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January 13, 2007

Apple Bullies Bloggers, Again

Michael Arrington

136 comments »

Apple has a history of using lawyers against bloggers. There was the now infamous Think Secret lawsuit, which may have had merit. But they also engage in clearly superfluous, bullying tactics as well. In August we received a letter from Apple’s lawyers demanding that we remove an embedded YouTube video showing features from OSX 10.5. We felt this was an extreme position to take - Apple could have simply requested YouTube to remove the video. And this wasn’t a trade secrets issue - they also had a very similar video up on their own website.

Today Apple is engaging in similar tactics against a number of bloggers who simply reported on the fact that someone created a skin for Windows Mobile phones that looks exactly like the new iPhone user interface. See the images above - the Windows version is on the left, Apple’s version is on the right.

The offending download page is here (the software has now been removed). Blogger Paul O’Brien simply linked to this download page and included a screenshot of the user interface and also received a cease & desist letter from Apple’s lawyers.

I think this is all complete nonsense. If Apple wants to go after the guy that made the Windows Mobile skin that looks like the iPhone, fine. But to bully bloggers who are simply reporting on this is another matter.

More on this story at TechMeme. As far as I can tell, the software is no longer available anywhere for download. If that is incorrect, please let us know.

Update: Parallel issue here - this time for Palm. I assume Apple will crack down on anyone reporting about this as well.

  • Sphere It

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 13th, 2007 at 8:57 pm and is filed under Company & Product Profiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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Comments

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  1. hornswaggled

    January 13th, 2007 at 9:07 pm

    First Cisco and now this. I am not a Mac guy but they are not winning me over with these kind of moves.

    When will these companies embrace the blogging community?

  2. Frank

    January 13th, 2007 at 9:11 pm

    “As far as I can tell, the software is no longer available anywhere for download.”

    Hmmm… even if it was only up for download for an hour then you can be absolutely sure that it will pop up again somewhere else. I would get ready for a hundred Rapidshare links on the horizon. :)

  3. Morgan

    January 13th, 2007 at 9:12 pm

    I’ve never seen a community more willing to bend over for a company than Apple fans. Totally closed, secretive, often overpriced and protective, defaults to DRM in iTunes, litigious, and just arrogant. If it were any other company people would get truly angry. With Apple it’s always a sigh leading into breath-holding for the next big announcement.

  4. hornswaggled

    January 13th, 2007 at 9:16 pm

    I forgot to mention earlier that I want to get this for my Treo 700wx, show my Apple fanboy friends. Hopefully it will pop up soon.

  5. elvirs

    January 13th, 2007 at 9:17 pm

    in the email they write “We represent Apple Computer, Inc.”
    did not steve jobs erase the “computer” part at macworld?:)

  6. adrian

    January 13th, 2007 at 9:17 pm

    What is the old saying…

    “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”

  7. Robert Dewey

    January 13th, 2007 at 9:21 pm

    I’m an Apple fan, and I can surely say this is crap. If they want users to switch from PC to Mac, they need to take the “don’t be evil” approach. When a prospective Mac user sees this, you can bet they’ll change their mind…

  8. Michael Arrington

    January 13th, 2007 at 9:22 pm

    meh - I still love Apple, even when if they sue us.

  9. Robert Dewey

    January 13th, 2007 at 9:27 pm

    LOL @ Mike…

    Check out my post on CrunchNotes - I figured TechCrunch will be next in line for a frivolous C&D for posting a screenshot of an MS product with OSX icons.

  10. Robert Dewey

    January 13th, 2007 at 9:31 pm

    On the flip side, I could see the argument of “we’re trying to protect our brand” … The look and feel of their product is part of the brand. So, they should simply go after the person(s) who duplicated the look/UI - not the bloggers reporting on it (as stated a few times).

    I think this blog entry has opened a can of worms - I’d be willing to bet there will be a lot of Mac-bashing (or macinshitting) going on over the course of the next 100 comments.

  11. Morgan

    January 13th, 2007 at 9:33 pm

    Frankly you’re just not pushing the limits enough without a Cease & Desist now and again. I remember fondly receiving one from the NCAA after I copied every single icon off of ESPN’s site for college sports teams for some lame affiliate sports shirt scheme I was trying to get going. Receiving one really reminds you that you’re alive.

