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Apple Sues Employee Over Cube Leaks
Carnage4Life writes:"Apple has found out the employee who leaked pictures of the PowerMac G4 Cube. So Apple has modified its original lawsuit against "unknown individual" for leaking trade secrets
and changed the name to that of the employee in court filings. So as not to embarass any employees with the same name Apple has not revealed the employee's name as at now."
"We're suing you for millions.... but we don't want to embarass you". Any doubt as to why Apple seems to be such a schizophrenic company and has had a hard time finding its way? Some vision.
Correct link is Here
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I post links to stuff here
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/cn/20000829/tc/apple_ identifies_employee_as_a lleged_source_of_leaks_4.html
That link didnt work for me.... the Yahoo article is located at
l e_identifies_employee_as_alleged_source_of _leaks_1.html
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/cn/20000828/tc/app
.mincus
And how considerate to bring it out on a nationwide stage in the judicial system, instead of dealing with it internally. And to ground rumor-leaking as a penalty by death in the religious Apple cult.
Please. ;)
The above post was sarcastic. Macaddicts, please take your tongue and place it back in your cheek.
- I don't care if they globalize against free speech. All my best free thoughts are done in my head.
Mac Employee: Uh, it's supposed to be a secret. I've signed NDA's and stuff.
Reporter: Okay, okay, I understand. What can you tell me about it? Anything? Color, size, shape?
Mac Employee: Well, it's a cube.
Reporter: No, duh. All computers are, except the sleek IMAC. Are saying the new G4 is going back to squaresville?
Mac Employee: I've said too much. I gotta go.
Reporter: Yeah, great, great story kid. Mac builds a Cube.
This is not the way to build a lasting empire.
I think the employee's name is pronounced screwed.
What i'd like to see is some sort of follow-up on this employee...if anyone spots this person on a 10-year island getaway, then that's a pretty good indication of a set-up stunt.
You hear that, Mr. Leak? You'd better be living a miserable life now, or you'll be sorry... ;)
-j
Wonder what they would have done if this employee leaked *those* pictures of the boss.....
It's not like this employee was giving the machines away or anything....It's still the coolest-looking machine around...
Don't pick up the pho*(@)$*@&@!@ NO CARRIER
The Onion saw this coming!
Apple Employee Fired for Thinking Different!
I've heard that's a great way to build confidence within the ranks, just sinlge out a few employees and rape them. Worked for Stalin!
--
What happens when you outlaw guns
Apple's Cube leaks are nothing compared to the Slashdot Cruiser's oil leaks.
Plus you won't look like a total dork driving an Apple Cube.
Got a full tank of hot grits and a penis bird in the glove box.
So they're changing it to....
"Sue differently."
We can all see obviously that apple is pissed about their secrets being leaked out because they anounced them officially.
The thing I wonder is, what the hell are they going to sue this guy for? It's not like he caused and damage to the company. He didn't stop people from being excited about the new products, in fact he probably made people even more interested. He certainly didn't cause apple to lose and revenue from spoiling the secret. So he really cause them no damage, so what on earth is apple expecting from him, money?
Apple doesn't seem to be any better than Microsoft these days.
Can't wait to go buy me M$ Linux
Instead of having a lawsuit against an unknown individual they are going to have one against an unnamed individual.
Sounds very much to me like they haven't got the faintest idea who this person is and they are just hoping to spot someone looking a bit edgy round the office.
Apple scowls at you, ready to attack -- looks like they would wipe the floor with you! Better not get on the wrong side of them. The cube may have been more or less finished (and getting people drooling probably _helped_ Apple more than anything else) but an NDA is an NDA and breaking one pleases no company :)
So instead Apple embarrasses every Apple employee with a common name. Err, something.
ok then your [sic] infringing on my copyright! Could you as [sic] me next time before STEALING my comments for your own?
