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Apple Subpoenas, Sues Over Leaks
CNET reports that Apple has been granted the right to subpoena O'Grady's PowerPage, AppleInsider, and Think Secret over leaks of information concerning an unreleased product code named "Asteroid" and "Q97," which has been described as a FireWire audio interface for use with GarageBand. The subpoenas are related to a lawsuit against an unnamed individual who leaked the information.
In trying to identify the identity of worker bee (ex-contractor, Juan Gutierrez), Apple basically had to confirm that there was some truth to the rumors that he was posting--namely the details of a revision to the iBook laptop. Apple eventually did release a laptop whose details matched worker bee's description. In 2001, Apple settled with Gutierrez after he promised to turn over any remaining Apple confidential information and not divulge any further details.
Honestly this seems to be little more than drumming up even more buzz over up-in-coming products. Yeah, they probably were going to keep it a secret for a while longer but now that it's out why not milk it a bit and get the word out?
I have no interest in most of what Apple does or makes. I certainly wouldn't be perusing the three sites mentioned in the lawsuit but what I do peruse are news sites and other non-Apple sites (news.google.com, Slashdot, etc). Would I have heard about this through Slashdot? Perhaps. Would I have heard about the lawsuit through news.google.com AND Slashdot? Yup, in fact, I did.
So, I'm a PC/Windows user. Never surf the Apple rumor sites. I hear about this lawsuit that stems from the leaking of information about a piece of hardware that I can hook my computer up to my instruments and record shit. Sounds cool...
Worth filing some papers and getting someone to promise they will never leak information again? Yeah, I think so.
There really isn't any information contained on those sites that isn't contained in the articles about the suit.
Is Apple going to sue slashdot now for telling us what the lawsuits were about?
Of course all Apple has achieved is validating the rumor.
I am the last person to defend Apple but this is such a non-story. They are not suing these sites. They obviously caught somebody who signed an NDA leaking information and are suing them. These sites are receiving subpoenas because they may be able to verify the identity of said person.
Are you sure it wasn't a secret graphing calculator app???
"Your first time being root is much the same as loosing your virginity only with less humilation."
Not if you manage to combine the right balance of arrogance and incompetence it's not.
this is getting old and so are you
blog
Apple's subpoenas broaden to include geek blog Slashdot.
There's a Mercedes gap too. I want one and can't afford one, but it's not government's job to do anything about it.
GarageBand is the audio editing/music creation application now included as part of the iLife suite of apps (along with iTunes, iDVD, etc.)
More info at http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/
It's not too hard to track down, if you try.
[to the tune of Last Kiss by pearl jam]
Ignorance is bliss. Pearl Jam just covered that song which is an oldie. It was originally performed as a hit by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers in 1964 and was written by Wayne Cochran in 1962.
I'd guess it means that people are violating their NDAs. There is nothing rotten with a company protecting thier confifendtail information.
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
I mean it's common knowledge that Apple will sue anyone who tries to leak any information about their products, or even mimics them. They themselves are always less than forthcoming, they prefer to 'surprise' people with a flashy new product at MacWorld. Which is one of the only reasons people attend. And if someone maked an OS skin or product that looks anything like theirs, they pounce, because that is their ain selling point: pomp and stylish marketing jazz.
When the only thing setting you apart from the competittion, and the only thing allowing you to sell over-priced merchandice is the look of the product and the jazz of your PR, these kind of leaks are a big deal.
Steve Jobs has been known to throw tantrums about these things. They have very strict rules for anyone working with Apple. Many of you might remember back at MacWorld NY (2000) ATI released some Radeon specs a few days before the conference, and Steve Jobs threw a tantrum! He pulled the ATI tech demo from the keynote and all the Radeon cards were pulled from the Apple machines on the show floor!
I dont have the time to go into it, but before you get your Mac friends to mod this down, google it for yourself, or even look on slashdot.. there have been stories about this, and things like Apple yanking media passes to MacWorld from anyone who speculates what they will be showing off that year.
