The Merc’s Patrick May reports that Apple has banned Gizmodo, the site that first posted photos of the newest version of the iPhone, from its Worldwide Developers Conference that opened in San Francisco on Monday.

“We’re banned for life, I think,” said Gizmodo editorial director Brian Lam.

Lam said he got no response to Gizmodo’s request to attend the show.

“I’ve worked with these people for seven or eight years, and they never failed to write me back. This tells me they’re probably not allowed to talk to me anymore. It’s not personal. But Steve is very angry at Gizmodo.”

So angry that Jobs, through his staff, asked a special law enforcement strike force to retrieve the phone that an Apple engineer lost at a Redwood City bar. Jobs’ request resulted in cops breaking open the door of Gizmodo editor Jason Chin and confiscating his computers and cameras. The FBI is now analyzing items taken from Chin’s home.

No word yet on whether Gizmodo will pursue charges against the strike force for possibly violating the state’s shield law or the federal law protecting newsrooms from police searches.