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Lawyer for Ciarelli seeks to dismiss case

updated 10:40 am EST, Fri February 4, 2005

Lawyer dismissal of case


The lawyer representing Nick Ciarelli of Think Secret said he will seek to dismiss the case on within two weeks. Attorney Terry Gross, a lawyer prominent in free-speech and Internet issues, said he decided to represent 19-year-old Ciarelli on a pro bono basis after the Harvard student said he didn't have the funds to defend himself against Apple. "Supreme Court law is pretty clear," said Gross in an interview. "Journalists can't be prohibited from publishing material if it's lawfully obtained. Apple is just trying to intimidate this college kid."


by MacNN Staff

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Comments

  1. Dog Like Nature

    Dedicated MacNNer

    Joined: May 2004

    0

    First Amendment??

    This has nothing to do with free speech! Nick should be forced to reveal the names of those who violated the NDA.

    Simple as that!

  1. minimansion

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Aug 2001

    0

    I agree!!

    I AGREE!!!!

  1. Jonathan-Tanya

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Oct 2004

    0

    let the Court decide

    If the Supreme Court disagrees with you, will you sing a different tune, or do you know better than the supreme court?

    The fact is, it has everything to do with free speech. If a journalist cannnot pursue a story, then speech is dead.

  1. ArizonaJoe

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Aug 2004

    0

    Mac cultists...

    ...are such fascists.

    And hypocrites.

  1. iomatic

    Mac Elite

    Joined: Oct 1999

    0

    I love Macs.

    But, free speech trumps corporate law. Hooray! Unlike Fox, where bias trumps journalism...


    ...


    ...

  1. marzetta7

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Dec 2003

    0

    Free Speech?...My Arse

    It sickens me when someone posts something on the internet and calls themself a "journalist." The fact is, this has NOTHING to do with free speech, it is simply a smokescreen to hide under as many irresponsible people try to do, and successfully do unfortunately. I'm sure you've all seen this but here it is again for those screaming FREE SPEECH! It is a article by a Harvard Law Professor on why old Nick is most likely going down:

    ...Milgrim and Harvard Law Professor Lloyd L. Weinreb, when told by a Crimson reporter about the case, said Ciarelli might have a difficult time defending his actions.

    “If that student is inviting people to give him information that was violating a trade secret he might be liable as a contributory infringer,” Weinreb said. An infringer violates the law directly, but a contributory infringer knows about the infringement and facilitates it in some way.

    Milgrim agreed, saying that even if Ciarelli had not solicited trade secrets but had simply posted them, he might still be liable under California law.

    “California is one of approximately 44 or 45 states that have adopted [the] Uniform Trade Secrets Act. That statute makes it wrongful to acquire or publish without authorization information you know or have a reasonable basis to know is a trade secret of another,” Milgrim said.

    “Just because you receive something on the internet does not mean you have a green light to do whatever you want with it,” Milgrim added.

    He explained the type of damages that could have motivated Apple’s lawsuit. “Sometimes in the software field where advances are measured in nanoseconds, the preannouncement will permit competitors to develop products more timely,” Milgrim said.

    In its complaint, Apple demands that Ciarelli and his company pay damages, hand over “gains, profits, and advantages” from the alleged “misappropriation” of trade secrets and attend a trial by jury. According to the complaint, Think Secret generates revenue from online advertising.

    Apple also requested an injunction to stop Think Secret from spreading future product information...

  1. medmuse

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Nov 2002

    0

    Bitter

    Kind a bitter aren't you marzetta7? "It sickens me..." Jeesh. By the by, did you obtain permission before posting that copyrighted material here?

  1. Jonathan-Tanya

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Oct 2004

    0

    @marzetta7

    I've noticed it isn't really anyone but the anti-speech people that are doing the screaming.

    I've already posted the california constitution so I won't repeat that again, but the point is, journalists are specifically protected from this type of action.

    And, I don't think what most of you are grasping, is that everyone who is employed (and wants to work) can be made to sign an NDA. I had to sign an NDA when I was 18, to take a 3.35/hr. job to work at a Domino's Pizza franchise.

    Is that typical? No. but it can happen, and I've seen NDA's used to silence opinion of employees all the time. Again...it would be too long and drawn out to bring it all up in a forum comment.

    But, as protections on free speach is lessoned, it chills speach.

    By the way, Nick wasn't irresponsible at all. He is a very responsible, enterprising young journalist, that runs a popular site, whose readership relies on him to ferret out stories of interest.

    This is how all journalism works... the fact that Nick is an internet journalist, doesn't make him any less protected than a print journalist.

  1. marzetta7

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Dec 2003

    0

    RE: I love Macs

    But, free speech trumps corporate law. Hooray! Unlike Fox, where bias trumps journalism...

    Don't be mad because FOX is taking your liberal media outlet's market share (CBS,CNN,ABC,NBC). It's not their fault that the way in which they report news coincides more with the way the average American thinks. I guess your still steaming that they--Fox-- got the best ratings for the President's State of the Union Address, huh? Newsflash, bias is present in every piece of "journalism" nowadays--conservative or liberal. So why do you choose to pick on Fox?

  1. wjdennen

    Junior Member

    Joined: Apr 2000

    0

    See this:

    http://www.turnto10.com/news/3929582/detail.html

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