Pc world allready has cheap machines that can surf the net,email and music. this may be BIG for Apple but in the PC world they have been making cheap boxes and living room PCs for awhile.Avicdar said:
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Apple Sues Think Secret
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longofest said:
However, this isn't a First Amendment suit. Apple isn't challenging TS's right to publish information; it's saying that the information was obtained illegally. Inciting someone to break a NDA is a crime. Conspiring with someone to break a NDA is a crime. Tortious interference with Apple's legitimate business interests is also a crime.
Those saying that Apple is in the wrong here should take a deep breath and wait to hear what TS was alleged to have done to procure the information it had. Given its detail, the facts (not to mention the law) are very likely to be on the side of Apple. We certainly don't have information to suggest that they aren't.
Assuming Apple's complaint to be rooted in fact, Apple is doing exactly what it ought to be doing. Those who publish rumors have nothing whatsoever to worry about. Those who acquire rumors through illegal means should pay the price.
elo
I'm not so sure they care about TS as much as they guy that is feeding them. Have you ever noticed that both TS and AI have the same rumors that appear at nearly the same time? Aside from one copying the other, I think its probably one guy that is feeding both of them... one guy!Awimoway said:
When that guy is found, expect an upsidedown crucifixion.
Apple protecting its intellectual property is 'tasteless bullying'??? I suppose you also think Apple should let eMachines, Dell, and whoever to copy Apple's concepts and designs because it creates a buzz. Look, Apple is not your typical PC company. It is almost entirely dependent on creating new products and distinctive designs. The whole blah blah about roadmaps don't really apply. (Remember the G5 'roadmap' fiasco??? There's another reason to stay away from roadmaps.)Dont Hurt Me said:
Apple has enough problems with other PC makers copying its ideas once the products are out. What do you think would happen if everyone knew about Apple products 6 months before they are out??? A lot of Apple's products, including the iPod, iTMS, and the original iMac, are about being first to the market and leading that market. Imagine if Apple today announced that they are going to release the flashPod 3 months from now and an online video store with special hardware integration 6 months from now. Not only would that discourage sales of current products, but it would give Dells and Reals of the world 3 month head start in their copying. As much as I like to read up on rumors and anticipate what Apple will release, I'm all for Apple protecting its intellectual property.
When does apple step back and say "whoa, did we just boink the little guy??". Stop acting like microsoft, you don't have the stomach for it.
Well, if said guy is just sending out emails without solication, then apple is in the wrong. He's probably some guy that got looked over for a promotion, and giving out inside info is his way of saying F U Apple.
elo said:
The saying within Apple always use to be, "Apple leaks from the top." That may not be true here and I very much doubt that Apple would be filling law suits if this information came from someone very near the top. However, I would think product price points would be one of the most secret and closely guarded aspects of a new product. That probably means that someone fairly high up in Apple either dropped the ball (mistakenly or otherwise), or the $500 price is just a guess made by someone who doesn't actual know, or these products are already appearing on retailers invoices (that is, the price and features have already been set and sent out to retailers).
piracy said:
Just stating apple is 100% in the right does not make it so. They haven't won the case yet, have they? I guess it's just your opinion. You haven't identified yourself as a lawyer (although i suppose you could be one) but i'm gonna go out on a limb and say this is just your opinion. Well here is mine. ThinkSecret has no obligation to protect Apple assets. In fact, they are not obligated to protect apple from economic harm, so apple just demonstrating that TS is posting accurate rumors will not win the case. However, what i think apple is doing is kinda accusing TS of espionage, which is against the law. Hence their emphasis on thinksecret encouraging people to report. If thinksecret can get the exact same info without encouraging people to spy for them, apple wouldn't have a leg to stand on. Just because some information is damaging to apple does not mean a publisher cannot publish that information. What apple is sueing them for is not for publishing the information (which apple went to painstaking lengths to explain when they stated they are not against freedom of speach), what apple is suing them for is the solicitation of that information. If thinksecret can prove that the info about the specific rumors apple is suing them for was unsolicited, apple loses hands down, regardless of whether you like it or not. Judges are not apple fans. Judges could care less whether a pc is better than a mac or vice versa. They are only interested in the law and there is nothing explicitly in the law forbidding thinksecret from publishing their information, unless obtained via espionage. Actually, the event of obtaining the info (even without publishing) might be a crime itself if it is obtained via espionage.