  12. phil

    January 13th, 2007 at 9:36 pm

    ok. i agree that apple shouldn’t bully bloggers, but bloggers are going to have to stop hiding behind the excuse that, “i’m just the guy that REPORTS the [insert illegal activity here], don’t go after me!”

    taken to the extreme, it’s like the guy who takes out his camera to film a law being broken instead of reporting it to the proper authorities. gotta have a bit of decency and ethics in cyberspace, don’t you think?

  13. Dan

    January 13th, 2007 at 9:46 pm

    Apple is an awful company. I’m not a big fan of Microsoft either.

    Time for someone new in town.

  14. John

    January 13th, 2007 at 9:48 pm

    When Jobs and Apple get out from under their “options” scam I’ll bother to look at Apple Inc’s issue with bloggers and legality.

  15. SimpleMatchingService.com

    January 13th, 2007 at 9:49 pm

    I don’t know - between monopolistic practices, their committment to DRM, and sketchy legal tactics against non-MSM sites, Apple seems to be losing their “Think Different” path in the same way Google is well off its “Don’t be Evil” mandate.

    Come on guys - pull it together.

  16. Brandon

    January 13th, 2007 at 10:02 pm

    What a shame. As much as I love Apple products, I have never really liked Apple Inc. I feel the opposite about Microsoft — don’t like their products, but admire their business.

  17. Jonathan Jiang

    January 13th, 2007 at 10:02 pm

    Once you see the Macbook Pro in action, you’ll be like “Apple, you can sue me allll you waaant” : ) **big smile**

    But seriously, Apple is just trying to defend its products. If this reminds you of Steve Job’s iron grip on his company, and the fact Apple _is still the underdog_ in the personal desktop department, it has every right to protect its assets under the law. I really do wish they’d do it with a bit more subtlety though.

  18. Alex Becker

    January 13th, 2007 at 10:04 pm

    I guess the law is on their side. They don’t have to be jerks about it or maybe they do.

  19. sergeant sticky

    January 13th, 2007 at 10:15 pm

    Apple = Google = the devil. continue to suck them both off Mike. we all think you are a dildo.

  20. steve

    January 13th, 2007 at 10:21 pm

    Jonathan Jiang, try to see past your juvenile, blind devotion to Apple long enough to notice there’s no reason for them to bully bloggers. **big smile**

  21. Shankar Ganesh

    January 13th, 2007 at 10:22 pm

    Apple is Wrong!

  22. Download

    January 13th, 2007 at 10:26 pm

    http://www.modaco.com/index.ph.....wfile=1408

    Available for download here, I believe..

  23. Jorge

    January 13th, 2007 at 10:29 pm

    Apple users are like abused lovers: you can beat them all you want, but they’ll never complain, and they’ll even defender the abuser.

    So much for Apple empowering its users…

  24. ED

    January 13th, 2007 at 10:41 pm

    I’m a pocket PC developer, I think imma make one too. Let’s have a race to see who can make it the fastest and spread it the widest.

  25. Clued

    January 13th, 2007 at 10:43 pm

    Its called copyright infringement. Jesus, what a bunch of children. Apple produces things and people rip them off. Apple is correct for trying to get bloggers to not rip off their copyrighted images.

    This includes creating a product for another platform that uses Apples images.

    You whine about how they are “bullying” you, but you don’t take responsibility for the infringing images you are showing in your very own blog, in this very article.

    You want to be treated with respect, start acting like you deserve it.

  26. Clued

    January 13th, 2007 at 10:47 pm

    Not surprising, the rest of the comments are a bunch of apple bashing.

    Having watched people bash Apple in online forums since the 1980s (yes there were online forums before you were born) I long ago realized that all the complaints are really just the wines of those who are jealous.

    People who love apple products but can’t afford them, or feel inadequate because they are superior to the products your company produces, and so any excuse to bash those who can, is never ignored by those who can’t.

    Now, if someone had actually made something new and different, instead of just copying apple, and apple went after them, that would be different.

    But to quote an earlier comment:
    “I’m a pocket PC developer, I think imma make one too. Let’s have a race to see who can make it the fastest and spread it the widest.”

    Proof that those who can, do, those who can’t, copy.

  27. Michael Arrington

    January 13th, 2007 at 10:56 pm

    Clued - this is a legal, not an emotional issue, and I do not believe copyright law gives Apple the legal right to stop anyone from reporting on this issue.

