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Apple v. Does
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Apple v. Does
please note:
- the content below is remote from Wikipedia
- it has been imported raw for GetWiki
{{Short description|California Courts of Appeal case}}{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}- the content below is remote from Wikipedia
- it has been imported raw for GetWiki
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Case facts
Apple Computer filed the case in December 2004 against unnamed individuals, "Does", in Santa Clara County, California, alleging the defendant Does leaked information about new Apple products to several online news sites, including AppleInsider and O'Grady's PowerPage. The published articles at issue concerned a FireWire audio interface for GarageBand software which Apple had code-named Asteroid, or Q7.Seeking to determine the identities of the sites' information sources, Apple issued subpoenas to AppleInsider{{'}}s and O'Grady's PowerPage{{'}}s publishers, the owner of Think Secret, dePlume Organization LLC, as well as Nfox.com, and the email service provider for O'Grady's PowerPage for email messages that would identify the confidential source. Apple maintained in its filings that the information published by the defendants qualified as trade secrets under California statutes including the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (USTA) and the California Penal Code.USTA codified in Cal. Civil Code §§ 3426 et. seq., (the "UTSA") and adopted in 1985; and Penal Code §499c.Apple Computer, Inc., v. DOE 1 and DOES 2-25, case 1-0-CV-032178, Superior Ct. (Santa Clara), 2005-3-11, pp. 11-12. (Apple v. Does)The defendants publicly informed Apple they would not comply, and filed demands for protective orders with the court, attempting to block Apple's subpoenas.Companion case: Apple Computer v. dePlume
Apple also filed a trade secret lawsuit over a separate issue against Think Secret{{'}}s owner on January 4, 2004. In the Does matter, Apple did not sue specific journalists, but sought information concerning who leaked information on Asteroid. In contrast, Apple's suit against Think Secret accused the dePlume organization of harming Apple's trade secret property interests by publishing stories about a "headless iMac" (the Mac Mini), and about an updated version of iWork.Orlowski, Andrew, Apple founder urges company to drop bullying lawsuits, The Register, theregister.co.uk, 2005-2-22. Accessed 2012-4-14. Apple's separate lawsuit against Think Secret, Apple Computer v. Deplume,Apple Computer, Inc., v. Nick Deplume, The Deplume Organization LLC, and Does 1-20, case 1-05-CV-033341, Cal. Superior Ct, (Santa Clara), 2005. sought damages directly from dePlume and Think Secret for alleged dissemination of trade secrets through published stories on the Mac mini and iWork, and alleged such publication to be in violation of California law, although Think Secret did no original reporting on Asteroid. On March 4, 2005, the dePlume Organization filed a responsive motion in the same court as the Does case, demanding dismissal of Apple's suit under the California Anti-SLAPP Statute.Apple Computer v. Deplume, weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070305181816weblink">Defendant The Deplume Organization, LLC's Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Special Motion to Strike Complaint Pursuant to California Anti-Slapp Statute, CCP§ 425.16, 2005-4-12. Archived from Think Secret. Think Secret{{'}}s archived web page has links to their weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080125174705weblink">filings, web.archive.org. Accessed 2012-4-14.Lower court history
On March 11, 2005, the Santa Clara County Superior Court trial judge declined to grant the defendants a protective order prohibiting discovery of their email. The court based its decision on its determination that (1) Apple's property as received by defendants was stolen, (2) that defendants did not convince the court they were journalists who could make legitimate use of the shield privilege, and (3) even if defendants were journalists, Apple's property rights took precedence over journalists' rights to protect their sources.Specifically, the court reasoned that since the leaked information in the posting made by O'Grady contained an exact copy of a detailed drawing of "Asteroid" created by Apple, and included technical specifications that were copied verbatim from the same source, and all of that information was taken from a confidential set of slides labeled 'Apple Need-to-Know Confidential", that the information was "stolen property, just as any physical item." The court discussed the notion that websites posting such stolen information were analogous to criminal fences.Apple v. Does, pp. 11-12. The court determined the claim of "privilege" was thus overstated because reporters and their sources do not have a license to violate criminal laws.Apple v. Does, pp. 7-8. The court wrote that defendants claimed they were journalists because they sought the protection of the privilege against revealing their sources of information, rather than finding