“The 19-year-old publisher of a Web site facing a lawsuit over an article about a top-secret $499 Apple computer said Friday he can’t afford to defend himself,” Mark Jewell reports for The Associated Press. “Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL) is suing Harvard University student Nicholas Ciarelli’s Web site (http://www.ThinkSecret.com), alleging it illegally published company trade secrets. The Jan. 4 lawsuit also targets the Web site’s unnamed sources for the leaks.”
Jewell reports, “Ciarelli, whose identity as the site’s publisher and editor was only published this week, is not named as a defendant. But he still needs a lawyer, and said he is hoping to find free or low-cost legal help to argue that he deserves First Amendment protection and used proper newsgathering techniques to break news about the Mac mini computer and other inside information about Apple. ‘A lot of lawyers are interested in my case, but few are able to do it for free or low cost,’ Ciarelli, of Cazenovia, N.Y., said in an e-mail interview. ‘I’m seeking representation.'”
“Apple declined to answer questions Friday about whether Ciarelli, who called himself Nick dePlume online instead of using his real name, would also be sued. Ciarelli’s identity as the site’s editor and publisher had circulated recently on the Internet, but the information only became widely known on Wednesday, when The Harvard Crimson, the university’s student newspaper, confirmed it. At the MacWorld show on Tuesday, executives said the company is merely defending itself,” Jewell reports. “‘Innovation is what Apple is all about, and we want to continue to innovate and surprise and delight people with great products, so we have a right to protect our innovation and secrecy,’ said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing.”
Full article here.
No comment.
13 years old and he made a powerful website. This kid will be talented in the future
They’re both (Apple and ThinkSecret) treading fine lines…
The EFF is representing Appleinsider and O’grady’s Powerpage for spilling the beans (apples). Why don’t they represent the ThinkSecret kid?
There is an old saying. “Keep your friends close, and your enemy’s closer”
Or as Oscar Wilde put it:-
“You can never be too careful in the choice of your … enemies.”
Otherwise, I fully agree with Dan’s first-post comment.
he is 19
Yes, and I too. At that time all I thought about was pussy and beer.
Magic word is “book”. I’ve read a few.
Or I should say… I was 19 at one point. And I have to hand the young man a salutation for his efforts. But….
Wow, this Nick guy has to be loving all the attention. And he has not even been charged really. They are just trying to make him name his sources. If he is smart he could parlay this fame into a lot of cash. But since he is at Harvard I would guess he is pretty smart and probably would not need something like this to make cash. They said he made thinksecret when he was 13. Is that cool or what? Only on the internet.
In suing ThinkSecret, Apple is biting the hand that feeds it.
ThinkSecret is not for Apple�s competitors, it is for Apple�s most zealous fans, its most loyal consumers. Competitors would be foolish to design and rush out a new product based on rumors from a Mac news site. Real competitors only copy products with proven sales records, not something that might be the next big flop. Even after they have real products in hand, they still copy poorly.
ThinkSecret nurtures Apple customers, keeping us happy, involved in the process, in the know, and more loyal. The same fan loyalty that saw Apple through the lean times is being stepped on now that Apple is again tasting success.
ThinkSecret is one of the biggest Mac sites there is.
Well done Kid – stick to your guns, you have done nothing wrong and justice will surely prevail in the end.
Benn
Well done Kid – stick to your guns, you have done nothing wrong and justice will surely prevail in the end.
While I understand Apple’s right to defend it’s intellectual property, it clearly is treading a very fine line over trying to punish a loyal fan who is also clearly and legally a journalist, and is in this regard subject to wide protections under the law.
Other have pointed out certain laws involving publishing trade secrets, but the First Amendment is above any law passed by congress by default. So if Apple cannot prove that Nick was directly involved in the release of trade secret information through bribery, extortion, or other illegal activity, it could see a significant countersuit filed or at the very least lose a big case, and garner a PR black eye in the process without much gained.
If they feel that one of their employees broke an NDA or otherwise acted improperly they have every right to go after that employee. They do not, however have any constitutional right to go after a member of the free press to get this information.
IN addition, I’m sure Real or Microsoft would help defray legal costs…
Silly apple… silly.
Jobs ought to get this solved. The community is one of the best things about Apple – this’ll show me if they are in any way different to other big companies or not. Think Different but act like everyone else doesn’t quite work for me. There ought to be some compromise here.
Well done Kid – stick to your guns, you have done nothing wrong and justice will surely prevail in the end.
Yeah, he hasn’t ratted anyone out yet and ‘sticking to his guns’ costs alot of money.. I think that’s the title of this news story.
The truth is.. the fact that this story is a story about apple suing a website means the lawsuit has already done it’s job.. get the word out that you don’t cheat your NDA’s and don’t spread Apple’s trade secrets.
They could settle for an undisclosed sum (a handshake, or a twenty.. who cares) and the lawsuit has done it’s job.
“Poor li’l kid!”? NO WAY!!!
This isn’t about some huge corporation “taking a stand” or “looking good”! BULL!!! It’s all about PEOPLE trying to make a living!!!