    Sergeant - i think you mixed your metaphors. I don’t believe I can perform the act, and be the thing, at the same time.

  28. jane

    January 13th, 2007 at 10:56 pm

    I totally agree with the cease and decease. Apple need to protect their brand. Blogger need to respect design aspect of Apple

  29. mik

    January 13th, 2007 at 10:58 pm

    Apple doesn’t own a bunch of squares aligned together on a back screen.

    This iphone will not be a big hit. Who in their right mind will spend $500 for a phone that isn’t going to offer that much more than the $200 pda?

    Plus anyone who has used touch screen knows it gets boring real fast.

  30. Colin Scroggins

    January 13th, 2007 at 11:06 pm

    Considering that it appears Apple is going to make the argument that Cisco failed to protect and exercise the iPhone brand properly, did it occur to anyone that they are merely doing due diligence in regard to protecting their own IP to prevent anyone from making that same argument against them?

  31. Jonathan Jiang

    January 13th, 2007 at 11:08 pm

    @steve, I’m simply stating that the Macbook Pro is a damn good laptop, not because I own one, but because I see it do amazing stuff during work everyday. I personally use a Lenovo **big smile** thinkpad. Now if I were to become a quote un quote “switcher” I’d go grab one and hop on the mb pro any day.

    As for my statement on Apple having a right to take litigation to bloggers, I still stand by it. Apple just wants the common sentiment about the iPhone to grow around seething anticipation and scoops on their new product - NOT controversy that they “stole” some skin off of Windows Media Player. If they have the money to sue and will take the risk of negative press on these brute force actions, then so be it. It doesn’t seem they have much grounds for a suit when free speech comes in play, but if they want to take the risk to protect the image of their new baby, then it is their choice and I believe it was the right move.

  32. John

    January 13th, 2007 at 11:20 pm

    Oh Colin and Jonathan
    Give me a break! What the hell does IP have to do with a blogger like Arrington reporting the issue.
    He didn’t make the offending skin.

    It’s clap trap through and through by a company thats up to it’s short and curlies in very dubious legal/financial behaviour.

    They should save their money for their own defence instead of running around the WWW chasing down posts about some clever dick who did something because he could in a world that’s full of pissing competitions and fan boys that cheer it on.

  33. Jonathan Jiang

    January 13th, 2007 at 11:38 pm

    @John - Could you give me some evidence or proof, possibly a link to a creditable news site that validates your statement “It’s clap trap through and through by a company thats up to it’s short and curlies in very dubious legal/financial behaviour.”

    You’ve perked my interest and I’ll probably read it sipping some of my morning coffee.

  34. DutCZh

    January 13th, 2007 at 11:55 pm

    iPhony for the palm is still available. See this link for a download http://forum.brighthand.com/sh.....p?t=235591

  35. John

    January 14th, 2007 at 12:05 am

    @Jonathan…
    FT.com / Companies / IT - Apple ‘falsified’ files on Jobs’ options
    “Steve Jobs, chief executive of Apple Computer, was handed 7.5m stock options in 2001 without the required authorisation from the company’s board of directors, according to people familiar with the matter.”
    http://www.ft.com/cms/s/801e1b.....e2340.html

  36. MySchizoBuddy

    January 14th, 2007 at 12:12 am

    John do some hw and read other news as the story progressed. Just reading the first story and not following up with what happened next and where the issue stands now makes u sound like a bully looking for a fight without properly educating urself.

  37. MySchizoBuddy

    January 14th, 2007 at 12:17 am

    @ clued.
    How else are bloggers suppose to report the issue without showing the skin.
    “Oh there is an infringment of iphone icons and interface, but we can’t show you. u will just have to take our word for it. honest. cross our heart”

  38. MySchizoBuddy

    January 14th, 2007 at 12:28 am

    the skins looks bad. all the icons at the bottom are duplicated in the main window.
    I guess the skin designer just wanted to fill it up (instead of looking empty and with less features) and hence duplicated 4 icons, instead of the maps, stock and weather icon

  39. Jigar

    January 14th, 2007 at 12:59 am

    oh yeah….tomorrow apple computes Inc. might sue all of us to use “iPhone” with “i” small and “P” in caps….in all our comments on Mike’s blog……oh well juz coz they are fighting to get that copyright frm cisco!!! good going :-)

  40. Jigar

    January 14th, 2007 at 1:22 am

    I mean “For Using the term” instead of “to use” in above post!

