Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Any information leaks should be treated seriously by a company, whether it’s Apple or a local engineering firm with 5 people on staff.

The leaked product renderings are indicative a bigger problem/question: what other trade secrets are being bought and sold on the black market? What information is being stolen that doesn’t make the front page of MR?

If Apple was able to pinpoint individual persons as the source of leaks, it’s plausible that these people are fully aware of what they’re doing. Apple is selecting very specific targets and not just every website that publishes the info.
 
Apple willingly goes to a country for manufacturing then complains about leaks?? Especially when that country is know for industrial espionage and counterfeiting. Apples problem is of there own making! Hey Tim ****!
 
This is seriously messed up. Unless Apple has EVIDENCE that this "Mr White" did something illegal or participated in this alleged illegal activity directly, then reposting a photo sent to you is not a crime I'm aware of.

Imagine if this flew in the US and you could sue every journalist (which has a brought definition at best) when they posted something that a company did not want to be released to the public....

But of course, go after the Chinese citizens who have no such rights. The low-hanging fruit. Real big of Apple who claims to support all of these ethical policies globally, but then uses those abuses to their advantage when convenient.
I don’t think a real „journalist“ would publish trade secrets like the Coke recipe and hope to get away! LOL!
 
  • Like
Reactions: G5isAlive
Apple is selecting very specific targets and not just every website that publishes the info.

Exactly. This is not about enforcing rules/laws fairly for justice. It's selective intimidation of people least able to defend themselves to spread fear. Just like how Apple targets smaller electronics shops over right to repair.
 
Different countries have different laws
I would say reading is fundamental.


"If this was the US which it is not."
 
Ummm. It actually is illegal and yes journalist have to vet things or they will be accountable. Possessing stolen items is a literal crime.
Who is possessing something stolen? A photograph or someone describing something i writing can not be stolen property. That is what is being discussed.

The criminal who has stolen property, yes they are liable, not the journalist.

Reporting something is not illegal in the US. Again, read the Pentagon Papers US Supreme Court case. US classified secrets were leaked by a government employee to the press and the Supreme Court said the press could publish.

Press is protected unless that press member directly directed the criminal action or paid for the info which would further that crime to occur.

Ummmm where did you go to law school exactly?
 
Who is possessing something stoeln? A photograph can not be stolen property.

The criminal has stolen property, not the journalist.

Where did you go to law school exactly?
I don’t know that “a photograph can not be stolen property” is a correct statement of the law.

That said, a photograph of stolen property isn’t necessarily stolen property itself. The journalist apparently never illegally possessed anything at all.
 
  • Like
Reactions: peanuts_of_pathos
As per EU directive.

By way of a general summary, the use or disclosure of a trade secret will be unlawful (1) where the user knows (or should know) that it was obtained unlawfully or (2) where the infringing activity is carried out intentionally or with gross negligence by a person who obtained the information unlawfully or in breach of some other duty of confidence. Where a trade secret is obtained from a third party, its use or disclosure may still be unlawful if the user knew or should have known that the person from whom it was obtained was using or disclosing the trade secret unlawfully.

However, as mentioned different countries have different laws. Additionally, classified information has even stricter laws regarding the viewing and distribution of such information.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: peanuts_of_pathos
I don’t know that “a photograph can not be stolen property” is a correct statement of the law.

That said, a photograph of stolen property isn’t necessarily stolen property itself. The journalist apparently never illegally possessed anything at all.
Well correct I guess that should be a distinction, but this is baby steps getting past just making up what the sheer basic law is or is not. Without a basic google search even.
 
The best way to curtail this sort of thing is to pay the workers enough that they don't resort to this side hustle. We all know the workers gets peanuts, the fence is the one making the big bucks. The worker is taking a huge risk for a few hundred bucks, while the middleman profits to the tune of a few thousand.
What is "enough" though? Paying workers more is no guarantee it will stop.

It's reported that Foxconn employees are paid monthly salaries of around 4,000 yuan (currently US$616). What if they were paid 50% more (6,000 yuan / USD$924). Meanwhile, they're paid $50... $100... maybe more for each piece of really good leaked info (I seem to remember reading that's how much Nick Ciarelli of ThinkSecret.com paid people... or maybe my memory is faulty).

Anyways, $100 would be a little more than 3 day's worth of work if they saw a 50% pay raise. If it were me, I wouldn't stop if the buyer of that info constantly cames to me as a trusted source. I'd easily make a months salary in a month or two.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: peanuts_of_pathos
Well correct I guess that should be a distinction, but this is baby steps getting past just making up what the sheer basic law is or is not. Without a basic google search even.
Agreed.