Atari sues Apple Computer for infringing on their Asteroid Trademark.
how relevant WE think the information is, or how worth hiding/saving/embargoing is irrelevant. There are tons of reasons that a company wants to keep info secret until they're ready for it to be released. They might (legitimately) fear that a competitor could use the info to get the jump on them. Considering how 'cool' people think Apple's stuff is this is likely. Or they may want to maximize the marketing impact of the product update/launch. This is not so insignificant really. As someone who works in marketing, I can say that an "oooh, what's next" buzz can be very helpful, and even valuable bonus when introducing product. To have some employee leak it for nothing more than first posters braggin rights is annoying and they wouldn't have a hard time making the claim that it cost them real money. And if the guy signed an NDA (VERY likely if he's working in product development) then he's screwed. I think the real story here is that they were allowed to subpeona the records of the sites he posted to. One reason why you'll never see me posting stuff that I find out at work (v. big tech/computer firm here).
Ignorance is bliss. Pearl Jam just covered that song which is an oldie. It was originally performed as a hit by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers in 1964 and was written by Wayne Cochran in 1962.
Well aren't you just the musical historian? Seriously though, I was a Dead concert 10 or so years ago and they played "Knockin' on Heaven's Door." Some kid with a nose ring and a bunch of tats standing next to me said, "Jeez, I can't believe the Dead would rip off Guns 'N Roses, what a joke."
No really, he is.
That's all well and good, but you still haven't answered the OP's question: what is GrangeBand?
Yes its good to know about upcoming products, but at what level does the public need to know before hand? I think if its in a speculative nature as often those sites do its fine like the iwalk. However if something still in beta like the next rev you do not need to know or need to see it until apple authorizes a public beta .
... but I am really sick of hearing about lawsuits. Period. I understand the need to protect brand equity, and can even see the justification for protecting your "IP," but honestly. When will these companies stop with the lawsuits!
New Year's resolution: not buying anything from anybody filing "stunt" (Apple) or "business model" (SCO) lawsuits. I would much rather these execs just took each other out behind the woodshed, beat the crap out of each other, shook hands, drank a beer, and got on with some, oh, I don't know, INNOVATION!
Overly litigious people/companies make me sick.
In addition, while this lawyer argues his case, the Jury sits around restless. And everything else has ground to a halt. Even the court recorder is straining to keep awake as I type this.
I won't bore you with the laundry list of other problems that I've encountered while working with Apple lawyers, but suffice it to say there have been many, not the least of which is I've never seen an Apple lawyer that has made a more reasonable case than its opposition counterpart, despite the Apple lawyer's superior training. My Real Estate Attorney with an Associate's Degree from New England Tech works better than this $3,000 per hour machine at times. From a productivity standpoint, I don't get how people can claim that Apple has superior lawyers.
Mac addicts, flame me if you'd like, but I'd rather hear some intelligent reasons why anyone would choose to have Apple sue them over other faster, cheaper, more stable individuals.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
They've also sued three ADC members who were distributing developer builds of Mac OS X Tiger via BitTorrent.
Details here and here.
Nothing spectacular here, since besides the obvious copyright infringement, the developer builds are released under NDA.
an Apple a day does not keep the lawyers at bay...
I know it' s only 3 weeks before MWSF but let's all act like adults here: if I want fanboi I'll go to PowerPage.
I got all excited at the prospect of PowerPage finally getting shuttered. Don't let me down like that.
- learn to swim.
The estate of Carl Sagan sues Atari, for infringing on Sagan's patent, "Method for stupidly hauling out the lawyers over an internal-use-only product code name that gets mentioned by the trade press."
"I am the last person to defend Apple but this is such a non-story. "
Whew! Thanks Razzlefrog. I thought I'd have to flip flop on Apple there.
Agreed. NDA violation leads to lawsuit. No person or entity should expect to get away with that.
garage band is a simple to use audio application that is part if the iLife suite (iTunes, iPhoto, iDVD, garage band). http://www.apple.com/ilife/
one of the rumor sites said the code name Asteroid was a joke on the term "breakout box".
breakout and asteroid being old school video games.
breakout box being a device that has the multiple A/V ports and connects to the computer with one cable.
they seemed to imply Asteroid and Q97 were internal codenames for the device, not knowing what the shipping name would be. it was implied the device could ship as soon as January's MacWorld expo, or in the next few months. i guess the assumption is that it might ship with the rumored iLife2. OS X 10.4 is due to ship in the next few months too.... and nobody seemed to know if iLife2 would ship with 10.4 or before.