  41. Eric B

    January 14th, 2007 at 1:28 am

    @Clued:
    Your debate skills are amazing. Anyone who disagrees with you is a child and jealous of Mac owners. Amazing. What’s funny is that you seem to fit into the old stereotype of a Mac user: a pompous ass who assumes that everyone who doesn’t agree with their choice of hardware is just jealous of them.

    As for the rest of your comments: they’re as worthless as your attempt to discredit those that do not share your same viewpoint.

    You seem to lack a basic understanding of copyright laws. It is not copyright infringement to post that image. That’s what we call reporting.

  42. Shawn

    January 14th, 2007 at 1:58 am

    You spoke ill of Apple? Oh. My. God. I thought everyone but me was drinking Steve Jobs’ Kool-Aid. Too bad this story will be forgotten in about a day. Regardless though, it’s nice to see some sites are still trying to be objective about tech news as opposed to trying to appeal to the masses as a member of the Apple Geek-Chic.

  43. Chris

    January 14th, 2007 at 2:03 am

    I haven’t seen Microsoft sending out Cease and Desist letters about the Vista Transformation Pack for XP.
    Surely it’s pretty much the same situation as here?

    http://www.windowsxlive.net/?page_id=15

  44. rezo

    January 14th, 2007 at 2:30 am

    forget all the bull…. you think we can run Apallo on it?

  45. ejpasseos

    January 14th, 2007 at 3:19 am

    How does Jobs get away with this so much? Why doesn’t some law firm volunteer to assist these blogs from Apple’s pressure? Clearly, the average blogger can’t afford to fight their legal goons. In no other field–politics, sports, etc.–do these companies have the automatic ability to shut down free speech.
    And no, I don’t support leaking classified documents/info (yet the NY Times does it almost daily).
    Mr. Arrington’s Youtube video is a case in point–extremely aggressive.

  46. Ryan

    January 14th, 2007 at 3:44 am

    Didn’t Steve Jobs say from this day forward the company will be known as Apple Inc. not Apple Computers Inc? Why were all of these letters saying they were representing Apple Computers? Shouldn’t they have updated their lawyers of the name change? Or is it just the name change hasn’t officially taken effect?

  47. Rajeev Vashisht

    January 14th, 2007 at 5:01 am

    Worlds most sucessful people , bosses and corporates are bullies. And yes nothing succeeds like success.

  48. Michael B

    January 14th, 2007 at 5:03 am

    @#26, “Proof that those who can, do, those who can’t, copy.”

    Is that why the Mac OS is based on Unix?
    Perhaps Apple couldn’t develop their own stable code for an OS?

    Then along came a company with a vision of “Hey! Let’s make an operating system which will support all generic hardware”

    *Poof* an instant market leader due to widespread adoption.

    Closed systems will get you nowhere (lesson learned from IBM and the microchannel line of products)

  49. Spencer P

    January 14th, 2007 at 6:37 am

    Apple is definitely the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation of our day. :)

  50. Jack

    January 14th, 2007 at 6:42 am

    > Jorge
    > Apple users are like abused lovers: you can beat them all you want,
    > but they’ll never complain, and they’ll even defender the abuser.

    An Apple fan once told me: “No one is happier than a willing slave.” ;-)

  51. soeren onez

    January 14th, 2007 at 6:50 am

    I switched now to a mac. Used more than ten years a pc, but windows sucks. But i do it because of performance not of image. I think if apple woulb the the no. 1 in computers instead of microsoft, it would be worst. The clean image of apple sucks, it is just shining but to much people think it ist real.

  52. Rex Dixon

    January 14th, 2007 at 7:19 am

    Well you have to see the funny Steve Jobs SNL send up video on YouTube. I just posted it on my site. Great skit I think, and it pretty much sums up all this iPhone hype.

    Rex

  53. Christian Flury

    January 14th, 2007 at 8:03 am

    Michael, I get your point, but I think there are two separate issues.

    Legally, I believe in most countries, when you report about something illegal (and plainly copying visuals devised by another company is a clear case of copyright infringement), you have to make clear to the reader that it is illegal. Otherwise, Apple’s lawyers might argue that, in fact, you were implicitly promoting the illegal product.

