China, has sentenced three people to jail for stealing design details of Apple's iPad2 tablet computer from the contract manufacturer Foxcon. According to the Guangzhou Daily, the offences occurred in 2010 and meant that counterfeit versions of the iPad2 went on sale in China before Apple had launched the product. The court sentenced Xiao Chengsong, the legal agent of Maita Electronics, to 18 months in prison and fined him $23,000. It is reported that he paid about $31,000 for the design details. Two Foxconn employees who sold the details were also fined and given jail sentences. Officially the three were convicted of violating commercial secrets. I would imagine that Mr Jobs is not likely to forget in a hurry that Foxconn allowed Apple's design to walk out the door.