This doesn't make much sense to me. If the switcher's are looking for the OS X experience they can't get it from anywhere else BUTApple. If the experience is a $500 computer they can get this all day long at Dell. So who are these competitors you are talking about? Microsoft? , they don't make computers the last time I checked. Dell? , they sell inexpensive computers already. Neither one can give their customers Mac OS X.
LaMerVipere said:I guess Apple wants to kill all Rumour sites, eh?
Not fair. They help generate excitement for Apple's products. You'd think Apple would love them, or at least find a way to use them to their advantage. This "sue them to death" crap isn't going to work. We're living in the information age, you can't keep anything under wraps anymore.
They do help generate excitement but if the stuff isn't true it hurts Apple...and we all get pissed off as if it's Apple's fault. I love reading these sites but I see
Apple's point.
I agree that this is probably more to catch the leak than put Thinksecret out of business. There's a big difference between speculation and 'hints' of what might come and the detailed info that's been coming out lately.
Who knows, perhaps this headless iMac isn't quite ready yet - perhaps those stock supplies aren't built up yet? Now with this information not just being posted online but being picked up by mainstream papers as pretty much given, if Apple don't release something, they look stupid. If they deny it and release it in a couple of months time, they look stupid. If they rush to release it at the Keynote, they don't have stock for months and they look stupid.
Who knows, perhaps this headless iMac isn't quite ready yet - perhaps those stock supplies aren't built up yet? Now with this information not just being posted online but being picked up by mainstream papers as pretty much given, if Apple don't release something, they look stupid. If they deny it and release it in a couple of months time, they look stupid. If they rush to release it at the Keynote, they don't have stock for months and they look stupid.
I can understand why Apple are resentful of rumors on such an accurate level being released all over the place.
When they launch a surprise product that surprises the competition, there is lag time before a similar product can be put on the market.
That would give the headless iMac an advantage before Dell can start advertising its competitor.
I remember when the G4 iMac came out, Dell ran an advertisement for a similar machine that showed it leap frogging G4 iMacs.
Some rumors can be a lot more harmful than others.
When they launch a surprise product that surprises the competition, there is lag time before a similar product can be put on the market.
That would give the headless iMac an advantage before Dell can start advertising its competitor.
I remember when the G4 iMac came out, Dell ran an advertisement for a similar machine that showed it leap frogging G4 iMacs.
Some rumors can be a lot more harmful than others.
I like TS and hope it survives this.
I think it comes down to the word "solicit". My laymans legalese suggest to me that if they actively paid for it then they might be in the poo. Else, I dont see what the problem is - freedom of the press and all in the good ol USA.
I think it comes down to the word "solicit". My laymans legalese suggest to me that if they actively paid for it then they might be in the poo. Else, I dont see what the problem is - freedom of the press and all in the good ol USA.
Does Apple Embargo Info
Does anyone know if Apple releases info to the 'real' media prior to any annoucements with an embargo date on it? Just like almost every other company in the world, or are they so secretive that they don't do that.
Might be interesting if they do, because odds are the 'rea'l news sources that are reporting the 'rumor' sites info would probably already have a release from Apple with all of the details.
For an interesting article about Press embargos (auto industry related) see this The Truth About Cars Editorial
Cheers,
hughdogg
Does anyone know if Apple releases info to the 'real' media prior to any annoucements with an embargo date on it? Just like almost every other company in the world, or are they so secretive that they don't do that.
Might be interesting if they do, because odds are the 'rea'l news sources that are reporting the 'rumor' sites info would probably already have a release from Apple with all of the details.
For an interesting article about Press embargos (auto industry related) see this The Truth About Cars Editorial
Cheers,
hughdogg
Good for Apple! I hope they sue the pants off of think secret.
You have to be reasonable about this stuff, we Mac people don't need another Microsoft-type company running around stealing technology left and right from Apple. I bet you Steve is pisssed right now, he learned his lesson a long time ago about this type of stuff. The more secretive Apple is the more they innovative the products will seem when they are finally unveiled. Anyway, whatever happened to the crazy Apple rumors I am tired of just about everything coming true. The only site where I can get a crazy apple rumor is from crazyapplerumors.com. I need to be surprised once and a while.