Apple wants to make an example of this guy so other employees would not make the same mistake
I can now exclusively disclose some exciting features about apples forthcoming laptop:
:)
It will not be beige in colour
It will be smaller than a convential desktop
It will have a colour screen
It will run off exclusively designed lightweight batteries, and an optional powersupply
It will not come with Windows preinstalled
The device will have a non-typical texture
It will be easy to use
It will quite possibly be shiny
It will quite possibly have rubbery bits
sue me
--
--
MacSlash: Your Daily Dose of Mac News and Discussion.
I know that it's imparitive in marketing/corporate image to make sure that you have control over materials and products. I know that its imparative that a leak *could've* done harm (heh... like MS/Unix from another article today)... but geez... just pictures?
I believe that this is more a policy gone awry. I don't doubt to see some sort of mercy statement at a later date... probably from Jobs himself.
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They don't want to embarass any employees with the same name, so they're not releasing it? Fat lot of good that does John Doe! His name has been dragged through the mud enough already! He's been sued several thousand times, got amnesia more times than he cna remember, but nobody ever keeps John's name out of the press to protect his feelings!
Kevin Fox
Kevin Fox
Read the article before trying to get your posts in guys, it won't slow you down too much on your quest to be the first one to bash whatever corporation is involved no matter what the story is.
sig:
sig:
See the "..for smart people" banners Wired runs here? Look elsewhere guys.
excuse.... how is apple gaining success here? it's not like they are sueing over any kind of tech issues like patents or copyrights, they're sueing somebody for violating a contract that told them to keep their mouths shut. Apple is still twice as innovative as very nearly every other manufacturer out there, in fact this is theire attempt to keep people from ripping them off as quickly as they are....
Some of you people actually feel sorry for this guy? Like he did no wrong? How many companies have you worked for where they actually -liked- it when you leaked confidential information? Seriously?! It doesn't matter if -you- personally don't think it was that big of a deal. The only thing that matters is that it was confidential information and the guy illegally leaked it to the public. Anybody in any company would get fired and/or sued for this. End of story.
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So Apple is withholding the leak's name in order to prevent embarassing other employees with the same name? I've got a friend who works at Apple. His name is Skye Clayton Bluggersmith.
He's probably not the leak.
Nice, brave new world ya got there Steve.
Instead of embrace, expand, extinguish we just have innovate, investigate, incarcerate.
He's my cube-mate, John Jacob Jingle-Heimer Schmitt. I tell ya, whenever he goes out there's confusion and shouting...
Kevin Fox
Kevin Fox
Just a question.
If it were just some kind of disguised advertising ?
People spoke more about the Cube because of this stupid story than if they have had to wait until some announcement, no ?
Ok, there's a suit but then ?
Put a camera on a guy's desk, then ask a journalist to harass him and you'll have all the leaks you officially didn't want.
--
Trolling using another account since 2005.
Lawyers no longer chase ambulances - it seems they now chase geeks.
---
---
Gort! Klatu Barata Nikto!
Even the samurai
have teddy bears,
and even the teddy bears
Even the samurai
have teddy bears,
and even the teddy bears
get drunk
In the US we call people like you....Drunk.
Sig it.
This must be hundreth time that somebody who posted leeks "anonymously" got caught because Yahoo turned over their personal identification. One would have had to live with one's head under a rock not to know that Yahoo can't be trusted for shit. So why do these idiots keep doing it so that they can get caught??
There are ways of staying more or less anonymous on the web, or at least making things dificult for would be censors. This ranges from submitting to a site that at least has a good track record (such as Slashdot) to going through a rewebber like Anonymizer, to using a true Anonymity service like ZKS Freedom or posting to the Usenet via a Mixmaster remailer.
It's hard to feel sorry for somebody so stupid that they thought not having their name on the post was enough to stay anonymous...
