If their legal efforts fail the three could be subject to _criminal_ violations of the Trade Secrets Act.

Regardless of whether a lawsuit is brought in the civil courts or charges are filed in the criminal courts, the laws these three are trying to use to protect themselves are _the same_ and the courts have shown in the past that these laws (like all of them) have limits that are described through case law and interepretation by the courts.

Which is exactly what I said in my post.

Apple is suying in a civil case.

Not the same.

Think secret did not have any contract with Apple.
Think secret should not have to do anything.

Let Apple find their leak by investigating their own people.

I know bloggers think this is all about them, but it really isn’t. It’s about Apple wanting to find out which Apple employee(s) leak information. The bloggers are trying to hide behind shield laws. They are the ones draping themselves in the First Amendment flag, hoping Apple will not be able to compel their testimony.

The judge has _not_ said these three are not journalists. But he realizes the laws they are trying to use for protection have limits, and those limits would apply to everyone. All journalists know this — there is no absolute freedom of speech. The judge must feel that the publication of NDA-protected information did not deserve the protection of shield laws.

You say that there would be no suit if journalists from CNN or USA Today had gotten this info yet that is pure speculation. You can’t know that at all. But you do raise an interesting point.

If USA Today or CNN _had_ gotten this information because an Apple employee was leaking info to them they knew was in violation of the NDA, and the Apple employee was not going to go on record and verify the information was accurate, do you think USA Today or CNN would publish what is merely an unattributed rumor? Bloggers published that information and the mainstream media likely wouldn’t. This is where the mainstream media and bloggers diverge, at least in this case – their standards for what they will and will not publish.

Think Secret is a great site. I love reading it.

They have to take responsibility for their actions. That is what sane successful people do. It is survival.

Not taking responsibility for your actions is what youngsters and immature people do.

As a business owner, I want to work with people that have this attitude. As an individual, I want to know and associate with people who have this attitude.

I would also like my journalists to have this attitude, but unfortunately, I see much too much that some do not do the right thing, i.e Dan Rather.

Doing the right thing doesn’t care what political party you belong to, what religion you do or don’t practice, what your race is or what hemisphere you live in or if you are or aren’t a journalist.

So I ask you as a journalist, would you publish a piece knowing it was stolen.?

I really don’t think that the “cool” Apple we know is out to be “big brother,” though by the noise it’s generating you’d think so. That’s just a combination of excitable teens, would be journalists and those trying to cash in or hurt Apple’s image. Jeez, I wonder who that would be? Pleeease!

So on one side, the issue Apple is standing on is the correct one in my view, even if it’s unpopular.

However, where I disagree with Apple to some extent is in the degree to which they’ve taken this against a student. Yet, in all fairness, the case isn’t over yet. It’s the outcome that matters, not the noise inbetween that it’s generating. That’s just the circus aspect of the web at work.

Is it a scare tactic that must be played out to make a point? I’m hoping it is. If the real intent however was to flush out “the spies” at Apple – it looks like they’re going to get their answers that will lead to dismissals which is a good thing. Every business person understands all too well that this is one of the big issues of our day and are watching this very intently. Who wants to pay staff who are out to make an extra buck at the expense of the entire team. A rat is a rat!

Perhaps once the rats are caught, the case against the student will drop quitely into the night, and all this noise would have been for nothing. That’s my hope, we’ll see. I really don’t see this being about one student.

Established News Organizations would never of reported stolen information. If they did, Apple would of sued them just the same.

a mac head

So what kills – Guns? Bullets? People? It takes all those working together. To say that only bullets kill, and the others are innocent 19-year-old bystanders is wrong. Web sites that entice people to break the law are not necessarily good journalism.

The one drop of “Black” blood idea is an interesting one, though. The whole idea of race should be completely forgotten, because it is so completely irrelevant. Or, I suppose we all wear T-shirts detailing our genetic makeup that says something like “5% Cherokee, 2% Chinese, 1.2% Northern Italian, 6% English, 2% Welsh, and so on…” Maybe it could include ethnic slurs, that say “that’s where I get my temper” or whatever.

No, the T-Shirt idea is way too complicated. We need things in “Black and white”- visual words to go with our visual assumptions. Stereotypes aren’t all bad – they keep us out of dark alleys at night – but their value in human relationships is uncertain. Is there any validity to thinking we belong to any race other than the human race? Not to me. Perhaps for doctors treating certain diseases, but for the rest of us, I don’t see the point. Another way to feel a little bit superior to our next door neighbor.

Your hero can be 19, by the way, and an avid Mac fan, and still break the law. He could be Scotch-Irish-Afro-Italian-American, and if he lives here, he has to obey our laws.

I have posted to your web site, and am now officially a journalist.