I and my coworkers bust our ass 60+ hours per week trying to make innovative products. The company’s secrets are key to our income and the wages of everyone here. If some two-bit Wintel company can make a piece-o-crap Windows box that looks similar, even if it runs like sh!t, our sales are totally screwed. This “kid” has managed to threaten the income of THOUSANDS. I’m NOT Steve Jobs with billions in the bank. I work down on the line and my job, my ability to avoid unemployment, is DIRECTLY based upon Apple’s sales.
If it were only Steve Jobs yankin’ Macs out of his ass, and no one else was involved, then I might think a bit differently. But, it’s not! There are thousands of people dependent upon Apple being the first to market an item and a concept.
I have NO PROBLEM seeing some spoiled Harvard kid get slammed with a law suit if it means that my child, and the children of thousands of other Apple employees, don’t have to worry about where their next meal is coming from. I have stood in food lines at the church to feed my kids. I have busted my ass to get this job and worked even harder to keep it, and there is no way in hell I’m going to let some snot-nosed Harvard brat take this away from me. Sue the livin’ sh!t out of him and all of his associates!!! Apple is not in such a precarious position that it can’t afford to kick the sh!t out of a website and one Harvard brat regardless if they are Mac supporters. One supporter is NOT worth the livelihood of thousands of employees nor the ability of millions of Mac users to continue to see innovative products in the future. Steve Jobs KNOWS THIS that THAT is why Apple is suing!!!
If Apple wants to punish this cold-hearted prick, send him over to Apple headquarters where we will assemble hundreds of our children in the main auditorium and webcast it to thousands more Apple-families, and he can explain to all of them how his perverse enjoyment of telling secrets, makes it okay for him to put all of their families homes and happiness in jeopardy. It’s very easy to stand on your First Amendment Rights when your mommy and daddy keep you from standing in food lines.
I also hope that any future employer knows what this kid is doing. Would YOU hire a brat that publicly broadcasts corporate secrets? And this is info from a company that he supposedly supports!!! He is just as guilty as the other brats that hack into computer systems and spread viruses. They do it for their own ego-centric gratification. I hope Apple sues for at least $1 so it remains with him for life as a criminal record for all future employers to see.
This kid has NO interest and support for Apple at all. Apple should nail his nuts to the wall!! Where did I put that hammer? I want to be the first one in line.
When you run with the big dogs, there’s a chance you’re gonna get bit!
Well said, MacMaker.
That said, this kid is obviously talented — hopefully he’ll put his skills to productive use.
While I agree with Apple feeling it was slightled and is now pissed off because its employees are breaking its NDA Think Secrect is a journalistic type of site. With that being said you don’t hear big companies suing reporters to get them to expose thier sources because the reporters job is to keep it confidential. If Nick did bribe an employee isn’t that the same thing that our national government does to recruit spies for us?
To Mac Maker,
Maybe you should clampl down on your coworkers more. If your coworkers didn’t have lose lips this situtuion would not have arisen. Is it Nick’s fault that there are people who do not abide to their own contractional obligations? He is just relaying to the rest of the world what information he has come across. If you want to prevent leaks then eliminate the rats from within the company don’t take out a journalist. One cannot claim they did not know he was going to publish information on this product, that is the websites objective.
Remember don’t shoot the messenger, find who let the cat out of the bag.
I also support MacMaker’s point of view – whether or not he’s legit.
Its fine to speculate, but if we all know every detail of every product in advance it’d remove something special that is in Apple’s DNA – as SJ recently said.
Perhaps Ciarelli will focus on building something rather than undermining others’ efforts.
PS These Magic Words are something else: it’s “boy”. Too true.
I have to agree with MacMaker’s point. I support Apple and would never buy a Wintel machine no matter how much it looked like a Mac Mini but imagine if an iPod Shuffle picture got shown around before it’s official anouncement? A knockoff would hit the streets and kill the excitement and financial advantage of Apple. I, for one, love the excitement of the Keynote and the new products and won’t look at those sites that “support” Apple by giving away trade secrets. How dull would our computer world be if Apple had gone down the tubes long ago?
MacMaker: “I have NO PROBLEM seeing some spoiled Harvard kid get slammed with a law suit”
MacMaker, while I have no problem with your general message (I have kids of my own, and I definitely worry about their well being every day!), I do take issue with your throw-away statement that since Nick’s going to Harvard he’s spoiled. I went to Princeton, and believe me, my family and I were NOT spoiled: I killed myself to get in there, and then my folks suffered immense financial hardship to actually send me to school. So, just like you want people to remember that there are hard working folks like you in the trenches at Cupertino, please remember yourself that at a large university like Harvard, there are plenty of non-spoiled, hard working kids trying to better their lot in life.
Thanks.
FIrst Amendment or not, what you say can hurt you.
Surely Nick C. knew that Apple has been serious about keeping secrets since Jobs came back. Surely he knew Apple’s legal wolverines have been on his trail. And surely he knew this day was going to eventually come.
Frankly I don’t care if he’s “just a kid”. He needs a lesson that trade secrets are deadly serious, and Apple needs to step up and show they’re truly serious about defending those secrets.
The ONLY way I can side with Nick C. is if he proves his information was intentional leaks to him from Apple.
Apple’s beef should be with those Apple people who had and shared the information. ThinkSecret has no contractual obligation to Apple to keep its mouth shut. This is an Apple problem that is very important. I just don’t think the solution is with ThinkSecret.