A site like this gets its biggest scoop when someone has done something shady. Of course it can't condone how it gets its info - whether that's by an Apple employee breaking an NDA, or someone with access to a pile of DVDs in mid-shipment creating a DMG and uploading - but it's these leaks that the site relies on to earn its pageviews.
If Apple don't like it, it's up to them to C&D or whatever. If you as an Apple shareholder don't like it, you can speak to Apple about policy change. However (not directed at you, but at arguments in general I've been reading here):
- Activation has nothing to do with stopping unauthorised copies and everything to do with removing a sense of control from the consumer. I have a paid-for retail copy of XP which I have installed and bypassed activation and WGA on, for example, because I object to the notion of a remote off-switch. Driver update can cause Vista deactivation - you think that's about preventing piracy? Please do not propose activation; it will reduce legitimate customers and create a minor, fixable inconvenience for pirates.
- Copyright is covered by The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 in the UK, and Title 17 of the United States Code in the USA. Breaking copyright, where a facsimile is made but the original is left intact, is thus not the same as regular ol' theft - in the UK, per Theft Act 1968, "A person is guilty of theft, if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it." Even then, the Act expands on each term - consider this judgment beginning at "The Theft Act 1968 was passed in an attempt to simplify" (irony!) for a taster of complexity. Nor is breaking copyright the same as breaking EULAs, the legality of which may not even have been tested in your jurisdiction (extra terms revealed after exchange of consideration). For legal advice, consult a lawyer. For moral advice, consult a parent, preacher or politician
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