“Rumormongering about the latest creations from Apple Computer Inc. is as much a part of the Apple experience as the one-button mouse. The notoriously secretive company is trying to change that by suing website operators that publish confidential details about unreleased products — and that may spur a backlash among techies who have admired Apple’s unconventional style,” Terril Yue Jones reports for The Los Angeles Times.
“‘You come off looking like a bully doing stuff like this,’ said Robert Thompson, a professor of media and popular culture at Syracuse University who has studied the social effect of Apple products. ‘You come off looking like the evil emperor.’ Jason O’Grady shared that view. O’Grady runs Powerpage.org, one of countless websites devoted to chronicling every turn and wrinkle in Apple’s product lines. ‘I’m getting messages from people saying they’re not going to buy any more Apple stuff,’ he said. ‘They can’t believe that Apple is going after its biggest fans,'” Terril Yue Jones reports for The Los Angeles Times.
MacDailyNews Note: O’Grady’s PowerPage is one of the entities that Apple has subpoenaed in order to learn the identity of their sources.
“Darcy Travlos, an analyst in New York who follows Apple for CreditSights, an independent research firm, can see it both ways. Travlos said she had heard that some former employees of Apple with inside knowledge were responsible for the leaks, ‘and in that case Apple needs to protect its innovations and ideas that are coming out.’ Nonetheless, she said, ‘it was surprising that they came out so vigorously because it’s part of life in the technology world — press releases are frequently reported on before they come out.’ And enthusiast sites should be distinguished from rumor mongering sites, whose main purpose is to expose unpublicized news about Apple, said Jason Snell, executive director of MacWorld magazine,” Jones reports. “The latter ‘don’t exist for people to share their warm feelings about the Mac,’ Snell said. ‘These sites exist to do the equivalent of peeking under the wrapping of a Christmas present.'”
Full article here.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Commentator: Apple need to patch its own ‘leaks’ to better protect trade secrets – March 07, 2005
Think Secret files motion to have Apple lawsuit dismissed – March 04, 2005
Attorneys expect decision ‘early next week’ on Apple trade secrets hearing – March 04, 2005
Forbes writer wonders if Apple is the new Microsoft – March 04, 2005
Apple wins initial ruling in ‘Asteriod’ case, can pursue publishers’ confidential sources – March 03, 2005
Apple suspends legal action against three journalists – February 17, 2005
ThinkSecret’s Ciarelli gains pro bono legal help in defense of Apple lawsuit – January 19, 2005
ThinkSecret’s Nick Ciarelli says he can’t afford to defend himself against Apple lawsuit – January 15, 2005
Harvard Student and ThinkSecret owner Nick Ciarelli faces Apple’s legal wrath over product ‘leaks’ – January 13, 2005
Stop the presses! Apple sues ThinkSecret over ‘Headless Mac,’ ‘iWork,’ and other rumors – January 05, 2005
Apple Computer sues three for posting Mac OS X ‘Tiger’ on Web – December 21, 2004
Apple sues anonymous people over leak of unreleased Apple product info on Web – December 17, 2004
RUMOR: Apple preps analog to FireWire audio device for GarageBand users – November 23, 2004
Ah Omniweb. Once again I am popup ad free. And all other ads are blocked as well. Peace of mind. $30, but if Safari and Firefox can’t do the job…
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On subject:
Why do websites feel they must out Apple’s secrets. Why not simply respect the fact that the company does not wish to announce their products and intentions UNTIL THEY WANT TO?
If this is what you want to do, create a reality TV rumor website or something.
There is reporting and there is industrial espionage. What the rumor sites are doing amounts to industrial espionage in my opinion. It’s not appreciated, and it can harm Apple’s stock price and bottom line.
They should be sued right out of business.
Oh yeah, it’s not part of life in the technology world either. I don’t see anyone rushing out with HP rumors and Dell rumors BECAUSE NO ONE CARES.