    Therefore, I believe, legally, they might have a good case. But this is not just a legal question, but also a communication issue. They should know by now that it’s not a good idea to offend the blogging community. What would it have cost them to send you a friendly email along the lines “Dear Michael, we feel you should make clear on your blog that this software infringes our intellectual property rights and warn your readers that it is, therefore, illegal to download it. Our graphic designers have worked very hard… and we are confident you understand… blabla” etc. I am sure you would have posted a quick update and everyone would have been happy.

    On the wider issue, do they really have to sue the makers of the software just because they can? It might have been smarter to lay back and enjoy the free publicity…

  54. ray

    January 14th, 2007 at 8:32 am

    When I saw Steve Jobs keynote I was really pissed, although I like and use some of the apple products.
    He was permanently saying “wow, this is awesome”, “this is super cool”, etc. He was exagerating and taking credits for thinks that apple didnt event (mouse?!?) . Also many features of the iphone interface come straight from the Flash / Flex Community and have only been adapted by Apple.
    I dont blame Apple for that, but I totally blame them for the way they act. By sueing the hell out of everybody that comes even one step too close to apple they will be on the losing way soon or later.
    Well, this is what would happen if all those bloggers werent apple maniacs…

  55. dumbfounder

    January 14th, 2007 at 8:47 am

    I think of it as a form of bullying. Most C&D’s are.

    Hey Mike, what is that sponsorship that is advertising $50k signing bonus for web developers? It looks super shady as it directs you to an IP address, there is no company name anywhere on the page, and they give you a gmail address to send enquiries too and say they will get back to you in 48 hours. And they talk about living like a king in Asia. VERY WEIRD.

    I did an ARIN whois and came up with this:

    OrgName: Everyones Internet
    OrgID: EVRY
    Address: 390 Benmar
    Address: Suite 200
    City: Houston
    StateProv: TX
    PostalCode: 77060
    Country: US

    Care to enlighten us?

  56. Rex Hammock

    January 14th, 2007 at 9:05 am

    I’m not understanding why Apple doesn’t see this in the same light as they view the benefit of all the bloggers and traditional media who have posted photos of the iPhone, the presentation, the interface, ad naseum, on their websites. It’s merely a skin sitting there promoting the coming iPhone. Is anyone making money off of this? All of the skins I’ve seen are free. Where’s the harm — in the “legal” and financial sense of the term “harm”? One could argue Apple is benefiting, not being harmed. Second, I think the same argument that Andy Warhol’s lawyers made in winning the Campbell Soup Can case could be applied here. The skin is merely artistic commentary on a pop-cultural phenomenon, it is not an “interface” but merely an expression of someones creativity. (Warning: I’m not a lawyer, but I play one on other people’s blogs.)

  57. soeren onez

    January 14th, 2007 at 9:39 am

    And what i dont understand is that apple does not see how importand blogs are to create exactly the image of the better working, better design, better for user and so on. Apple needs blogs or this or do i see this wrong?

  58. xxdesmus

    January 14th, 2007 at 9:42 am

    If anyone has this file please email me a copy.

    I will post a big obvious download link right on the front of my blog to this file.

    I would love to see Apple come after me.

    Let me a comment here if you have the file and I will get you my email address.

    yes, I am serious.

  59. Franz Patzig

    January 14th, 2007 at 9:45 am

    The idea behind trying to get in the way of blogging about is certainly that it is not further spread. Of course it is their right to protect their inellectual property but it seems Apple (and many other companies) never learn that what they are doing is just generating more attention for it and this along with negative publicity. The other possibility is that they just want that.

  60. xxdesmus

    January 14th, 2007 at 9:51 am

    @ Franz

    Precisely. I don’t even own a Windows Mobile device, but I want to do everything I can to spread this file now. This s**t is just getting out of hand now.

  61. Big G

    January 14th, 2007 at 9:55 am

    Can’t blame Apple for trying to protect their gui. If you consider copying someone else’s design flatout and distributing it wrong, then Apple should have rights to go after anyone that perpetuates that behavior. It’s like if TechCrunch were to link directly to pirated movies or software. Not that I care, but a company like Apple should be able to protect their brand in that manner.

  62. Franz Patzig

    January 14th, 2007 at 9:56 am

    @xxdesmus

    Go for it! Though I love Apple products and use them since almost 20 years (I could own a groovy house) I dislike this policy. Fuck you here but please go on and develop cool products!

