Apple Sues Over Trade Secrets
Wednesday August 2 5:14 PM ET
By CLIFF EDWARDS, AP Technology Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Apple Computer Inc. (NasdaqNM:AAPL - news) on Wednesday filed suit against people who allegedly posted secret product information on the Internet, the latest company taking aim at Web gossip that provides increasingly accurate insider information.
The civil complaint, filed in the Superior Court for Santa Clara County, Calif., seeks an injunction against an unnamed individual or individuals against further disclosure of Apple's trade secrets, as well as monetary damages.
The Cupertino-based Apple contends in the lawsuit that a person using a computer pseudonym posted information and images about its new dual-processor G4 PowerMac and new oval-shape optical mouse ahead of the products' release at last month's MacWorld in New York. It also said the offenders, which could number 25 people in total, published other trade secrets prior to the date they were made public.
Apple said it ``does not know the true names or the capacity'' of the defendants but will amend the complaint if and when it gets the information. A spokeswoman declined to provide additional details about the lawsuit.
The lawsuit is the latest in what is shaping up to be precedent-setting state court decisions on how far free-speech rights extend in protecting people who anonymously post information about a company on the Web.
Many companies with large followings and a large investor base often have whole Internet sites devoted to discussing developments with that company. The more authoritative sites often reveal product information weeks before a scheduled launch, and that information is sometimes reported by other news organizations.
First Amendment rights advocates say privacy of anonymous message-writers should be protected until it is determined they have violated the law. They argue companies are merely trying to intimidate people into being quiet about anything that could negatively affect their bottom line.
``There are scads of these lawsuits popping up where somebody gets (angry) at information published about a company, even if the information is true,'' said Paul Levy, an attorney for consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. ``They want revenge and they want to unmask the person who did it. Hopefully, the courts will determine most of these lawsuits are absolutely about intimidation.''
But companies argue they need the names of individuals to serve them with complaints who a judge can determine whether they did break the law and note employees often are required to sign nondisclosure clauses.
Several cases are pending in state court.
Dendrite International, which makes sales and marketing software for the pharmaceutical industry, late last month asked a Superior Court judge in New Jersey to decide whether Yahoo! Inc. must release the names of four ``John Does'' who posted messages on a Yahoo! message board.
Dendrite contends those messages were defamatory, libelous and revealed trade secrets, but Yahoo! in April changed its policy of immediately divulging the names of members. It notifies members by e-mail of such requests and withholds the information if they object.
In another pending case, AirTran Airways Inc., of Orlando, Fla., filed a lawsuit in Boston accusing one or more people using the handle JulietAlpha of posting confidential information about the company on the Raging Bull Internet message board.
JulietAlpha in May posted information to Raging Bull that purported to provide information on the number of passengers using the airline, formerly called ValuJet. The company said some of the information was incorrect and that the rest was a misappropriation of trade secrets.
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