I have it on the best authority that the name of the previous "Unknown Individual" is **%%***}@#***%****}}****)***%*********ause Ellison thought the Apple | Microsoft connetion was too***%*%%***}}}}}****&**}}****}***@*ccording to KGB files, which were foun***}}}***%%#$$}}}@@*****!****.}***exican Mafia was paid off by someone in Arthur C. Cla****%%***ASA/FBI underco*}}}}}}***}}}******001 Space Odessy really! If you don't believe me, look at those picture of Europa ag*******}}}*****$****ven Jobs really is an ali*****%%}}}}******* Cubes will hatch****}}}}***%%%%****%*}}}******laving the entire human race.
There you have it. Now I gotta go get another modem this one's fu*%%}}
Vote Naked 2000
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
"Apple has not revealed the employee's name as at now."
Talking about embarrasing... what the heck is Apple doing introducing the "Cube" anyway? The company was doing fine when it had four VERY DEFINED seperate products to match different markets.
What are they going for with the Cube? The 'less-than-dual-G4-but-more-than-G3" market? You'd think they'd focus their efforts elsewhere... but no. Jobs and his damn cubes...
================
================
Microsoft is not the answer, Microsoft is the question. The answer is "no".
I can agree with the majority of posts here, in that I don't see what Apple can possibly gain from this action. That aside, though, this employee DID sign a non-disclosure, and that IS a legally binding contract. It's not up to Joe Cubicle to decide what information is strategically important to the company, and even such a bizarre entity as Apple has to bring out the stick instead of the carrot if people are going to follow their rules.
But.. I know this is repetitive, but what can they possibly gain? Bad PR, and they can't sue for any significant amount of money (or they can sue, but if this is just a Joe Cubicle, they won't get it)...
seven two six five
seven four six one seven
two six four two e
According to go2mac, the guy is Juan Gutierrez. Somehow I doubt there's more than one at Apple. More likely they don't want anyone rallying support around a martyr, and that's harder to do if you don't know your martyr's name.
"Free Juan!"
Kevin Fox
Kevin Fox
I was going to invest in Apple, but since they say "The protection of Apple trade secrets is incredibly important to our success"... and they obviously aren't very good at doing that, I guess they're not gonna be successful.
I'll go invest in a new company that can't be sunk by one big-mouthed employee... ;-)
OtakuBooty.com: Smart, funny, sexy nerds.
I dont see why this counts for a full story. There is no info of any impact to anyone but the unnamed employee and I'm sure he didnt have to find it on Slashdot to hear about it. We really should save the updates for information tha has some kind of use.
Talking about embarrassments; Why is Apple introducing the cube anyway?? The company had a much better strategy when they focussed on four separate marketing targets, and had one product for each of them!
e -costly-and)-more-powerful-than-G3" market or the tiny-desk market... because I don't see a future in that (read: I no longer own Apple stock).
What market are they trying to reach with the cube? The "less-power-(but-same-cost)-then-dual-G4-but-(mor
It's all Jobs and his damn boxes.
don pedro
The employee violated a NDA. The employee was a sneaky bastard while violating the NDA. He did it under an assumed username and made posts to several forums. The employee obviously knew that what he was doing was in violation of the NDA.
I suspect this employee has learned a valuable lesson.
-- You see, there would be these conclusions that you could jump to
Like I said when I submitted it, if Steve had been more pissed about this major leak than they were about ATI fsckup, my new dual-500 G4 that I'm typing this on might have a nice Radeon instead of last year's crummy video card. Grrrrrrr.....
Apple suing one of their own employees like this is about as stupid as things get, but not mentioning the name for the reason cited (whether it was Apple, c|net, or whomever that did it) is just being responsible, IMO.
For all of you who are siding with the employee concerned - don't bother. If you're ever called upon to sign an NDA, you can make that decision for yourself, just as he did. He decided to sign it; he decided to breach it. His fault.
