Apple Wins Round One Against Rumor Sites
from the oh-well dept
While ThinkSecret and others have tried to persuade Apple to drop their lawsuits against sites that posted leaked info about products, the lawsuits have moved forward. It looks like Apple has won the first round, as a judge told the sites that they do need to reveal who leaked the info to them. The EFF, who is defending the sites, say they'll appeal the decision. While this might not seem like such a big deal, it may eventually set a precedent on just what kind of protections independent writers have online.
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Have your cake and eat it, too
However, the reason Apple is sueing them is because they (the bloggers in question) have a system in place for sharing information on a worldwide basis, which in a way makes them journalists.
What bugs me is that it's not like they were sharing the secret formula for Coca-Cola or the seventeen herbs and spices in KFC chicken, which are obvious trade secrets - they simply revealed Apple's new products a few days before Apple did. Once Apple revealed the products, the early leaks became a moot point - IMHO.
If anything, Apple should be excited that their customers are willing to visit underground/rumor sites to find out what's coming next.
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No Subject Given
Take this stance, Apple is releasign new products, they want all the press, people waitign in breath to see what their new products will be, and don't like it when someone steals the thunder from them. Granted the news is about their products, just they didn't announce it first. [Just a take on it, i agree with you].
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No Subject Given
I can understand Apple's frustration: employees have (likely) violated the terms of their employment contracts with Apple, and they would like to know whom they can trust.
It is as much about theft as it is about journalistic fringes.
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Amusing
So basically, on-line journalists can scoop major papers and have their stories stolen by print-mags weeks later, but they aren't offered the same source protection. Ridiculous.
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Re: Amusing
And while I understand Apple's plight, the fact is that trying to get the scoop on a product is a game that goes way back. Pick up any automotive magazine and you'll see that they ROUTINELY try to get spy pictures and advance info on the latest cars before they are made public. These magazines never get sued and the same principles will apply to online journalism.
Apple can't become an expaning, huge company and expect to still keep everything a secret. It just can't be done. However, they have to remember that only a small fraction of the buying public will ever read fan sites and see these rumors, so really who cares?
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Re: Amusing
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Re: Amusing
No doubt about it. Apple doesn’t have a Teflon reputation… it has the ultimately shitty reputation.
So how do they stay in business? Why to the educated types and the creative types tolerate it?
Because Apple has the one thing that Microsoft lacks… stuff that WORKS.
Yah, we have to put up with a HUGE load of crap from Apple, Yah, we have to pay more to do it, but at the end of the day, we spend our time getting work done on the computer, rather than working on the computer…
Of course the crap to usefulness ratio has been pointing on the other direction for a year or so… but Apple does that… they go through peaks and valleys.
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