You have to be reasonable about this stuff, we Mac people don't need another Microsoft-type company running around stealing technology left and right from Apple. I bet you Steve is pisssed right now, he learned his lesson a long time ago about this type of stuff. The more secretive Apple is the more they innovative the products will seem when they are finally unveiled. Anyway, whatever happened to the crazy Apple rumors I am tired of just about everything coming true. The only site where I can get a crazy apple rumor is from crazyapplerumors.com. I need to be surprised once and a while.
iJWC said:
I guess I am mixing two concepts here. There are users that would benefit from the OSX experience, and yes they can only get this from Apple. However, if Apple ends up producing a headless Mac that *looks* like something from outer space and wows the public, and its cheap... there might not be anything like it in the windows world, and it will get attention.
However, if the PC world got wind of it first, they might create something that looks equally from outer space, and they can play the old "look, we have one too, and it uses trusty reliable WINDOWS - you dont have to take a chance on that red headed stepchild Apple stuff". They could bundle pieces of software that mimick the iApps, and put it head to head against the headless mac, and create a marketing campaign that steals all of Apples thunder.
Know what I mean?
Doesn't surprise me
Well, I can't say I'm completely shocked about this.
ThinkSecret has become alarmingly accurate with their "rumors" in the past year or so. So much so, that I'd say they weren't even rumors anymore. Seems like some of you here have forgotten the real meaning of a rumor. Please look it up in a dictionary. It does NOT mean having solid 100% reliable trade secrets about unannounced products from sources directly within the company. It sounds to me like TS has been expressly soliciting Apple employees or someone directly involved with the products and urging them to break their NDA's to get this info. That doesn't seem right to me. Of course, the ones who broke their NDA's should be the ones punuished the most for this, but it seems TS is guilty as well.
Rumors are supposed to be speculation, based on available information and past product releases. Things like patent filings and such. When a site starts posting details about upcoming products months in advance, including internal codenames and such, something is wrong.
Well, I can't say I'm completely shocked about this.
ThinkSecret has become alarmingly accurate with their "rumors" in the past year or so. So much so, that I'd say they weren't even rumors anymore. Seems like some of you here have forgotten the real meaning of a rumor. Please look it up in a dictionary. It does NOT mean having solid 100% reliable trade secrets about unannounced products from sources directly within the company. It sounds to me like TS has been expressly soliciting Apple employees or someone directly involved with the products and urging them to break their NDA's to get this info. That doesn't seem right to me. Of course, the ones who broke their NDA's should be the ones punuished the most for this, but it seems TS is guilty as well.
Rumors are supposed to be speculation, based on available information and past product releases. Things like patent filings and such. When a site starts posting details about upcoming products months in advance, including internal codenames and such, something is wrong.
BornAgainMac said:I don't see this rumor/news story on Thinksecret.
Hehehe.. thinksecret was first place i went to after reading about this on cnet and strangely, it's not there. How good can they be when someone else scoops them on their own lawsuit (tongue in cheek statement).
If I was Apple I would be suing too. However, I do so much like reading the rumors it helps me make purchasing decision. I for example have told people to hold off on PowerBook, iPod mini, and display purchases within the last month because of rumors. However, it doesn't take rumors to hold people off from buying right before Christmas from Apple because everyone knows that updates are around the corner at MWSF.
Corporate Secrets
The likes of Bill Gates and Michael Dell haven't developed multi-billion $ companies without knowing what was happening in the industry. It's a fact of life that people talk and if these products really exist then the likes of Dell and Microsoft will have known for months. Think about it, if some moron is willing to give up his career earning $0 giving info to a rumor site, how many more would pass on info if a few bucks were thrown their way?
The likes of Bill Gates and Michael Dell haven't developed multi-billion $ companies without knowing what was happening in the industry. It's a fact of life that people talk and if these products really exist then the likes of Dell and Microsoft will have known for months. Think about it, if some moron is willing to give up his career earning $0 giving info to a rumor site, how many more would pass on info if a few bucks were thrown their way?