What we should really be concerned about is the willingness of Yahoo to roll over for a corporation. If you went to them and said, "I want to know all the info you have on this person", they'd tell you to buzz off. Why is a corporation treated differently? In fact, this isn't even a criminal case; it's a civil suit, so it's not obstruction of justice to not release the necessary info.
Browser Hick-up / IExplore error (yeah. I know. Serves me right.) Can this message be deleted, please?
It's this sort of crap that makes me sad that I'm an occasional Mac user. This is just another in a series of marketing / PR blunders that apple has done over the past decade or so. No good can come out of this. At this point Apple is selling machines of that nature (the cube and the non-imac models) to the converted. Knowing about the machine a day or so early doesn't do anything to the sales of those machines to people who are already going to buy another macintosh. Personally, I find the Keynote speaches to be longwinded and "pipedreamish". I give two shits about a new style sherlock find application with candy looking buttons, I want a stable OS that has modern memory management and real multitasking, and I want it 8 years ago. There is a phrase that decribes Apple to a tee:
The are very deft at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Sheldon
Boo to /. for once again getting the news wrong and double-boo to all of those who once agin posted without bothering to look up the material for themselves.
I don't read ACs: If a post isn't worth so much as a nom de plume to its author then I wont bother either.
What principals did this guy further by sacrifising his job? The only thing he did was release a few photo's of a product that was to be released in less than 24 hours. What good did he do for the sake any principal or what cause did he sustain? He knowingly broke his companies rules and now you want to make him a martyr?
Personally, I think it's drastic to sue him. However, that's Apples call to make. The fact is, this guy released confidential information that he had signed and agreed not to release. When he did that, he did so after signing a NDA saying that Apple could sue him, fire him, etc. He did it anyways.
If this guy is a sacrificial lamb, it's because he volunteered for it when he leaked the photos that he knew he shouldn't leak.
Come on everyone. Most of the Slashdot readers aren't stupid. Let's nominate this guy for a Darwin Award, not Martyrdom.
kwsNI
Apple gets lots of press time with surprise announcements of new, fancy computers. They don't want that impact dulled by leaked documents/pictures/specs.
I doubt that Apple will really hammer this poor schmoe -- what can they get out of him? Millions of dollars? I don't think so. It's more likely an internal corporate move to put the scare in employees about leaking stuff to rumor sites.
I think it's a loser proposition for Apple, though. If Apple would just work with the rumor sites (or better yet, the "real news" sites), and take their public image more seriously, they could acheive the same goals with less embarrasment.
Or, if they want to influence and/or destroy their credibility, they could buy advertising from them. We all know that advertisers get preferential treatment from Slashdot :) <GD&R>
Potato chips are a by-yourself food.
I don't think this was a stunt, because the only star of *any* stunts at Apple has to be the Big Kahuna himself, Steve Jobs. Doesn't it sound like little Stevie is just pissed off? An employee took away his big suprise and now he is going to throw a little temper tantrum. You shouldn't violate NDA's, but Steve Jobs is has the emotional development of an eleven year old...
dmp
Stop talking about who's to blame when all that counts is how to change --"Born of Frustration" - James
My take on the story is that Apple is justified in prosecuting (although perhaps not persecuting) people who leak their secrets. After all, they are very secretive, and they make their people sign NDA's precisely to avoid situations like this one. Totally ignoring whether leaks hurt or help them, they are justified both legally and morally in acting against employees who leak data.
If you are modding me down because you disagree with me, use the "Flamebait" category, not the "Troll" one.
What a very tight A!#% company, really I don't see why they should worry about some free feedback? Think about it, they could have used this ploy as a advantage. I would love to know what the public thought of my product before I invested millions and millions of dollars to get the production line going.
Or another scenario, like Intel.. Release heaps of hype about a product (which you may not deliver), this might just persuade some customers to hold of buying another chip and wait for yours...
I now know I would never work for Apple..
I had a cube leak once... All the fish died.