A lot of people who don’t know the law of their state presume to know the law of China. Somehow.
 
  • Like
Reactions: peanuts_of_pathos
What is "enough" though? Paying workers more is no guarantee it will stop.

It's reported that Foxconn employees are paid monthly salaries of around 4,000 yuan (currently US$616). What if they were paid 50% more (6,000 yuan / USD$924). Meanwhile, they're paid $50... $100... maybe more for each piece of really good leaked info (I seem to remember reading that's how much Nick Ciarelli of ThinkSecret.com paid people... or maybe my memory is faulty).

Anyways, $100 would be a little more than 3 day's worth of work if they saw a 50% pay raise. If it were me, I wouldn't stop if the buyer of that info constantly cames to me as a trusted source. I'd easily make a months salary in a month or two.

I really dont want to get into a fair labor debate, but that is half the average Chinese salary. https://www.statista.com/statistics/278350/average-annual-salary-of-an-employee-in-china-by-region/ The country-wide average is just over 90,000 per year.

They are paid like crap even for China standards. 48,000 even yearly is lower than the average for any Chinese province.
 
  • Like
Reactions: peanuts_of_pathos
I really dont want to get into a fair labor debate, but that is half the average Chinese salary. https://www.statista.com/statistics/278350/average-annual-salary-of-an-employee-in-china-by-region/ The country-wide average is just over 90,000 per year.

They are paid like crap even for China standards. 48,000 even yearly is lower than the average for any Chinese province.
I know they're poorly paid. My point is you could pay them more, even 2x more than what they're currently paid. That won't guarantee they'll stop selling info to the leakers... not when they view it as an opportunity for extra money to be made.
 
I know they're poorly paid. My point is you could pay them more, even 2x more than what they're currently paid. That won't guarantee they'll stop selling info to the leakers... not when they view it as an opportunity for extra money to be made.
Oh I agree. It was more context to your post. They are paid like crap.


A leak to them could be food on their table. They arent doing it for the clicks or thrill. So absolutely pay is part of it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: peanuts_of_pathos
This is seriously messed up. Unless Apple has EVIDENCE that this "Mr White" did something illegal or participated in this alleged illegal activity directly, then reposting a photo sent to you is not a crime I'm aware of.

Imagine if this flew in the US and you could sue every journalist (which has a brought definition at best) when they posted something that a company did not want to be released to the public....

But of course, go after the Chinese citizens who have no such rights. The low-hanging fruit. Real big of Apple who claims to support all of these ethical policies globally, but then uses those abuses to their advantage when convenient.

you’re not a lawyer.

knowingly trading in stolen goods, regardless of how they are sourced is a serious crime in most countries, including the US.
 
You keep parroting this yet I have stated this in direct reference to US leakers and why they are going after these Chinese citizens. One very specific scenerio.
Huh? You mean in my latest post? That was to cover myself from comments such as ‘that applies to the EU, I’m from America’
 
So Jon processor and German is safe?
They probably won't touch them for now because, at least Mark, he doesn't show us real products, he just makes articles on what he "expects", so it doesn't really seem like he's leaking anything but we know he's been reliable with his "expectations" so that's why people consider his words - leaks.

Prosser might be receiving actual product images and information, but he too doesn't show the real stuff, he makes renders based on those images. If anyone's gonna jump on me and call him a fraud, remember he showed us the AirPods Max design and it was 95% accurate (just 1 example). But yes, I know he's been pretty inaccurate lately.
 
  • Like
Reactions: peanuts_of_pathos
Elsewhere, the original Twitter account of the leaker known as "Mr. White," with the handle @laobaiTD, was deleted around June 11. There is a new Mr. White account on Twitter posting images of Apple prototypes, but the original @laobaiTD was responsible for images purporting to depict a shorter, third-generation Apple Pencil and second-generation AirPods Pro circuitry.
So much for the new Mr. White account on twitter



Follow
Mr·White
@MrWhite128
I’m dead
Central Region, SingaporeJoined July 2013
 
  • Like
Reactions: peanuts_of_pathos
What is "enough" though? Paying workers more is no guarantee it will stop.
Enough is the threshold where a worker will not risk losing a well paying (enough $$$) job to risk making a few extra $$$. The actual pay needs to be at least 10x more than what the side hustle can net.

Apple needs to go after every link in that supply chain, from the leaker, the middle man and the worker. Break one link in the chain and the whole thing collapses. Going after the worker is the least optimal choice because they feel they have the least to lose. If they catch a worker, they can use him/her as bait to move up the supply chain. Cut a deal with the small fry to land a bigger fish.;)
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.