Settlement in Apple v. bloggers case

On December 21, 2007, the Recorder reported on a settlement in the Apple v. bloggers case (O'Grady v. Superior Court): "Apple Deal Kills Blog That Leaked Product Information." According to the article, one of the bloggers agreed to shut down his Apple rumor site, Think Secret, as part of the settlement, but Apple never learned the identities of the blogger's sources. The New York Times also reports: "Apple Rumor Site to Shut Down in Settlement."

In 2006, the Court of Appeal ruled that the bloggers were "journalists" and that California's shield law therefore protected their sources. O'Grady v. Superior Court (Apple Computer, Inc.), 139 Cal.App.4th 1423 (2006). This was considered a huge victory for bloggers generally. Some of my coverage of that decision is available at these links.

Comments

[Greg May]

This is of interest not only in a UCL/trade secrets sensee, but also in a Macs-in-the-law-office sense. As a Mac-using lawyer who regularly reads the on-line groups for Mac-using lawyers, I can tell you that as a group, lawyers seem no less fanatical about the Mac than any other user, and they watch for and discuss new product rumors all the time!