-toup
Apple Sues Everybody
Apple: America's Cutest Company
--------
www.ridiculopathy.com
Attorneys at Laww (not to be confused with Law) allow us to represent you ;-)
Vote Naked 2000
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
"Until recently I worked for Apple, and was not permitted to tell the world the truth about Apples internal technologies. But, now that I am no longer employed (though not at all disgruntled, honest) I can speak the truth.
Apple runs Linux on all it's internal servers! There! The truth is finally out.
Apple runs Linux everywhere. In fact, they preload it on all machines to test them properly, and then load MacOS for shipment to customers. Apple will not use MacOS in-house because it's not stable enough, the GUI looks too unprofessional, and (especially with the candy colored Aqua UI) the interns keep licking the screen. Steve Jobs often says "GUIs are for panty-waists and tree-huggers! Real people use C shell!"
Further more, Apple does not use any colorful or rounded cases in-house. Yes, Apple employees prefer beige, blocky cases, since it makes them feel like real professionals.
Oh, and Orcale has something to do with it as well.
Resumes provided upon request."
There you have it folks, the truth behind Apple's colorful peal. And you heard it here first.
The REAL jabber has the /. user id: 13196
The REAL jabber has the user id: 13196
What you do today will cost you a day of your life
It was never, has never been my intention to trivialize anything. No matter what, someone cares about it and it is disrespectful and neglectful of me to ignore that.
This is not the way to build a lasting empire.
http://www.ou.edu/fjjma/studio/0990.html
The canvas tells all. Apparently he moonlights as the "Masked Dancer" when he's not working at Apple and stealing Jobs' thunder. Note the Bondi-Blue Mask and the carrot nose. I'm fairly sure the device in his left hand is a beta version of a multi-pronged disk ejector paper clip unit that Jobs was planning on announcing today during his keynote. Looks like Juan is on the ball again!
I was just sitting thinking about it and for me personally being accused of something I haven't done does not lead to embarrassment, but something closer to anger.
All the accusations of guilt aimed at me in the past are all true ;-P
"Common sense is nothing more than a deposit of prejudices laid down in the mind before you reach 18" Einstein
I didn't make it in time to see the cube pics when they were first leaked, does anyone care to email me a few to gotti-@rocketmail.com or post a link up here (if there's anyone so bold as to be still hosting them) ..
thanks much
THE MAGIC WORDS ARE SQUEAMISH OSSIFRAGE
However, I've begun to notice that it simply is not possible for a programmer to gain full time or contract employment without signing an NDA. In essence, there is an intellectual property cartel, whose near-complete grasp on the job market allows it to slowly ratchet up the restrictiveness of employee NDAs.
The prospective employee could, of course, choose to enter another professions, or start his own company. Or his services might be so valuable that he could have the NDA requirement waived. Nevertheless, it seems like the little guy who is coming right out of college and into an entry level position with a software firm in the United States is getting the shaft. Those other options are not attractive, or even possible.
Does anyone think that one could make a legal argument that the NDA was signed under protest, or duress, due to the complete industry lockout of anyone who won't sign an NDA?
How about
Door 4:
Employees realize that if they sign a confidentiality agreement, they're obliged to abide by it? That, frankly, their legally binding word should NOT be broken on a whim without expecting consequences?
Only the dead have seen the end of war.
I haven't been caught yet, but they never pay attention to me!
2000-08-10 17:00:49 Early season leeks now available (articles,news) (rejected)
2000-08-19 01:20:21 Are genetically engineered leeks safe? (articles,science) (rejected)
2000-08-22 15:31:42 Leeks leeks leeks! (articles,humor) (rejected)
Okay, not that funny. But I've got nothing better to do at the moment!
Bitchslapped. Neat.
Employees at Apple and techworkers in general actually start reading the contracts they sign?
Employees at Apple and techworkers in general actually take responsibility for their actions?
Russell
"Your Honor - I kept telling Mr Jobs - the roof - it leaks over my cube ... right onto the computer - but he didn't do anything other than screaming at me to stop complaining and work harder ..... then one day there was this blinding flash ...."
