One of the biggest stories of this Friday-before-Christmas was a report that Apple and Nicholas Ciarelli, master of the Think Secret Apple rumors Web site, have reached an amicable agreement in which Ciarelli agreed to shut down the site. The site was a source for leaks about Apple product releases, but because it was run by an independent publisher it ultimately was put in a different category than traditional journalistic outlets.

 

Apple sued Ciarelli in January, 2005, for publishing trade secrets from the company, and now almost three years later the heart of the matter has finally been sorted out. New York Times reported that Ciarelli, a senior at Harvard, was satisfied with the outcome.

 

This is a victory for Apple that goes against two precedents—cases in which courts ruled the company could not stop journalists from exercising First Amendment rights to publish information.

 

No specifics about the settlement were released. Whether you view it as a victory for the cause of business to protect trade secrets or a loss for protection of information dissemination/the public debate depends on your perspective. What do you think?