Is Gawker's "Apple Tablet Scavenger Hunt" Illegal?

theodp writes "Not too surprisingly, Apple was not amused by Valleywag's announcement of an Apple Tablet Scavenger Hunt, which offered cash prizes ranging from 10K-100K for info about the much-anticipated new Apple device. The promo prompted a threatening cease-and-desist letter from Apple's lawyers, which Valleywag deemed the most concrete evidence yet that there may indeed be a tablet in the works. But is the Scavenger Hunt really illegal, as the attorney claimed? The jury's still out, but Slate concludes Apple's got a pretty good case, although it notes that Valleywag's unconventional Scavenger Hunt 'stunt' may not really be all that different from 'reporting' practiced by mainstream publications like the WSJ."

Comments

Re:You're an idiot.

[UnknowingFool]

As the lawyer pointed out also, any unreleased products are trade secrets of a company. Inducing someone to disclose trade secrets is also a violation.

Re:slashvertising

[Lars T.]

It is the only way to explain why there have been hundreds of iPhone articles and about one (1) about N900 which is a phone that kicks iPhone's butt in every possible way.

So does the N900 have MMS already? Considering that was the most quoted reason not to buy an iPhone, I can understand Slashdot for not posting anything about a phone that still can't do that.