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Valleywag Offers Questionably Legal $100,000 Apple Tablet Bounty

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Apr 12, 2001
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Valleywag today announced that it is offering a bounty of up to $100,000 for information on Apple's much-anticipated tablet device. The reward ladder begins at $10,000 for "bona fide pictures" of the device, increasing to $20,000 for video. Potential rewards for more ambitious tipsters include $50,000 for pictures of Apple CEO Steve Jobs holding the device, and $100,000 for anyone willing to let Valleywag play with it for an hour.
We've had enough of trying to follow all the speculation around Apple's impending tablet -- how it'll work, its size, the name, the software and whether it will save magazines. We want answers, dammit! And we're willing to pay.
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As a disclaimer, Valleywag "encourages" tipsters to stay within the law and notes that it will not pay out any prizes until the Apple tablet debuts in order to ensure authenticity. Despite the disclaimer, however, Valleywag's offer could easily face legal challenges as pointed out by TechCrunch.
We spoke to a lawyer about the legality of the bounty, who says that Apple could have a claim against Gawker/Valleywag for inducing breach of contract, since anyone who has their hands on the tablet is certainly under a nondisclosure agreement. This could result in tort damages, with potential for punitive damages.
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Apple has reportedly scheduled a media event for later this month, where it is widely expected to introduce the new tablet device, likely giving potential entrants for Valleywag's contest just two weeks to produce their information.

Article Link: Valleywag Offers Questionably Legal $100,000 Apple Tablet Bounty
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2010/01/13/valleywag-offers-questionably-legal-100000-apple-tablet-bounty/
If Apple sues over this, it will only feed into the hype that the device exists.

On the flip side, if the device doesn't exist Apple couldn't care less about this because nothing legit will ever actually surface.
 
Will the bounty still be available after the announcement? I can confirm for sure then. :D
 
Steve could make a quick $100k just to let them play with it. They still wouldn't have a picture and no one would believe them.
 
this is pretty hilarious. i hope someone makes some money off this one! might just be an underpaid apple employee...wait do they have any of those????
 
MartiNZ said:
Everyone does that. It's just how much they cost ><.

This thread made me LOL. And that was about all I needed while just getting started with work for the day :).
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No, there was a particular user who offered I believe over $5,000 for the MacBook Air if someone could get them one before the release date in the Marketplace.
 
With such a large amount of money changing hands, wouldn't it be relatively easy for Apple to figure out who did it? Seems like that person wouldn't have much to gain, as Apple would sue for damages and they would lose their job.
 
I'll collect my reward on the 27th

I think I could accomplish up to the 50K mark, but so could every blog and news channel.
 
MacRumors said:
We spoke to a lawyer about the legality of the bounty, who says that Apple could have a claim against Gawker/Valleywag for inducing breach of contract, since anyone who has their hands on the tablet is certainly under a nondisclosure agreement. This could result in tort damages, with potential for punitive damages.
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Only if it could be proved that Valleywag knew of the contract and were actively seeking to induce someone to willfully circumvent it could they be liable for inducing breach of contract.

I can see it now; Apple suing anyone who ever asked a question about a product that was covered under a NDA for inducing breach of contract :)
 
kresh said:
Only if it could be proved that Valleywag knew of the contract and were actively seeking to induce someone to willfully circumvent it could they be liable for inducing breach of contract.
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Er, no- that's not how NDAs work. When an employee signs one, they make themselves culpable if it is broken. What people are getting at is the question of whether some Apple employee thinks $100,000 is worth breaking their NDA and probably being blacklisted out of any job in the electronics or government industry for the rest of their life. My guess is no.
 
kresh said:
Only if it could be proved that Valleywag knew of the contract and were actively seeking to induce someone to willfully circumvent it could they be liable for inducing breach of contract.

I can see it now; Apple suing anyone who ever asked a question about a product that was covered under a NDA for inducing breach of contract :)
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Exactly. Valleywhatever has no obligation to know whether such unreleased products are under NDAs...the employees concerned may be punished, not the company offering such bounty.
 
I bet they have this off their site by dinnertime. Either they'll find out it illegal or Apple Legal will request it.
 
macduke said:
With such a large amount of money changing hands, wouldn't it be relatively easy for Apple to figure out who did it? Seems like that person wouldn't have much to gain, as Apple would sue for damages and they would lose their job.
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Unless Apple itself is behind this, rooting out spies. :D
 
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