When will people learn that clock speed is not the same as processing power? Oh. Once you get a fucking clue. Okay, I guess I shouldn't worry about something that will never happen.
Actually it is. The article originally said 'GrageBand'. A google search of this returned:
1. Am empty site owned by a squatter
2. A couple of references to an independent band.
3. Zero apple related references.
I assumed 'GrageBand' was a typo or something and guessed 'GrangeBand', which turned out to be worng.
I think GrangeBand is a software application for creating music that lulls cows into a false sense of security so that you can run up to them and push them over. Search for it on SourceForge or FreshMeat.
(S(SKK)(SKK))(S(SKK)(SKK))
I can understand them stopping leaks over things like the G5, Color iPod, etc. But a firewire audio interface. Small potatoes.
DAMN YOU OCTODOG! DAMN YOU TO HELL!
Yeah but they do it to generate buzz and publicity.. and i suspect lawyers end up being cheaper than advertising.
Apple has been granted the right to subpoena O'Grady's PowerPage, AppleInsider, and Think Secret over leaks of information concerning an unreleased product code named "Asteroid" and "Q97," which has been described as a FireWire audio interface for use with GarageBand. The subpoenas are related to a lawsuit against an unnamed individual who leaked the information.
So...lemme get this straight.
This article is about products that don't exist, concerning a leak about what they may contain, and a lawsuit related to an unnamed person who may have leaked info about them?
Does that about sum it up?
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
You can buy a digidesign Mbox factory package for $550. It comes with ProTools LE (the only real limit - practically speaking - is record/playback of 32 simultaneous tracks) and a crapload of really good plug-ins. And the Focus Rite mic pres are pretty nice.
I know that sounds like a commercial, but I actually own one. And I love it. My question is can Apple really compete with that? I mean, ProTools is the industry standard for digital audio recording and editing for a reason.
Then again, I suppose any "musician" who buys Garage Band isn't exactly looking to take their tracks to a real engineer or shop their creation around to record companies, and more than "graphic artists" who use MS Paint would take their creations to a printing press.
Despite conventional wisdom, I've discovered you can blame a guy for trying. It's called "attempted murder".
The mark of true journalists is they will not give in. Rather than revealing sources like this a good reporter will go to jail and have a comtempt of court record for the rest of his life!
This has been fought out in courts many times. I'm not sure where the law stands now (though some cases have come down in favor of the reporter in the past).
Ever notice that the media can somehow interview big names like Bin Laden (not him in particular, but others like him) that the government wants yet cannot find? Its because a reporter understands the sources are everything and if you turn on them you are sunk.
i don't think apple sent out press releases that they were filing papers about leaked info on a top secret project that will change the way home users play guitar forever.
anyone that reads Mac rumor sites know that Apple's legal dept regularly sends them letters demanding they take down stories, specs or pictures/drawings. that would be a non-story on here.
also Apple internally makes tons of devices that never see the light of day (like a PDA recently). then there is downright false information on rumor sites.
this is about Apple legal hunting for one specific leak. they did the same thing a few years ago and caught "worker bee". someone on an earlier comment posted about that. that one guy kept a few rumor sites well fueled for a long time. i am guessing they want to catch whomever took his place.
If the RIAA, MPAA or BSA were to subpoena web sites, it would be evil. However, this is Apple, so it's ok.
A firewire device for musicians. What a great idea. That's Apple for you, always on the forefront of new technology.
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
applenova was also mentioned in this legal mess (i read some threads there about it yesterday or before; fyi, applenova.com was a forum created after some issues arose between some former members/mods of appleinsider and the management at appleinsider). anyway, applenova seems to be down. anyone know what happened to the site? i cant even resolve the hostname anymore.
I wish that I was a catfish.
I'm not an Apple person personally, but I've got friends who go gaga over what they call "ivory sex." They anticipate new products with huge zeal, and splurge huge amounts of money on things I think are senseless. These sites are just building up the hype and getting Apple more customers and fans and most importantly, money! I don't understand the point in suing their own fans.... I think they're going a bit too far in this secretive mode.
