Stop me if you've heard this before: a California college kid purportedly finds a 4G prototype in a bar, makes a half-hearted attempt at returning it, and ultimately sells it to Gizmodo for $5,000 and bonus. Blogger Jason Chen then literally dissects the phone, photograph its pieces, and publish the evidence: a 4G's on its way.

That initial stolen exclusive has generated 11,537,687 hits (as of 1 am Central today) for Gizmodo -- as well as a subsequent early morning police search of Chen’s home and the confiscation of his computer. It has also provoked debate and a legal fight over whether journalists can or ought to buy stolen property.

"When this whole thing with Gizmodo happened, I got a lot of advice from people that said you've got to just let it slide. You shouldn't go after a journalist because they bought stolen property and tried to extort you," Jobs told a reporter. "And I thought deeply about this, and I concluded the worst thing that could happen is if we change our core values and let it slide. I can't do that. I'd rather quit." There was no clarification about what "core values" he was referring.

Meanwhile, Gizmodo's hyping the hell out of its coverage of the upcoming conference (“The Next iPhone, ReRevealed,” the site teases) which they plan to do by covering other sources.

Meanwhile, Denton laughs all the way to the bonk.