Three people in China have been sentenced to jail in connection with a plot to leak information about the iPad 2 months before its official release.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the head of a Chinese electronics and accessories makers sought heavily guarded information about the iPad 2 in order to produce cases for the gadget ahead of its launch and paid for insider tips from an employee and an ex-employee of a Foxconn factory where iPad 2 devices were assembled.
Xiao Chengsong, the manager of Shenzhen MacTop Electronics Co. reportedly offered 20,000 yuan to former Foxconn worker Hou Pengna for this information. Then, Hou apparently paid active employee Lin Kecheng to retrieve images of the iPad 2. MacTop was caught advertising cases for the iPad 2 before the device was released.
Xiao is sentences to 18 months in prison, Lin to 14 months and Hou for a year. All three must also pay fines.
"We cannot comment on matters of internal security, but Foxconn takes its commitment to protecting its intellectual property as well as that of its customers very seriously and undertakes all appropriate actions to safeguard against any violations," Foxconn told the WSJ.
Xiao and Hou were condemned in court for obtaining the information "by illegal means," which "caused huge losses" to Foxconn.
Visit the Wall Street Journal to read more about the iPad 2 leakers.