Is it really helpful to sue people over it? They basically acknowledge that it is true and look how much publicity it is getting now. I have seen this story on 3 different news sites so far. So they aren't keeping it much more quite by sueing people...Maybe it is all just a publicity stunt to generate buzz...
Dont think of it as leaks. Think of it as "forced" contribution to Open Source.
no god is good
Apple Love to keep there products a secret until it can be released in a trade show with all the Ohhs and Ahhhs. This is usually fine for average home user because they are impulse buyers and defiantly don't have a long term IT Strategy in mind. But many corporations do have an IT strategy and many other should get them (but that is an other topic) And by the time Apple releases a new product it is out of date when a company chooses to buy it. I am sure Apple would get better School, Government and Corprate buyers if they wern't so secret about everything. I am not talking about giving every single spec. But information like Flat Screen iMac (can fit in 1/2 square foot of desk space, with G5 Processor expected release Fall 2004, Or New Powermac 2x faster then old model expected release 2005. Information like this can help businesses who want apple have the ability to choose them on time so while they are in development they can make choices to buy it. IBM does it, Sun Does it, Microsoft Does it. Sure you not as surprised when it comes out but you may have already got the pre-orders in.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
But has it been signed with Verisign?
My fellow Slashdotters, we have seen the birth of a new troll!
Wizardninja, whoever you are, your post shall soon join the ranks of Soviet Russia and Tubgirl in Slashdot lore.
:-) BC
Apple is one company. Therefore, it is "Apple loves"..."
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
...about forthcoming-product secrecy, since their stuff has been ripped off more than any other tech company I know of.
Hell, Microsoft fanboys go so far as to imply Microsoft came up with some stuff first, and say Apple is the copier!
And this wasn't a vague rumor about flash-based iPods that could be the result of anyone's wild conjecture. It was specific information about inputs, outputs, the form factor, the manufacturers, release date, etc. That's the kind of information that can only be known by some one who's worked with Apple and has presumably signed (and violated) an NDA.
Apple really cares about who this vendor is, so at the very least they can stop working with them. The only way to find that information out is to file a law suit and subpoena the rumor sites who published the information.
Sorry MS fanboys, you can't brand Apple evil yet in retaliation for tarnishing the good name of M$, they are doing something they should and have every right to do.
an unnamed individual
Makes me think about that line in Loaded Weapon 1 when they were trying to get info from Lovitz:
"Gimme a name!"
"Weren't your parents suppose to do that?"
Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
Not if you manage to combine the right balance of arrogance and incompetence it's not.
s/arrog/ignor/;
"The 'hostname' command doesn't do anything when given an argument, right?"
Said by me, right after having our head sysadmin tell me he trusts me enough to give me root, and right before I ran "hostname asdf" on the NIS master. Hilarity ensued shortly after.
Ahh, memories...
Wait, you are saying that apple was the first to bring portable mp3 media players, portable media players that can show pictures, dvd movie making software, and music producing software?
Wow, I would have never known!
I resent your suggestion that anyone critical of Apple is automatically a MS fanboy. Since when is this an MS vs. Apple forum?
My take on this is that Apple sucks as badly as MS does, they're just not as successful. The main (and annoying) difference is that Apple seems to have perfected the fanboy weapon.
Yet like so many people, including most of my idiot coworkers, they would rather ask someone else to provide them with eaily obtainable information, rather than spend the minutes (seconds) it takes to research it yourself. People are such lazy fucks.
The real question should be, why is Apple suing these people? Is it because they broke the NDA, a publicity stunt, or does it really have an impact on their business?
To break it down:
Apple prides itself on being innovators. To be first to announce a new product is a VERY big deal in their customers eyes (whether or not it actually is sold first is cleary another thing).
Apple has chosen to go after individuals who have leaked this information, at the price of potentially proving these rumors are true an impacting the "next big thing" product announcement. Why would they do this?
- Apple might be making an example out of individuals who have broken the NDA
- Apple might be doing this to create a buzz in the "Geek" world (we are all discussing this aren't we) for their new product
- Apple might be concerned that a competitor might start developing a product to match the Apple product. This product might be better or worse, but either way, could cannibalize their sales.
From a customer relations stand point, I can honestly say that I don't know why Apple would actually sue any one for these "leaks", but there does seem to be many valid business reasons.
