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Good for Apple.

It's their property. They should protect it.

All the Haters and the kiddies who think it is wrong, get a clue. You would do the same thing is you spent millions to develop IP and it was stolen.

This is getting almost as funny as RealMedia.

I agree.
Good for Apple.
The rumor vultures are just plain sickening.

Apple keeps secrets because their business depends on innovation. If low life scum sucking sites like ThinkSecret keep publishing stuff and giving the nay saying pundits something to bitch at, as well as the competitors a leap at getting copies out, they're only hurting Apple.

Sue the bastards out of business.

How do we know that ThinkSecret isn't paying these people for violating their NDAs? If they are indeed doing that, then they would be engaging in criminal activity themselves. Just something to think about...

Heh, with the spy game that's heating up at Apple, "C88" should've been named "MI5".

theloniusMac,

Take a deep breath. While I do agree that Apple has every right to protect their intellectual property, this has nothing to do with leaks from rumor sites. Come on now, do you honestly believe that Apple's competitors would base their competitive strategies on the say-so of rumor sites? They're about as likely to ask Miss Cleo for investment advice.

Think Secret has no agreement with Apple to protect their trade secrets, and they're probably protected under the First Amendment anyway. They can rightfully claim that they were just reporting what they thought was speculation, unless they're actually caught with confidential documents belonging to Apple (I am not a lawyer; someone with more knowledge about this please enlighten us on this point).

Apple is far more concerned with getting the reallow-life scum sucker, the one who broke their NDA. Apple is thinking that if someone inside can leak information that they're contractually obligated to keep confidential, what's to stop them from passing that information to a competitor for an enormous sum of money, instead of just a rumor site for (presumably) free? How do they know that said employee hasn't already done so, and was just tossing some freebie crumbs to Think Secret?

Apple is trying to send the message that everyone, even rumor sites, should be prepared for legal pain if they deal with employees who leak confidential information, regardless of whether the suit actually has any legal merit, and I can't say I honestly blame them. But there is a world of difference between rumor-mongering and industrial espionage, and they could care less about Think Secret or any other rumor site leaking crumbs of information. They do care about competitors with very deep pockets, and traitors in their midst with access to specific and detailed technical information.

"How do we know that ThinkSecret isn't paying these people for violating their NDAs? If they are indeed doing that, then they would be engaging in criminal activity themselves."

Excellent point Jake; I hadn't seen your post. And to reiterate the point I was trying to make in my above post, which do you think could offer the greater monetary temptation, an Internet rumor site, or a multi-billion dollar corporation? Apple is extremely concerned that someone inside could succumb to that temptation.

Consider this:

Customer buys some things Apple. Next day/week, Apple releases a newer version of the same product. It has new features, capabilities, better battery life, brighter screen, better design, etc.

As a customer:

- I would have appreciated a little heads up from anyone (especially Apple).
- I would adjust my buying decision accordingly to that information. Maybe it'll give me one more paycheck to save and purchase a higher model.
- I would feel like I was somehow cheated because the product I bought was on its way out. Apple generally does not offer any good discounts, so even with the discount, the purchase wouldn't have been a good-feeling deal.

---

What rumor sites do:

- give some info on what *may* happen in the short-term future.
- provide links to better-priced merchandise. Apple charges tax. Apple does not recognize all parts of the US as being American soil (ie. Guam, Puerto Rico, etc are not US and are not US citizens)
- give more accurate news when Apple wants to spin things (how many times has Apple pushed back ship dates? they'll take your order and then leave you hanging for a couple of months).

---

So... Apple doesn't come out clean in all of this. It's been acting like a benevolent monopolist for a while now.

Let's not get all sanctimonious about this!

On October 14th, the day after Apple announced its Q4 results, AAPL closed at 44.98. During this conference call, I believe one of the members of Apple's executive management team stated that they had no ambitions in the sub-$800 space of the market.

Despite this, AAPL has raised its value to 64.50 (a near 50% rise in three months), despite a) a shortage of product, b) no genuinely new laptop product for well over six months, c) only having, at best, 5% marketshare even if you take the most charitable view.

This rise has taken Apple to the status of the ultimate "bull" stock, trading at over 90 times earnings in what should be a shaky economy at best.

Anyone who is proud of the amount of money they've made turning Apple into a share based on future earnings prospects as opposed to historical earnings has no reason to whinge about ThinkSecret or any other rumour site. And anyone who thinks that a P/E of 90 is sustainable no matter what The Dark Lord unveils next Wednesday or what TS, AI or anyone else reports really needs to seek medical help.

As for whether TS broke the law: who knows? Isn't this a bit like revealing a grand jury investigation, in as much as it depends on who told you in the first place.

Guys, the cnet article states that, Think Secret is supposed to have solicited information from people who had signed a NDA with Apple. There is a big difference between printing rumors and paying people to give up a companies secrets. If Think Secret was a country, their offending members would be deported for espionage. Since Apple is not a country (even if some of us think they should be) they have no choice but to sue. In this case, Think Secret if they are in fact guilty. deserves to get their ass sued off.

I doubt that Microsoft and Dell are going to release products based on rumours published on Think Secret. They usually wait for Apple to announce something and then they get to work copying it. Sometimes they play it safe and wait to see if Apple's product is selling.

Apple should sue the sources, not the rumour sites. Obviously Apple is hiring the wrong people if they can't be trusted to keep something secret and this is a failure on Apple's part, not Think Secret's.