"So as not to embarass any employees with the same name Apple has not revealed the employee's name as at now." So his name must be John Smith, right?
Trade secrets are trade secrets. Use or disclosure of trade secrets is not only actionable, but its also quite wrong -- wrong in the way we all understand the word.
Information is leveraged by companies for commercial advantage in a variety of ways and for a variety of reasons. At times the timing of the release of that information can be critical. Whether a particular act was or was not problematic for Apple at the end of the day, uncontrolled leaks of confidential and trade secret information rob the company of something -- if only the discretion to make their own decisions when the informaiton is to be released. The degree of actual harm to Apple goes only to the measure of the damages, and not to the degree with which the conduct was wrong.
This employee broke the rules, probably broke his or her employment agreement, and did something he or she knew or should have known was wrong.
If Apple "just let it go," as some here have suggested, other employees may well be encouraged to trade information for favors. Whether it needs to press the point or not is, IMHO, Apple's call and Apple's perogative.
We do ourselves and our causes no service by defending the indefensible. This employee, who was trusted with confidential information about new unannounced products, should not have shared it with anyone else.
>willingness of Yahoo to roll over for a
>corporation. If you went to them and said, "I
>want to know all the info you have on this
>person", they'd tell you to buzz off. Why is a
>corporation treated differently?
It's simple really. Steve Jobs didn't just call up Jerry Yang and say "Hey, could you tell us who this guy is?"
Apple filed suit against "John Doe" first, and was therfore able to issue a subpeona to Yahoo for the info in question. Yahoo's privacy policy has an exception in it saying that they WILL turn over your information if required, by law, to do so. Well guess what... discovery procedings before a civil trial give the plaintiff the right to subpoena pretty much anything they feel related to the case. And a subpoena, issued in California, IS legally binding against Yahoo... were they to refuse, I don't think any PERSON would go to jail for contempt, but the company would be facing some hefty fines.
It's not a matter of one corperation kissing another's ass... it's a matter of complying with the law. If YOU *DID* file a lawsuit against a Yahoo user, YOU would ALSO have the right to subpoena yahoo's records on that person.
This was actually covered on
Here's a clue to the Yahoo bashers:
Corperations are *NOT* your friend. They may supply a service you like at a good price, and the staff may be friendly. But the corperation is *NOT* your friend. They will NOT fight YOUR legal battle FOR you!!! (unless you pay them a lot of money to do so, and that's only if we're talking about a law firm)
john
Resistance is NOT futile!!!
Haiku:
I am not a drone.
Remove the collective if
Imagine all the people...
The reason Apple did not handle it "internally" is because they needed the lawsuit to force Yahoo, on account of its GeoCities subsidiary, to release ISP information for the pictures "worker bee" linked to on the AppleInsider.com message boards. Then they also needed the legal action to force the ISP to release a name to match with an IP, etc etc. Someone above said something to the effect of: "why'd Yahoo take it up the ass for a corporation, but I couldn't ask them for the same thing!!!" Well sonny, that's because Apple has lawyers, and you don't. You don't think Apple would've liked to have handled it internally?
Of course they would, but this both allows them the legal ability to nab the dude who broke his NDA, and then to serve as a warning to all other employees.
What if the reporter gave him his word he would not talk to preserve his anonimity and finally changed his mind when facing the fact that he might go to jail for contempt with the court (and possibly lose his job) for not revealing the name of his source for such a lame thing as a cube revelation?
...
I mean think about it
wiZd0m
worker bee hung out at the Apple Insider Forums and was considered to be a unreliable source at first. This all changed after he was proven right about the new products at MacWorld NY.
He published the iBook specs, and then Apple pulled the plug on Mr.Bee.
