Apple said on Wednesday that it has , the next version of its operating system. The defendeant, who distributed copies of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger on a file-sharing Web site, has settled a case brought by Apple last December but is still the subject of a criminal investigation. As a student member of the Apple Developer Connection, Steigerwald was given early test copies of Tiger, which Apple says is set for release by June (although rumors say it could be introduced as early as next month).

"While Apple will always protect its innovations, it is not our desire to send students to jail," said Apple spokesman Steve Dowling. "We are pleased that Mr. Steigerwald has taken responsibility for his actions and that we can put this lawsuit behind us," according to a statement given to Reuters.



Earlier this year, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak spoke out against Apple. Wozniak, who said that he would contribute to the students' defense fund, called the student's actions an "unintentional oversight" and said that the interviewed student appears "to be one of the most honest people on this planet. I have to question who is most right in this case. I wish that Apple could find some way to drop the matter. In my opinion, more than appropriate punishment has already been dealt out."




As part of the settlement, Steigerwald said he would pay an undisclosed sum to Apple and that he would provide no further comment on the lawsuit beyond a prepared statement he offered to Reuters. "Although I did not mean to do any harm, I realize now that my actions were wrong and that what I did caused substantial harm to Apple and for that I am truly sorry," said the 22-year old, who graduated from North Carolina State University with a degree in computer engineering last December.



Steigerwald is also the subject of a criminal investigation by the U.S. Attorney's office, but is "working toward a resolution with the federal government," according to the Reuters report. In its December lawsuit against the "Tiger leakers," Apple claimed that two different versions of Mac OS X were made available on the Internet on or about Oct. 30 and Dec. 8, 2004. The software was distributed via BitTorrent, a popular file-sharing technology that can quickly distribute large files by downloading portions from multiple users simultaneously.