(Editor’s note: I apologize for the awful sound in today’s episode. I was not in the studio and can’t bring all the equipment I use to record an episode with me when I travel.

Just when you thought the Gizmodo/iPhone 4G exclusive story was dying down, the legal side of the story is emerging. While writing the script for today’s show, news broke that a search warrant was executed on Gizmodo’s editor-in-chief Jason Chen’s house in San Mateo, California.

Seized in the raid were several computers, thumb drives, hard drives, a checkbook and cell phones.

[Click here to read the search warrant and what was taken from Chen’s house]

Speculation has surfaced that authorities are looking for the person that sold the phone to Gizmodo as many Apple insiders believe that Gizmodo bought stolen property from Apple.

Anybody that follows Apple closely will tell you that this was inevitable. Apple is an absolute control-freak when dealing with the company. Talk negative about the company or product; get shut out from all Apple events. Which is why many main-stream companies addressed the Gizmodo iPhone 4G story as a fake, even leaving out details like how the gadget blog bought the phone for five grand?

Even the rumor-mill sites are not immune from the fangs of Apple legal. Apple successfully shut down the Apple-rumor site thinksecrets in 2006 and has blocked applications that obtain words from Apple products; like Pod or Pad. Bloggers and reporters who work for online news sites were added to California shield laws after the thinksecret incident.

Now Gizmodo is dealing with the dark side of Apple and nobody knows where it will go next. This case could be the turning point for online news sites to be included in the same protection that reporters who work for TV stations, newspapers and radio get when reporting on a story.

Or nothing could happen for this event.

Either way, Gizmodo is dealing with the dark side of Apple. Hope the exclusive story was worth the trouble.

Control Daily #24: Apple brings the law on Gizmodo