Regardless of whether you think Apple was right or wrong, it is clear that after worker bee's leaks the information didn't really spread that far. Only after Apple started issuing dozens of subpoenas and publishing the information themselves via their PR people did their terribly confidential trade screts leak to a more widespread audience and the mainstream news outlets.
So when Apple takes Mr.Bee to court, are they going to fess up to the damages they themselves caused? Or blame it all on him? Probably the latter. I highly doubt the courts will pay attention to the large Apple Rumor community and the fact Apple themselves legitimized the claims and in the process, spread the information far and wide, causing the damage they were so hurt by.
He signed an NDA, went on to do exactly what he agreed not to in the NDA, left enough traces to be identified, and is now being sued? Not surprising to me .. what I don't understand is why he was stupid or crazy enough to do it, and what he thought he could gain by it ..
73 de N5VB (ex-KD5BIV) AR SK
aww, that would have been really funny (and a real travesty of American justice). Defendant: TBA. I knew Mr. ToBeNamedLater (who's ALWAYS getting traded in American sports) would eventually turn up in a lawsuit. Anyone else ever notice Mr. ToBeNamedLater is almost always traded with Mr. Cash?
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Planning to be moderated ± 1: Bad Pun.
Only the most superficial company on earth could sue an employee (or anyone, for that matter) for revealing that its computer was designed in the shape of a common regular solid.
If it had been the Apple Dodecahedron that might have been worth suing over. But a cube?
"Apple's new mouse and dual-processor PowerMacs" - Not the cube.
Ok the spy in me wants to know how exactly did they find out. Personally I probably could (with enough cash) come up with a method of taking pictures and the like without their knowing very easily. Just take a miniture pinhole camera and then put it into your briefcase lining or in a bowtie or something similar. Do they have massive surveylance or do they have some sort of electromagnetic detector?
Respond to s
Both of the examples cited are in fact examples of companies who have lost billions by sueing people for no apparant reason.
Respond to s
Im not a fan of lawsiuts, but i guess if the persom signed a NDA, well then he/she did. and he/she must have been aware of the consequenses.
This is some thig that I really miss in the open source comunity, you never get that antisipation. I just love when people speculate about new stuff that is comming out. Appel knows this, and the have big shows becouse then then know they will end up on the news.
Its not realy the same as when new featiures makes it in to linux, ewen if it is news the only reson it is news i becouse i dont hang around in the right mailing lists. If Im exited about some thing some one else can allways tell me how that is "so old news" and that i am a lamer who doesnt hang whit the inner circle.
Its a great PR trick that really works.
And by the way Appel is loosing money, if you know what is around the corner you are less likely to invest now. most companys work like this.
Eskil
Yahoo is a different beast. When you post to Yahoo, they get lots of info that they can use to track you. Some work-arounds exist, but the clueless user will probably make the fatal error of providing his/her own email address to receive the password for the new account. Also, unlike /. they make no claims that they will attempt to preserve anonymity.
sulli
sulli
RTFJ.
It's on MacNN.
This is like when ABC's 60 minutes wanted to air the story about the guy who leaked the really bad stuff about what the cigarettes cartel were doing. They said to the reporter that they wont air it because of the NDA the guy signed and if they did air it, they would probably end up beign owned by the cartel after a multi-billion dollars lawsuit. Now I don't know about yahoo, or the employe, but he surelly signed NDA for the cubes. And with a guy like Jobs as head of apple, You can be sure he will pursue and sue this into oblivion, even if he destroy apples image along the way.
I did not say this guy is right about giving up his source, on the contrary he's a fucking slime. But when big lawsuit are raised and lost of cash and implication arise, you can be sure that there is lots of back stabbing going on on both sides of this.
wiZd0m
Mac Central is reporting that Yahoo released the info after a subpoena was issued. You can still say they 'rolled over', but it is not their duty to defend anyone, and it is their duty to comply with court orders. They have also reported the employees name.
The point is this. If you have an NDA and do not enforce it as to one employee (who made what some consider a major leak) then you create additional problems.
