Apple has succeeded in forcing the popular Website ThinkSecret.com to shut down. The Website reported rumours about Apple products, and many times, outed a "secret" technology before it was actually revealed to the public. For example, back in 2004, the Website talked about a smaller version of the Mac, called the mini, before it was officially announced.
What should be more cause for concern than the Website's existence is how its publisher, a college student (who actually started the site when he was just 13!), was getting his information.
According to a press release, the agreement reached did not require the site owner, Nick Ciarelli, to reveal his source(s). Does this mean the "mole" (or moles!) will just move on to another medium to out Apple's secrets?
This lawsuit is important on a larger scale when it comes to overall Web blogs, and exactly what rights a "blogger" has to disclose information. Although ThinkSecret might have been revealing products before they came out, isn't it a good thing to have people anticipating, and even guessing, what you might have coming down the pike? The more people talk about your company, the better, right? Then again, when it comes to competition, the last thing you want is for your competitors to know what you're concocting behind closed doors.
Nevertheless, the site will no longer operate, and Ciarelli says that he's "pleased to have reached this amicable settlement. [I] will now be able to move forward with my college studies and broader journalistic pursuits." Investigative reporting, perhaps?
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