MacInTouch Rebuffs Apple Legal With Public Snub

July 16th, 2000 at 3:00 PM - News by Bryan Chaffin

As we reported last week, Appleis legal department has been busy trying to squelch rumors about a new Mac "Cube" that will supposedly be released during MACWORLD. MacOS Rumors, AppleInsider, and now MacInTouch have all felt the long arm of Apple tap them on the shoulder. The controversy started when MacOS Rumors first printed information on what it described as a new Apple product in the shape of a cube. The story was replaced with information to the effect that Appleis legal department had asked them to remove it. AppleInsider experienced the same thing when they too printed information about the "Cube." Ric Fordis MacInTouch also published some details about the new machine, but when that long time veteran journalist was contacted by Apple, Mr. Ford bit back.

Like AppleInsider and MacOS Rumors, Mr. Ford was told to remove the offending content, and was also told he could not reprint the very letter asking him to do so. Mr. Ford responded by not only publishing Appleis letter, he published his own attorneyis letter back to Apple. While Mr. Ford did in fact pull the content, his letter attempted to make it clear that he had no intention of being bullied by Apple. A couple of snippets from this letter:

Contrary to the positions you have taken regarding each of the previous points, my clientis Freedom of Speech rights protect its good faith publication of newsworthy information about Apple, including the fact that Appleis legal department has objected to that information. [...]

You have no right to state your concerns to third parties with whom my client does business. Your having sent a copy of your message to my clientis internet service provider can have only one purpose, and that is to interfere with the advantageous business relationship between my client and its i.s.p. [...]

Despite the foregoing four points, my client has decided - this time - to remove the four items Apple has found objectionable from its web site. Why? For one reason and one reason only: to avoid further costs of legal representation. Accordingly, this matter is now terminated. Apple should think again, however, before engaging in a similar course of action in the event it "objects" to a future internet posting. Even a little guy eventually might decide there is no choice but to take up a slingshot.

The full letter contains much more information about this issue, and we recommend that you check it out. It is a very interesting and entertaining read.