they sought the protection of privilege because they were journalists.Apple v. Does, p. 8.The court noted that Apple's legal argument passed the five-part test articulated in the California case Mitchell v. Superior CourtMitchell v. Superior Court, 37 Cal.3d 268, 276 (1984), at 279-84, used a five-part test in a defamation context for weighing whether discovery should be permitted over an assertion of the Federal privilege: (1) whether the reporter is a party to the litigation; (2) whether the discovery sought goes to the heart of plaintiff s claim; (3) whether other sources of information been exhausted; (4) whether the public good is served by protecting the misappropriation of trade secrets; and (5) whether, in the context of [the] case, the Court should require the plaintiff to make a prima facie showing of falsity. which weighed whether a subpoena should be permitted over journalists' privilege rights under the First Amendment. The court reasoned that because there was no pending motion for injunctive relief against anyone, the issue of prior restraint was not before the Court, and cited as helpful the California Supreme Court's analysis in DVD Copy Control Ass'n, Inc. v. Bunner,DVD Copy Control Association v. Bunner, Cal. Sup.Ct. 31 Cal. 4th 864 at 881 (2003). which observed "[T]he First Amendment does not prohibit courts from incidentally enjoining speech in order to protect a legitimate property right."Appellate history
On June 2, 2005, the California Court of Appeals for the 6th District issued an Order to Show Cause, directing Apple to show the Court "why a peremptory writ should not issue as requested in the petition" filed by the online journalists, and held a hearing with oral argument on April 20, 2006.EFF, Apple v. Does Appellate Argument Audio Files, Electronic Frontier Foundation, eff.org, 2007-9-13. Accessed 2012-4-14.Decision
On May 26, 2006, the Court of Appeal issued its ruling in favor of the online journalists, holding that the trial court's denial of the defendants' motion for a protective order was in error because
(1) the subpoena to the email service provider could not be enforced consistent with the plain terms of the federal Stored Communications Act (18 U.S.C. §§ 2701-2712);
(2) any subpoenas seeking unpublished information from defendants (appellate petitioners) would be unenforceable through contempt proceedings in light of the California reporter's shield (Cal. Const., art. I, § 2, subd (b); Evid. Code, § 1070); and
(3) discovery of the defendants' sources was also barred on the specific facts of the case by the conditional constitutional privilege against compulsory disclosure of confidential sources in keeping with prior precedent in Mitchell.O'Grady v. Superior Court, 44 Cal.Rptr. 3d 72, copy of slip opinion available from EFFThe decision included eleven references to Pseudopedia, including Firewire (Slip Op. at 3 n.3), Breakout box (Id.), GarageBand (Slip Op. at 3 n.4), Breakout (Slip Op. at 6 n.5), Asteroids (Id.), Arkanoid (Id.), Forum moderator (Slip Op. at 26 n.16), BBS (Slip Op. at 27 n.16), Blog (Slip Op. at 45 n.21), Webzine (Id.), Electronic Paper (Slip Op. at 46 n.22).
The court took the time to chastise Apple's secret-protection tactics by remarking:... the discovery process is intended as a device to facilitate adjudication, not as an end in itself. To accept Apple's position on the present point would empower betrayed employers to clothe themselves with the subpoena power merely by suing fictitious defendants, and then to use that power solely to identify treacherous employees for purposes of discipline, all without any intent of pursuing the underlying case to judgment. An employer pursuing such an objective might prefer not to join any defendants lest it expose itself to negative consequences up to and including a countersuit for malicious prosecution or abuse of process. Our sympathy for employers in such a position cannot blind us to the gross impropriety of using the courts and their powers of compulsory process as a tool and adjunct of an employer's personnel department.O'Grady v. Superior Court, 44 Cal. Rptr. 3d 72, 139 Cal.App. 4th 1423, modified by O'Grady v. Superior Court, 140 Cal.App. 4th 675b, 2006.Amici curiae
When the online news sites filed their appeal of the trial court's decision on March 22, 2005, they were joined by many amici supporting the journalists' petition:- the San Jose Mercury News
- the Hearst Corporation (San Francisco Chronicle)
- The McClatchy Company (The Sacramento Bee)
- the Los Angeles Times
- the Copley Press (San Diego Union-Tribune)
- Freedom Communications (The Orange County Register)
- the Associated Press
- the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
- the California Newspaper Publishers Association
- the First Amendment Coalition
- the Society of Professional Journalists
- the Student Press Law Center
- the American Civil Liberties Union
- The Center for Individual Freedom
- The First Amendment Project, a nonprofit law firm
- Reporters Without Borders
- the Media Bloggers Association
- Four law professors
- numerous online journalists
- NetCoalition
- the United States Internet Industry Association.
