Think Secret was one of a handful of Apple Rumor blogs on the internet, and one of the few that was shut down by direct legal action from Apple. Nick Ciarelli ran the blog who wrote under the pseudonym of “Nick De Plume.” This single person blog covered apple rumors and apparently had a number of insiders that were feeding him information that he then subsequently used. At the end of a 3-year court case, think secret was shut down by court order when Apple and Nick Ciarelli reached a settlement whose details have not been fully released . While Apple chose to pursue the lawsuit, members of the blogosphere and social organization started petitions on line, as well as various rallying cries to “save think secret” were happening behind the scenes.

The reason for the failure of think secret was a lawsuit rather than a direct business model failure. As a business model, the blog had advertising, a steady stream of readers and had carved itself into the Apple Rumors niche quite effectively. It was also one of the longer running Apple rumor blogs as it started in 1999, and had built up credibility because on occasion it was actually correct in the information that it was reporting. The true cause of failure for this blog was, shut down because of a legal action. The legal action on the part of Apple though, also helped establish an answer to a number of issues that otherwise would have remained unsettled if the lawsuit had not happened. Some of the issues surrounding free speech , and protection of sources for bloggers were established as precedent during this case, which eventually would have had to be settled at some point. This was an important shut down because of the legal issues that were resolved, and in some cases not resolved to the satisfaction of all people who were involved directly or indirectly.

In 2004, Think secret and other Apple information sites were ordered to turn over information that was related to a product called Asteroid (that was never released) to identify the internal or external source that was turning over information to these sites . Think secret was also sued in 2005 for providing readers with information that Apple said was corporate trade secret data . These lawsuits were seen as bullying practices, but also addressed a reality that bloggers often face. Not all reporters or blogger sites thought that Apple was being a bully about the process either . There are some realities to blogging however, that also made the case difficult. Nick did not have enough money for a lawyer , but wanted to pursue this case in court. Eventually he was represented by the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) and Terry Gross, of the San Francisco-based firm Gross & Belsky.
Bloggers often own their own web sites, and are often the publisher, journalist, and system administrator of their blogs; they often do not have the deep pockets of traditional journalists or the support systems that larger publishing houses can provide.

What seemed to be the biggest trigger for Apple however was how Think Secret solicited Information . What think secret would do is take the information that people could supply anonymously, or through his own contacts within the company, and publish on the web site. While not all the information was correct, it was correct enough, enough of the time, to be considered a danger to Apple and its corporate trade secrets . Apple has aggressively pursued the release of information that could reasonably be considered trade secrets , much like any other company does. What is interesting is that when going after the rumor sites, they in their own right confirmed some of the rumors to be true, which further fanned speculation on what the company would do next.
While Apple focused on the idea of people inside the company reporting and dropping inside information about apple before Steve Jobs could report it, there are discrepancies in the argument.

Think Secret and other Apple rumors site like MacRumors have the “report anonymously” in the upper right hand corner of the web site . One of the core responses from Apple was that the solicitation of information encourages people to violate their confidentiality agreements . The other question that came up during the debate is are bloggers journalists , and covered under the same guarantees that journalists are covered under by keeping their sources secret. Alternatively, should journalists publish corporate trade secrets, in relationship to the public good like publishing government secrets . The 2004 case ended with Think Secret and other web sites having to turn over their sources for the story , which started the conspiracy theory that Apple was trying to shut down the many Apple rumor sites and apple fan sites that were picking up the story and running with it . The Apple rumor sites though just continued to grow, and gain more audience share as more people started to purchase Apple products, and the surprise hit (back in 2004) with the IPod, and the ITunes store. People started to take an interest in Apple, meaning many more rumors were going to come out of the company. This kind of popularity is very hard to ignore for some employees, and it is very hard for a site that depends on rumors not to publish.

The shutdown though other than causing a problem with bloggers being able to protect sources (which in the final shutdown order, Nick was able to keep his sources secret), was the eventual backlash against Apple, and in many ways other corporations that try to keep information secret. The “Streisand Effect ” in people trying to take down data means that as the news gets out, this creates an effect that everyone is going to want to see what the issue is about and looking for the information . While the issue might seem like nonsense once everyone has checked it out, the problem is that the take down or the cease and desist brings attention to the issue. There were even dissenting opinions on this issue, in that Think Secret was not engaged in journalism, and that they were merely publicly releasing trade secrets .

The attention that the lawsuits and take down orders generated might end up in surprising and unexpected ways for a company that is trying to get the information suppressed . With Apple computers, devices, and software resurgent, and with the company gaining market share in double digits over the last few years, what Apple does has an immediate influence on many people.

While Nick has moved on the growth of Apple Rumors sites and sites that are seeking to provide information about what Apple is doing has seen steady growth. With Apple fortunes well established, with popular products, and a generally tight non-rumor public relations department, the desire to have people provide information to these sites is going to grow rather than abate. As other Apple rumor sites emulate the “got information to share” buttons seeking information, as well as people wanting to talk about Apple products, keeping information close is going to remain a cat and mouse game between Apple and Bloggers.

tags: think secret, blog, apple, lawsuit, issues, existence, questioned, nick de plume, relations, Nick Ciarelli