Ray
I'm sorry but all these lawsuits are changing my view of Apple from a bunch of geniuses who love technology to a greedy corporation who wants to shut down the freedom of others.

A company is not "greedy" for wanting to protect its trade secrets. Apple's bread and butter is it's ability to innovate, and part of innovation is being able to keep its products under wraps until they are ready to announce them.

Sol-- Um, I'll fill you in. They cannot sue the sources if they do not know who it is. They're sueing the rumour sites to get them to reveal their sources. I understand your confusion, its only been repeated a hundred times on this site so far.

"Customer buys some things Apple. Next day/week, Apple releases a newer version of the same product. [...] I would have appreciated a little heads up from anyone (especially Apple). I would adjust my buying decision accordingly to that information. I would feel like I was somehow cheated."

Fair enough.

Suppose I just bought a Windows Media Center from HP. Suddenly, there's a new one out there. Damn those folks from HP, they should have let me know so I would have put off buying one.

Very few companies let you know what's coming down the pike for just that reason. Consider how many iMac G4s Apple sold after officially saying that there'd be a new model out in just a few months. Not very many. Gee, with all this speculation about $500 Macs, how do you think the eMac is selling right now? Probably not all that well.

About the only reason a company tells you their future plans is to keep you from purchasing a competitor's product (eg, "We'll have a widget which is better than their widget in just a few months!").

Personal story: I replaced my PowerMac 8500/120 with a PowerMac G3 when they first came out. I bought the top-of-the-line 400MHz model. One reason I did this was that the rumor sites, as well as some other information I'd heard, said that there'd be no sign of the PowerMac G4 for at least a year. Seven months later, there's the PowerMac G4 (Yikes!). Was I upset? Nope. Why not? Because I buy a computer to do work and I got quite a bit of work done with the 400MHz G3. Certainly more than I would have if I'd used the 8500/120.

I buy the top-of-the-line at the time because that machine is sure to "last longer" than the bottom of the line. I've learned there will always be a better machine if you just wait, but waiting around can keep you from doing what you want in an absurd quest for the perfect machine.

Consider the PowerMac G5. I bought the dual 2 GHz G5 last fall. How's that for stupid?! Apple promised there'd be 3GHz machines in a year! More than a year later--no 3 GHz machines. Boy, would I have felt silly if I'd waited around.

You do not seriously expect me to respond to someone with the word 'Suicidal' in his name, do you? After all, I would not want to hurt your feelings.

Cool.

This all sucks. I'd rather not hear anything and just get a big suprise from the expo keynotes presentation. All these rumors, lawsuits, and actions people are taking based on them isn't doing anyone any good. The problem starts with the people who violate the NDA's, and even more so with our own impatients.

I do agree with Apple enforcing thier IP and NDAs. If you want to be a rumor site, then you better be able to handle Apple's heat when you go too far. It's not just Apple that is effected, other companies who might be making accessories for the rumored device can be adversely effected, too.

That said, we all know (or should know) Apple is pretty predictable in it's announcement schedule. You take a risk and buy late in the year that something won't come out in January and be immediately available. The MacRumors site has a pretty good buying guide in gauging these things.

Gotta laugh at how all the Mike's need to differentiate themselves so that they don't get mistaken for a different mike.

Reverse phone lookup has revealed the number (425) 930-47xx to call Think Secret is located in Bellevue WA, about 5-6 miles from Microsoft headquarters in Redmond WA


MDN HAS BEEN AIDING AND SERVING MICROSOSFT BY QUOTING THINK SECRET. ENCOURAGING THE DOWNFALL OF APPLE!!!

People, I don't think you understand what it means for Apple to sue Thinksecret. It sounds all evil-empire, but it's not really like that. They're not suing for $$, and they're not trying to shut Thinksecret down. All Apple is doing is asking a judge to issue an order mandating that Thinksecret disclose the name(s) of the source of the confidential information. The judge will only issue the order if it is in the interest of justice -- which it probably is.

The argument: this rumor has gotten play all over the mainstream press. It's obvious to almost everyone that there is wishful thinking mixed into it (remember last year's rumored $99 iPod Mini?) and thus is misrepresenting what Apple is likely to introduce at MWSF. It's likely that on Jan. 12th the press will report on what Apple failed to introduce rather than on the strengths of what they did introduce; it's hard to quantify such things but it will undoubtedly mean harm to Apple, caused by Thinksecret in a roundabout way.

So is Apple asking Thinksecret to compensate them for that harm? No. It's just asking for the names of sources. Thinksecret is not a journalistic organization -- that information is not privileged. So the judge issues the order, and Thinksecret can either comply, or face penalties associated with being in contempt of court. I'll repeat that the penaltie will not be for harming Apple, but rather for violating an equitable order of a US court (I don't think any of us want to live in a society where people can ignore court orders).

I don't see the problem. Asking a judge to ask Thinksecret to disclose the source(s) is a lot less heavy-handed than some other tactics Apple might use to protect itself.

Consider this tidbit though: as some have mentioned, this lends some credence to the Q88 and iWork rumors -- why sue otherwise? But if my theory of harm set out above is correct, it means the real product will differ in some way, which means the rumors are not fully correct. I.e we will not, repeat NOT see a headless i/eMac at $499 next week.

And the rumor wars continue anyway. ThinkSecret confirms iPodFlash at MW.

Apple stock soars.

check out the post at blackvortex about Apple's lawsuit against ThinkSecret and learn the true identity of Nick dePlume.

http://blackvortex.net/newsread.php?newsid=15