First, other employees may not take the NDA seriously.
Second, if another employee leaks something more important and Apple chooses to go after that employee, they will say "Oh yeah, but you didn't prosecute the other one so you must be going after me because I am a woman/black/gay/whatever else" and end up with a countersuit for selective enforcement and/or discrimination. Which could, theoretically, lead to a declaration that the NDA and/or its enforcement policy, are discriminatory, illegal, etc.
Insane? Perhaps. But that seems to be how things work these days...
My employer is likely to sue me next. My cube has leaked a few times. Mostly when I've spilled a coke or some ice water on my desk. It's not my fault that they didn't make the cubicles waterproof!
What? Apple cube? No thanks. I'm not hungry.
Huh? A computer? Made from apples? Like I'm going to believe that after the Potato Server hoax!
This sounds like a classic Steve move. Having seen the kind of damage a leak can do I think it's great that one of the slime balls who betrays a trust gets to feel the sharp end of an action like this. They might have enjoyed their 15 minutes of infamy, now they are paying the price and good riddance. If this is the only way to take away the stock benefits someone has accrued from employment at the company he betrayed then so be it.
I have no sympathy for them.
I am a lawyer, but this is not legal advice. If you need legal advice, contact an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction.
The criminal/civil distinction you are trying to draw simply doesn't apply here.
Yahoo did not simply hand over information to a corporation. They complied with a court order to do so. They would have done the same had an individual obtained the order. This is the same thing (and mistaken perception) of a few months ago when it was misreported that companies were allowed to search employeess' home computers--that to was in the course of litigation, and under court order.
hawk, esq.
A cartel is a group restricting output, working as a group instead of competing with one another. Among other conditions, you must have a way to keep newcomers out.
The folks that want NDA's, however, are *fiercely* competitive, both in the product market and for employees. A more reasonable conclusion is that NDA's are necessary to the the firm in order for it to compete successfully; otherwise, the firms would drop the NDA's, saving time and money while regaining a recruiting edge.
hawk
Ok, so the dork signed an NDA he later decided to breach. So he's basically f*&^ked now.
What I want to know is: Who the hell gives a shit about "what's gonna be in the new i-book" anyhow.
Why did Joe Dork feel he needed to place himself in a world of shit in order to "reveal" this boring trash?
Inquiring minds, etc...
"No, no! Not THAT button!!" -- Bugs Bunny
"...they may harpoon us, but they ain't gonna pick us up on no radar screen!"
They should give that guy a raise, not sue him. The leak is the most publicity they've gotten over their new product that nobody but them really cares about.
~Bout Time for another tea party.®~
True, they need to enforce the NDA.
But still I just cant believe how un smooth they are (no, in fact i cant believe how un smooth companies in general are) If i was apple, i would simply tap on the employees shoulder and say:
"we know what you did, we give you the option of resigning, if you don't we will have to fire you and file a suit. If you tell anybody about this conversation, we will tell the judge about the cube incident"
The rumour might make it out, and keep other apple employees to do the same but it cant be proved that he/she was forced to quit since apple has got the resignation.
What the point in getting bad PR on slashdot?
> Employees at Apple and techworkers in general start taking NDAs seriously?
> Employees at Apple and techworkers in general actually start reading the contracts they sign?
> Employees at Apple and techworkers in general actually take responsibility for their actions?
Employees at Apple and techworkers in general learn to cover their asses properly when doing ANYTHING the company won't like.
I like it here.
Maybe there are people within the company who think that Jobs policy of sticking it to the suckers will mean no return business.
Hey, you think your house is cool?
If it doesn't turn out that Juan Gutierrez works in Apple's PR department, he should. They have gotten all kinds of free publicity out of this and it didn't come out early enough to do any real damage.
About all they can really get out of this is an injunction... And more publicity...
An engineer who ran for Congress. http://herbrobinson.us