We didn't do it! a source over at the Federal Communications Commission pleaded with us on Friday night. Calm down, we replied. Didn't do what?

Didn't deliberately upload all those revealing take-apart photos of the iPad early, we were told. Adding to all the excitement and hoopla over the release of the yummy gadget on Saturday was the discovery that graphic internals of the device were up on the FCC's website before it was available for sale. This might lead some to conclude, as various bloggers and journalists have implied, that federal regulators made a decision to release the specs prior to the iPad's retail release.

But our source says the Commission had nothing to do with this call.

As device makers everywhere know, the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology certifies a wide variety of devices before they go on sale. One big concern is checking that the actual retail item doesn't release a power signal that might interfere with other systems, but there's a whole Equipment Authorization process that the OET oversees.

The actual inspection of these machines, however, is done by third-party Telecommunications Certification Bodies which have been approved by the OET. Some of them reside in the United States. Many do not. According to the agency's drop down TCB search menu, these organizations include Industry Canada, the Czech Office for Standards, Metrology, and Testing, and the Swedish Board for Accreditation and Conformity Assessment. The iPad's review can be found here.

And not only do they make the Equipment Authorization calls, but they, independently of the FCC, decide when to upload all that graphic equipment data to the OET's public database.

Still, it seems to us that, for the sake of device makers everywhere, somebody ought to have a little chat with the certification body in question. Fun as it is to get these photos early, Apple did request confidentiality on them for 180 days after getting an EA grant.