Relationships have often been strained between Apple and the publications (both professional and personal) that cover the computer maker -- especially when it comes to as-yet-unreleased products.
Magazines live and die on scoops, but since CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs reclaimed the helm at Apple, the company has zealously guarded information on upcoming products, hoping to capitalise on buzz generated by surprise announcements, such as the out-of-nowhere 1998 debut of the iMac.
The tension between the two goals has fuelled conflicts ranging from the friendly to the litigious, and they have frequently involved the many small sites that draw on anonymous sources to second-guess Apple's product plans.
Skirmish or stunt?
The most recent dust-up came when the rumour site Mac OS Rumors replaced July 7 and 8 reports about a redesigned Power Macintosh G4 with notes that the stories were pulled "at Apple's request."
A copy of the alleged letter from Apple showed up on a reader's post at the "news for nerds" site Slashdot, complete with accurate contact information for a member of Apple's legal team. Other Web sites have questioned the authenticity of the letter, portraying it as a publicity stunt; Apple has yet to acknowledge its existence.
Whether or not the letter truly originated at Apple, such actions are not uncommon when sites have posted information Apple deemed confidential.
Kihei coverup
In late September, various US-based Web sites displayed images that were originally posted on the German site Macnews.de, images that were of the then-unreleased iMac DV SE. The images on these sites were soon replaced with notes stating that the images were removed "at Apple's legal demand."
Since those images were, in fact, of an unreleased Apple product, legal experts said, the sites could have been party to misappropriation of trade secrets, which included the overall design of the product, as well as a "common law" copyright that protected the images themselves, even if they were not formally copyrighted.
One site, run by a teenage Apple fan, was shut down entirely after Apple threatened the site's Internet service provider with potential liability for hosting the images on its server.
Likewise, the letter received this month by Mac OS Rumors, allegedly from Apple, mentioned that the site's article improperly disclosed the company's trade secrets.
Liable doesn't mean accurate
However, Apple's action doesn't mean that the technical information on the site contained actual and correct data. A sketch of the purported "new" Power Mac G4 appeared on the Mac OS Rumors site along with the original article; the image included an Apple logo, the unauthorised use of which could evoke action from Apple.
A similar situation arose a month ago with the rumour site AppleInsider, which showcased an in-depth preview of Photoshop 6, which is reportedly scheduled to be released by Adobe Systems later this year.
Not long after the preview was posted, AppleInsider received a cease-and-desist letter from Adobe's legal representatives, and the site pulled the article.
Among the issues there was the fact that screen grabs of the Photoshop 6 interface contained the Adobe logo; Adobe also claimed that premature disclosure of the updated application's features would cut into Adobe's profits.