With Apple it’s like the fashion industry or the automobile industry. Some are trend setters others are followers. Apple is the major trend setter and style developer for the computer industry. What Apple does is usually seen later on PCs. This is a major advantage for them and one of the things that keeps them in business.
Rumor sites rob Apple of this advantage for nothing more than selling a few ads.
Apple isn’t trying to stop the rumor sites from posting rumors about upcoming products, they just want to know where the leaks in their ship are.
Apple won’t lose any sales over this, anyone who would dump Apple products over this needs his medication levels adjusted. If you appreciate the innovation that Apple puts in their products, then you’ll appreciate that Apple has to take steps to protect their IP.
my 2¢
You don’t get it. No one is going to dump Apple products over this. Apple has a RIGHT to protect their business and product directions. If I’m thinking of buying a new Mac Mini, and I hear that Apple is working on some newer faster Mac Mini, then I change my mind. I’ll wait and see what happens. If I’m Joe Blow PC maker and I’m gearing up to compete with the Mac Mini, and I hear that Apple is coming out with some new Pocket Mac, hmmm… I send a memo down to the boys in the lab to start working on something similar.
Influencing my purchase decisions directly effects the company’s bottom line.
Providing competitors with advanced information is industrial espionage.
Even stock analysts have started watching the rumor sites. When all the crap about the Cell chip came out Apple’s stock went up, irrationally. No one from Apple said a word about the cell chip, yet the rumor sites went wild, and Apple’s stock went up.
In that case it worked for Apple, but if the company had said, “we have no intention of using the cell” the stock would have crashed back down, possibly to a lower level because of anti-excitement.
The little assholes including poor little still in college boy, need to shut the crap down. They aren’t journalists. They should also give up the names of those who spread the rumors.
John Gruber (of Daring Fireball) has written about this very thing yesterday.
http://daringfireball.net/2005/03/new_york_times
mactheloniusthebig is right
Thanks for pointing out the Gruber article. It is 100% right on. These sites never accept responsibility for their actions. What is the ripple effect of publishing an erroneous rumor about 3.0Ghz G5s? How many people hold off their purchases of an existing line indefinitely? In fact, what does it cost those who don’t purchase when they would have increased their productivity by purchasing the existing line?
This sort of reporting belongs in the entertainment gossip arena. Is Julia Roberts pregnant again? It should not be tolerated in technology where serious financial decisions are being made.
macnut222 hit the nail on the head. I read this article last night after work and it’s right on the money. The issue is not about the 1st Amendment- it’s about trade secret protection. The navel-gazing press ALWAYS think it’s about them.
Apple has every right to pursue their leaks. Unfortunately, Apple’s attempt at scare tactics has backfired in their face. Subpoenaing contacts is one thing but suing a college kid is pathetic at best.
As for the issue of online journalism, it is up to the courts to decide.
I find it so funny that so many people here defend Apple at any cost. You must be either working for Apple or so far shoved up their ass that you can’t see the light
If you know someone who breaks the law, aren’t you obligation to report that to the authority? Those who violated Apple’s confidential agreement are criminals and the press claims that they have the right to protect them? Basically the media can have it both ways therefore you cannot trust them at all. All journalism is yellow!!!! I really do NOT think Apple’s action against the criminals will hurt its sale. Just go to any Apple store on even a weekday and look at the check out line!
Glad to see a preponderance of people who do “see the light”.
I don’t work for Apple, but I own AAPL, and I applaud them for doing what they need to do to protect their business interests in a highly competitive marketplace.
People who choose to publish ill-gotten information about Apple’s future products against Apple’s wishes are not fans.
Unfortunately, it’s obvious from the post so far, that ignorance and/or naivete rule the day.
NDAs are contracts between two, or more, parties and are covered by civil law. You can be sued for breaking an NDA, but you can’t go to jail. It’s not a crime to break an NDA.
