Teen Accused Of Leaking Apple Secrets

14 Jan, 2005 at 9:09pm ET Article published in Tech

A Web site that disclosed Apple’s top-secret plans to bring out a $499 mini computer and a new bare-bones iPod — prompting a lawsuit from the company — turns out to be the brainchild of a 19-year-old Harvard University student.

Nicholas M. Ciarelli, who says he had been “an enthusiastic fan” of Apple for years, said Friday hopes to find free or low-cost legal help to defend the suit, arguing that he deserves First Amendment protection.

At the company’s annual MacWorld conference Tuesday in San Francisco, Apple Computer Inc. chief executive Steve Jobs introduced a cut-rate computer the size of a paperback and a tiny iPod music player that starts at $99.

Citing “highly reliable sources,” Ciarelli’s Web site, www.thinksecret.com, had reported December 28 that the company would be bringing out a $499 Mac mini computer. On January 6, it predicted the $99 iPod, though it got some details wrong.

Ciarelli’s identity as the site’s editor and publisher was revealed on Wednesday in The Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper.

Bad move Apple. You’re going to lose PR over this one. -KF

Source: CNN

Comments

15 Jan 2005 ~ 2:15am Komete Stupid apple...
15 Jan 2005 ~ 3:26pm EMT Here's another Apple case vs. students that will be interesting to follow: http://www.drunkenblog.com/drunkenblog-archives/000369.html

I'd hate to see students get screwed over by their favorite company, although Apple does have its reasons.
16 Jan 2005 ~ 8:57pm Dexter So if I read that right, they are getting sued for publishing information given to them by undisclosed confidential sources??

:shakehead

That will never fly. It's not this guy's fault somebody else blabbed. This guy has no non-disclosure agreement or confidentiality contract with apple. I think Apple just decided to flex some financial muscle against a "starving stident"...though how hungry is Harvard student likely to ever be...?

Regardless, some lawyer will take this pro bono, and Apple will end up paying two legal bills.

Dexter...
16 Jan 2005 ~ 11:26pm Leonardo (I am neither anti-Microsoft, nor am I a Microsoft booster.)

Microsoft has repeatedly been slammed for heavy handedness against competing businesses (and for good reason). I have never though, seen Microsoft exhibit such pettiness and paranoia as in these two Apple litigation instances.

One firm is run by one who would be king. The other firm is headed by a prima dona with a bloated ego.
17 Jan 2005 ~ 12:57am Geeky1 Leo, I think you hit the nail on the head so to speak. Steve Jobs is both an idiot and an a**hole.
17 Jan 2005 ~ 2:34am Garg

KingFish wrote:

Bad move Apple. You're going to lose PR over this one. -KF

Definitely, and Apple runs on PR. It's not like their products are selling because they're good, Apple is just selling an image.
17 Jan 2005 ~ 3:24am Leonardo I was stating my opinions on leadership, not on the product. Does Apple really advertise with more hype than Dell, which is regarded to be the best quality IBM-format mass producer? I would venture to say that Macs (mass-produced...Mac format) are better quality than Dell. Better performers? Not when compared to Dell's top end machines, but certainly better than Dell's cheapest corporate models.

But that's beside the point. I think Job's arrogance has kept Apple small - not Microsoft. Imagine what they'd be if they had both the class that they do have AND adapatability and high performance.
17 Jan 2005 ~ 10:07am primesuspect

Leonardo wrote:

(I am neither anti-Microsoft, nor am I a Microsoft booster.)

Microsoft has repeatedly been slammed for heavy handedness against competing businesses (and for good reason). I have never though, seen Microsoft exhibit such pettiness and paranoia as in these two Apple litigation instances.

One firm is run by one who would be king. The other firm is headed by a prima dona with a bloated ego.

I dunno... I thought Microsoft suing Lindows over the similarity to the word "windows" was kind of petty.....
17 Jan 2005 ~ 3:08pm Leonardo Good point, but I stand by what I said. How do you litigate against a student though, when he doesn't and didn't work for Apple or hold any type of non-disclosure agreement? I just don't understand their legal basis.
17 Jan 2005 ~ 6:05pm Garg

Leonardo wrote:

I was stating my opinions on leadership, not on the product. Does Apple really advertise with more hype than Dell, which is regarded to be the best quality IBM-format mass producer? I would venture to say that Macs (mass-produced...Mac format) are better quality than Dell. Better performers? Not when compared to Dell's top end machines, but certainly better than Dell's cheapest corporate models.

I'm not saying that Macs are bad or good, but I am saying that they will sell regardless of their quality, so long as Apple's marketing machine is allowed to roll on. A PR fiasco like this could slow their machine to a crawl. If Apple becomes "that evil corporation," that image change will hurt them a lot more than it hurt Microsoft.
18 Jan 2005 ~ 3:35am Leonardo

A PR fiasco like this could slow their machine to a crawl.

Not so sure about that. Perhaps not like before; but wouldn't you say that a large part of Apple's consumer base is comprised of 'true believers', that the Mac is just so much more than a computer? Why else would people pay so much for them?