Also, will Apple settle for the return of documents, and the removal of information posting, or are they looking for monetary compensation from the offenders. I think that will tell the real story.
Apple==litigious bastards
Don't they have protection from naming their sources? They are jouralists right? Online or offline its still news reporting.
This is exactly why apple does what they do. i cant tel you how many times companies x says the will deliver something in the future and they don't. oh by the way you must be using longhorn to make this post. any company that plans it future based on anothers projected product release should have their it people shot.
by you post you are either 14 or a total idiot.
Ha! My thoughts exactly. May I assume that these lawyers are on retainer, normally sitting around doing "nothing", but getting paid anyway? Why not use them to complement the sales staff? Their personalities are similar. I bet they work well together. Sometimes the buzz created by the lawsuits are more exciting than the product they're suing over. The lawsuit is the ad, and CNET, Slashdot, and probably more than a few others just carried the ad for free.
What?
It's funny, Apple did everything right in this case. They filed a john doe lawsuit, then subpoenaed the web sites for information of their informant. If you had someone sign an NDA then showed them your top-secret project, would you do any less? I can see news sites refusing to answer the subpoenas as a matter of journalistic integrity in the case of a whistle blower, but this is not a case of wrongdoing, just a simple contract dispute. Despite doing everything above board here, half the posts are still criticizing Apple for trying to enforce their contracts. They did not threaten the web sites, one of which MS did just last week. They did not file any lawsuits against the web sites. What more could you ask?
GrangeBand? Makes me think of some kinda hayseed hilbilly types. Soggy Bottom Boys, maybe...
My fave new-to-root lossage was clattering along doing some admin task as root, the details of which I've long forgotten. I type the following:
;-)
# kill <missed the percent key>1<return>
Expletives deleted.
P.S. For newbs and non-*nix folks: "kill %1" kills the previous program run by the user in the background. "kill 1" kills the init process, which instantly crashed the system.
how apple uses codename
Seriously though, if this was MS there wouldn't be any debate.
If I wanted to hear about fashion statements or closed proprietary systems, Id go to those sites.
The dips in stock and sales around July of each year and December/early Jabnuary would tell a different tale.
People pay CLOSE attention to Apple rumors - rumors sites do more to hurt Apple than help it.
There is a difference between rumor/speculation and STEALING AND COERCING = Apple Rumor sites.
Click here for more
Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
I wasn't trying to be rude but this was an Apple thread. And Garage Band has been heavily publicized in the Apple universe (which you apparently don't belong to). It's a pretty cool toolset for creating music.
confifendtail
Fuck, that one's so bad it even breaks Google's spellchecker
(In case they fix it before you click, it asks me "did you mean confiendtial?")
This sig is part of your complete breakfast.
Subpoenas of source information at all levels of the journalistic hierarchy are causing trouble, lately. Even the New York Times has a couple of reporters in jail for not revealing their sources for stories on the Plame affair (remember, when one of the crooks in the White House illegally outed a deep-cover CIA agent in retribution for whistleblowing by her husband...).
It'll be interesting to see whether OPP, AI, and TS will stand their ground as firmly as the NYT did, or whether they roll over for the courts.
Who needs spellcheckers when we have people like you? Ever thought to comment on the content of the previous post instead of the method of delivery?
Why don't you learn to spell and then ask the big kids to play with you?
Ever thought to invest in a functional sense of humour?
I believe there are some... 'medicinal' solutions for your malady.
This sig is part of your complete breakfast.
How do you stop a leak after it has occurred? You can't. The information is out there. All you can do is prevent leaks. How does one prevent leaks? By nailing the current leaker's nutsack to wall, where employees, contractors, and vendors will take note that confidentiality is taken seriously.
A few years back, the president of ATI let slip some confidential info a week before MWSF, thus depriving Steve Jobs of some tidbit that would make us all Oooooh and Ahhhhh at the keynote. As a result, Apple stopped using ATI video cards for a while, and switched to NVidia.
Before Jobs' second coming, Apple had been as leaky as a sieve. One of the first things he did was to put a stop to all the leaks. He's done pretty well, notwithstanding a few notable lapses (remember the flat panel G4 iMac on the cover of time?).
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.