Backlash
Because the matter involved popular websites and freedom of the press issues as well as a high-profile technology company, it was highly publicized. Critics accused Apple of using the lawsuit not only to protect its trade secrets, but to frighten its employees in order to prevent future leaking.Fried, Ina, and McCullagh, Declan, Apple thwarted in bid to unmask leaker, CNET News, news.cnet.com, 2006-5-26. Accessed 2012-4-14. Critics of the trial court's ruling expressed concern the ruling reduced U.S. journalists' protections under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and would have a chilling effect on what can be published. Before the decision was rendered, The Register noted "If successful, the free press would be restricted to regurgitating Apple press releases and spoonfed non disclosure agreements."Orlowski, Andrew, Journalists must reveal their sources (if Apple asks), The Register, theregister.co.uk, 2005-1-20. Accessed 2012-4-14. Many bloggers criticized Apple's suit;drunkenbatman, weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080108204148weblink">Apple Computer founder and community speak on Tiger leak defendants, drunkenblog.com via web.archive.org, 2005-2-21. Accessed 2012-4-14; and drunkenbatman, weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20051230031758weblink">Global Thermonuclear Lawsuits, drunkenblog.com via web.archive.org, 2005-1-16. Accessed 2012-4-14. some of their followers thought Apple might face a blogger-initiated boycott.Rothenberg, weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20060313202017weblink">Is Apple Worth It?, blog.ziffdavis.com via web.archive.org, 2005-3-6. Accessed 2012-4-14. The Personal Technology editor of the San Jose Mercury News wrote an open letter to Steve Jobs warning that "The lawsuits pose an imminent threat to Apple's most precious asset: the company's reputation as a hip underdog, a cool alternative to bigger and blander competitors such as Microsoft, Dell and Hewlett-Packard."Langberg, Mike, weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20050313032656weblink">Apple should think differently about blogger suits, San Jose Mercury News, siliconvalley.com via web.archive.org, 2005-3-11. Accessed 2012-4-14.See also
References
{{Reflist}}External links
- AppleInsider
- O'Grady's PowerPage
- Apple v. Does Electronic Frontier Foundation's coverage of the case. Accessed 2012-4-4.
- Opsahl, Kurt, Bloggers As Journalists: Why We Fight Apple's Subpoenas, Electronic Frontier Foundation, eff.org, 2005-1-28. Accessed 2012-4-4.
- How Apple lost its Groove, The Guardian, guardian.co.uk, 2005-3-16, p. 17. Accessed 2012-4-4.
- Burrows, Peter, weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20050319020745weblink">Memo to Apple: Lay Off Your Fans, BusinessWeek online, businessweek.com, 2005-3-17. Accessed 2012-4-4.
- Slocombe, Mike, and Perry, Simon, weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20050325232712weblink">Lose friends And Disenfranchise People, The Apple Mac Way, Digital Lifestyles, digital-lifestyles.info via web.archive.org, 2005-3-17. Accessed 2012-4-4.
- Fitzgerald, Jay, weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20060308234651weblink">Settle? Lawyer thinks different, Boston Herald, via web.archive.org, 2005-3-25, (fee for archived content). Accessed 2012-4-4.
- Staff, News Publishers and Internet Industry Urge Reversal in Apple Case, Kansas City infoZine, infozine.com, 2005-4-9. Accessed 2012-4-4.
- McNichol, Tom, Think Belligerent: Steve Jobs will do anything to protect his precious secrets. So he's suing Apple's biggest fans. Inside the Mac daddy's battle with the rumor blogs, Wired Magazine, 2005-5-3. Accessed 2012-4-4.
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