Apple Rumor Site 'Think Secret' Shut Down

Apple, on Thursday, put an end to a two-year court battle with popular rumor site Think Secret by reaching a settlement that, unfortunately, prohibits the site from being published any more.

This was the end of an expensive series of lawsuits filed by the company against the website for "posting Apple trade secrets and encouraging and inducing persons to provide product information in breach of agreements."

In January 2005, Nicholas Ciarelli, a young technical journalist and a freshman at Harvard at that time, had published information regarding an Apple product, codenamed “Asteroid” on his website “Think Secret”.

Apple, which is well known for keeping its cards close to its chest, filed a lawsuit against the rumor site for publishing its trade secrets.

However, the lawsuit had the perverse effect. Not only, did it confirm the authenticity of the information, but also, during the years, the site attracted more netizens compared to a dozen other rumor sites for feeding the eager enthusiasts with more inside Apple information.

Mr Ciarelli is now a senior at Harvard, doing his major in social studies. He also writes and edits for The Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper.

Speaking in an interview, he said, “ We’ve been able to reach a positive solution.” Not mentioning if he was paid for the settlement, he iterated that journalism continues to be his main interest. "It continues to remain a strong interest of mine," he said. "And I think I'll continue to follow that path."

The website has also been a cause célèbre amongst journalists and readers alike who were up in arms to fight for the protection of the web publishers and also affirm California's reporter's shield law, which protects journalists from giving up information on their sources.

The case has been much talked about since with many groups supporting the cause for protecting the rights of the website. It also attracted the legal assistance from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group.

The case has often been seen as one where the giant old company is trying to seal the lips of the small individual who dared to challenge its might. However, there is a wider picture to be seen.

The case reveals the urgency for establishing the much-needed laws providing web journalists and websites with similar protection rights as traditional journalists and newspapers.

The outcome of the case resulting in the shut down of the website has also provided with a despicable precedent for any such future cases.

The “settlement” induces much fear into minds of web reporters and bloggers and is detrimental to the freedom of speech and puts limits on the thinking of the journalists.