Apple Sics Lawyers on SomethingAwful

bheer writes "Apple has sent a threatening letter to SomethingAwful about a post in its forums that describes how to fix the overheating in some MacBook Pros by applying thermal paste properly, according to a post on Gizmodo. The post includes a brief excerpt from Apple's Service Source Manual which Apple wants removed. Gizmodo continues: 'the real problem [is] that the image shows the extremely sloppy manufacturing process that is causing the MacBook Pro to run at temperatures as high as a 95 degrees Celcius under full load.'"

Comments

Re:Why is this news?

[v1]

If you have something confidential and I want to know it, and that's OK with you, BUT you don't want the whole world to know it, then you make me sign a contract (or agree to terms) that says I will not share this private information with the public. If I go share it anyway, I have broken the contract and am subject to your litigation. This is contract law. Assisting someone to break contract is also illegal.

Or taken another way, lets say you go to the doctor to see if he can solve your impotence. Now of course you don't want the world to know about your problem, and that's ok because the doctor has signed an oath of confidentiality. Next week you read his weekly medical column in the local newspaper, and this week he's discussing impotence, and he cites you for an example, by name even. Are we pissed yet? Are you sure it's OK to release confidentical information despite a prior legal agreement? Do you have to justify why your information is confidential for it to be wrong to release it?