Comparisons of NDA breakers (and those who report what they’ve been told by them) to people who commit violent crimes; robbery, rape, murder, etc.; (and people who might fall into the accessory catagory for them) are without merit. They are different types of law. They cannot be compared.
Non-signatories can’t (or shouldn’t be) held responsible for what NDA signers do. How would you like it if some stranger signed a contract to buy a car, drove off, came by and told you that they weren’t going to finish paying for the car; then the auto dealer showed up at your door and told you that you were responsible for paying it off.
Well, if these so-called “fans” love Apple so much, and Apple says that revealing of this info is hurtful to the company, then wouldn’t these “fans” stop? No? Then, are they really “fans?”
Second, freedom of speech is protected under the 1st Amendment but non-disclosure of sources, is NOT protected under the Constitution, contrary to what alot of other people might say. The courts have held this point consistently.
Third, most, if not all of the commentators on this issue are what? Journalists! Naturally, they’re going to be biased against Apple’s POV.
Apple zealots have their heads up their arses and it is actions like this that keep me from switching to OS X. If, tomorrow, Apple were to switch with Microsoft to have 90+% marketshare, they would actually be WORSE than Microsoft in using lawsuits against end users to kill competition and anything that gets in the way of their world domination holy grail.
leo,
true, breaking a contract is not a crime, but violating 18 U.S. §1832 is:
18 U.S. §1832 Theft of trade secrets
that carries a penalty of up to FIVE MILLION DOLLARS and/or up to TEN YEARS IN PRISON!!
Just because you want to believe that misappropriation and use of trade secrets isn’t a crime, doesn’t necessarily make it so. This isn’t some case law interpretation done by activist judges, or some vague administrative law, this is UNITED STATES CODE, the law of the land in a nation ruled by laws…
If you obtain information from someone whom you know violated an NDA by telling you, then you pass that information onto the public, isn’t that more or less the same thing as fencing stolen property?
This stuff is very serious. Apple aren’t happy with having their secret new products pre-announced, and it’s fair enough. They’re a multi-billion dollar company and product releases probably cost millions. Splashy events like MacWorld aren’t cheap.
Compare that to Nick’s website – how much $$ would that pull in?? How much of a risk is he taking compared to Apple? Does he have billions of dollars at stake? Thousands of staff? These “kids” probably don’t realise how much is at stake – they run a website for practically nothing, so what do they care?
The latest round rumours before the MacWorld expo were the most accurate I remember reading. It’s no wonder Apple are peeved. Is it the right thing to do to sue? It probably is in this case, since it’s been going on for a while, and Apple have requested him to stop publishing before. He’s obvioulsy pissed them off once too many times.
Rumours and speculation are one thing, but very accurate accounts of new product releases are another.
This is not free speech, but corporate espionage. If it were my company, I’d probably do the same thing as Apple. Warn him, warn him again and then go for the kill.
I’ve had mixed feelings about this hole issue. Today I think that yes indeed, rumors have been so fun for so long and a great part of the Macintosh experience.
But the world has changed a great deal. Asian OEM’s can use rumor information and turn out a competing product in a very short time indeed!
This is not a battle that Apple wants to fight, but they have to, competition is global and fierce.Rumor sites give a heads up to Apple competitors, and Apple can’t allow it’s employee’s to give out critical business information.
Apple has lost 4 billion(yes billion) in market cap in the last 48 hours just because Sony announced a new product line and Napster is loosing less money that originally predicted.
The days when Think Secret et.al were harmless pests is over, they are causing real damage to Apple, and by extension to the Macintosh community. It’s time to to say “cut it out!”
Don’t shoot the messenger.
I know i wouldn’t shoot the messenger also unless he was stealing money from me! what is TS doing?
Finding out Apple is suing a college kid over something he put on his web site is like finding out your favorite uncle is a child molester. Maybe there were some reasons for his behavior but your trust has been betrayed anyway.
Apparently “think different” means “think like Microsoft.”