Apple Lawyers Strike Back at Valleywag Over Tablet Bounty

[Mac Kiwi]

As far as I can remember most new Apple products tend to "leak out" around 2 - 3 weeks before release. With large helpings of hype prior to that also.


You have to take your hat off to Apple they are incredibly good at selectively releasing information.


I am guessing Scallywag are in the clear { semi legally} as long as no one fronts up with anything.

 

[snabel]

relada is giving one away. www.relada.com.


Any guess for how long until apple sends them a note?

 

[swagi]

When I read about this trade secret stuff, I remembered one of my favourite sites....Ye good old THink Secret!

 

[(L)]

Well Valleywag's publicity stunt worked for me. I went to their site. The bad thing is their site plays an annoying parody of We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel...and I couldn't figure out how to mute it (other than muting my speakers). Thanks for letting my cubicle neighbors know I'm not doing work! I won't be visiting Valleywag.com again.

Sorry to laugh at your loss, but still... hahahahaha

 

[ChrisA]

LOL. Who was it that said yesterday "An Apple lawsuit would be the best evidence that the Tablet existed"? I think they win a prize.

What they need to do now is open about 100 more contests and then simply take note over which they do and don't get sued for. I mean really of the screen is 7 inches, the 10" contest can't be about a trade secret if the 10" model does not exist.

1) A $10K prize for proof the tablet has a camera
2) A $10K prize for proof the tablet has a 7 inch screen
3) A $10K prize for proof the tablet has a 10 inch screen
4) A $10K prize for proof the tablet will sell for under $1000
5) A $10K prize for proof the tablet will sell for over $1000
6) A $10K prize for proof the tablet Has buit-in wireless recharge abilty
7) A $10K prize for proof the tablet can do phone calls over wifi
8) A $10K prize for proof the tablet ....

So basically there is no way for people to "stay within the bounds of the law", which makes it stupid to continue.

Wrong. What if Steve Jobs takes a tablet home with him and some one sees him on the stree and snaps a photo. He's win the prize and not have to break an NDA. Very un-likey but that is why the prize is so high.

 

[CFreymarc]

Bad move

Someone is not following Marketing 101 or are they?

First, responding to something like this only acknowledges existence of such a device. The best thing to do would ignore it.

But then, whomever runs Scallywag (nickname for a pirate) may be having drinks in a private office in Cupertino over this one and this is all pantomime.

 

[Digital Dude]

There has never been any secret at Apple regarding the tablet. Also, anyone familiar with Apple knows they don’t screw around with idle threats.

 

[rrandyy]

Just because people arent allowed to talk about it doesnt make it a trade secret (though that does play a role). Another aspect to determine if it is a trade secret is to look to see whether reasonable efforts were made to maintain its secrecy.

I've read more than a few articles that said Apple directly contacts newspapers and journals and leaks information about their products (including the tablet).

 

[kiljoy616]

Such Fear

Fascinating to see how scary Apple is getting. Sound more like a cult than a computer company.

Very scary cult.

 

[Digital Dude]

Fascinating to see how scary Apple is getting. Sound more like a cult than a computer company.

Very scary cult.

LOL Sorry, but I've been hearing that line since I bought my first Mac in 1984. Yes, I'm old...

 

[Tones2]

Fascinating to see how scary Apple is getting. Sound more like a cult than a computer company.

Very scary cult.

Amen to THAT!

Tony

 

[NiteWaves77]

The same dumbasses behind Operation Chokehold must run the day-to-day at Gawker Media. And here I thought Amiga users were the children of the pack. Grow up, asswipes.

Fascinating to see how scary Apple is getting. Sound more like a cult than a computer company.

Very scary cult.

No, they're acting like a business exercising their rights under California law to protect their trade secrets.

 

[pavenger]

My Guess is that ValleyWag will wait until just after 6pm to remove their contest just to ruffle apple's feathers a little more.

 

[sishaw]

Fascinating to see how scary Apple is getting. Sound more like a cult than a computer company.

Very scary cult.

Yes, they're horrible. How dare they withhold information from the public. I demand they release ALL their R&D, corporate trade secrets, and Steve Jobs' brand of coffee NOW!!

Yikes. Grow up, people. They're a corporation, not a nonprofit charity run for your benefit.

 

[MacFly123]

I don't think it matters much at this point. WHO DOESN"T KNOW APPLE IS MAKING A TABLET lol??? Doesn't mean we now know anything about it!

Better to protect the way your business operates in ultimate secrecy and put these arrogant jerks in legal threat so this garbage doesn't happen again in the future!

 

[drmacnut]

Absolutely!

If I were Steve, I'd take a picture of myself holding the tablet agonisingly out of sight, surrounded by Apple execs with stunned/amazed expressions, before sending it in and demanding my $50000

What a FANTASTIC idea! I WISH Steve Jobs would do it! Now THAT would be genius and really put egg on the face of Valleywag/Gawker!

 

[doctor-don]

Is anyone else disturbed about the increasing tendency for "news" outlets to be buying sources? This is far outside the usual grey area of trading and straight into the "we'll pay you money" zone.

A quick article I found with Google to explain the issue.



Let me know when Apple can troubleshoot hardware problems with litigation.

Can you say T M Z ?

What a FANTASTIC idea! I WISH Steve Jobs would do it! Now THAT would be genius and really put egg on the face of Valleywag/Gawker!

But it STILL would be ILLEGAL!

 

[yargk]

Hooray for Apple combatting the super geeks!

Opps, you got that backward, easy mistake.

I think Apple's stuff is great and I'm buying a MBP in a month. However, their super secrecy is super geeky and deserves a good poke once in a while.

 

[talkingnewmedia]

I think those folks at Gawker had better take Apple's lawyers seriously -- have you ever seen those guys? You don't mess with 'em.

 

[marksandvig]

This is a criminal conspiracy.

Im going to completely disagree.

 

[Skoal]

Yes, they're horrible. How dare they withhold information from the public. I demand they release ALL their R&D, corporate trade secrets, and Steve Jobs' brand of coffee NOW!!

Yikes. Grow up, people. They're a corporation, not a nonprofit charity run for your benefit.

Just like MS!

 

[NightFox]

FWIW, someone could pass valid information to enter/win the competition without breaking the law or breaching any contract if they were simply a third party.

For example, if I have a friend who works at Apple who breaches his contract by telling me about the new tablet because he's had a few too many drinks and I go and pass this information to Valleywag then I'm not breaking any law/contract and neither me nor my friend were incited to do so.

Not that it really matters, I'm just killing time waiting for a fresh install of Snow Leopard on my Pro to finish.

 

[Iggy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6BJ3CvPLhs

 

[Creative One]

I don't find anything wrong with Apple issuing a cease and desist order. Apple has every right to do so since they are talking about a supposed Apple product.

Anyways that's just my two cents.

 

[QCassidy352]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7D11 Safari/528.16)

Nevermind - plz delete.