  63. Scott N.

    January 14th, 2007 at 9:57 am

    It’s incredible to me that apple is able to preserve their reputation when they pull this sort of thing on a semi-regular basis. They’ve become just as ridiculous as the competition.

  64. more clued

    January 14th, 2007 at 10:04 am

    Hey clued - get a clue.

    Talk about stealing stuff. Why don’t we go back to the Xerox development era and asked who stole what to create Apple?

    Double standards by the San Fran crowd reminds me of Boxer and Feinstein rallying against guns when they have permits to carry concealed.

    Sig Heil!

  65. williamP

    January 14th, 2007 at 10:06 am

    “Morgan” made this false claim about Apple: “…defaults to DRM in iTunes”

    Nonsense. To the extent that one can talk about a “default” in iTunes, that default would be no DRM. Any music that you add yourself from CD (which is by far the predominant way music gets added to iTunes) has no DRM. You’ll never see DRM unless you enter your credit card number and buy from the iTunes Store.

  66. Danny

    January 14th, 2007 at 10:07 am

    >meh - I still love Apple, even when if they sue us.

    This is the problem. You love apple despite the closed systems, the bullying and the DRM - all things you otherwise are said to be against. What you have there is a belief system in concept, not in practice.

    >Can’t blame Apple for trying to protect their gui.

    You miss the point. They are going after people simply reporting this news when instead the only person the have a right, or need, to go after is the guy doing the skin. Micheal even said going after the skin maker is fine.

  67. Business Consultant

    January 14th, 2007 at 10:20 am

    Nothing like trying to control the word of mouth spread about your company or its products! This is a bad move all the way around on Apple’s part. Part of their success is due, in part, to the blogosphere and people spreading positive word of mouth on their behalf. This move is bound to thwart some of that because there will be a fear Apple will sue if you say something they don’t like, or you post a neat tip or trick they didn’t originate and can’t control.

    Bad Apple!

  68. Sarah

    January 14th, 2007 at 10:24 am

    I like how Windows has an internet button that instead of IE is the Safari icon. And Im doubting there would be an Ipod icon either as that muct be copy written. Perhaps MP3. This is someone just trying to create some drama. This was never a Windows phone, its simply a joke. It’s a shame if it was the blogger who “created” the skin just looking to create phony discussion, becuase then you are giving merit to all those who give bloggers a hard time.

  69. xxdesmus

    January 14th, 2007 at 10:35 am

    I have the skin, drop me an email if you’re interested.

    my name @ google’s email service.

  70. Jon

    January 14th, 2007 at 10:42 am

    Apple is just protecting their patents. If you don’t protect your patents then you can’t claim them (probably the reason why Apple will be able to keep the iPhone name because Cisco didn’t actively try and stop the phrase “iPhone”).

    If anything we should abolish or reformat the patent process.

  71. xxdesmus

    January 14th, 2007 at 10:51 am

    If TechCrunch wouldn’t mind I will post the a rapidshare and sendspace link to the files …or I can link to the digg post that has those links. I want to ask ahead of time though (for obvious reasons).

  72. David Mackey

    January 14th, 2007 at 10:58 am

    I have to agree. It is interesting to me that Apple is taking this approach as I think there “consumer friendliness” is one factor that has given them their market share. If they begin to be perceived as a big bully they could rapidly become “uncool.”

  73. John Doe

    January 14th, 2007 at 11:00 am

    Thank the lord for M$ :)

  74. Pallab

    January 14th, 2007 at 11:03 am

    So, now even posting screenshots is illegal and breach of copyright?
    What a rotten bunch of apples.

  75. Chris Winn

    January 14th, 2007 at 11:05 am

    A friendly picture of the iPhone is one thing. A doctored photo, placing Apple-owned designs over another device, is something quite different. Especially if it might lead to a REAL skin for Windows Mobile being created. And it’s fully within Apple’s right to bar that sort of thing.

    I’m sorry, but I’m sick and tired of bloggers thinking because they happen to run a blog, they get to freely avoid copyright law. The “social network” or the “You tubes” or whatever runs the Internet does not mean you can just dart around established copyright and trademark law. Oh, poor blogger, bullied by a big company! Ridiculous. It’s law. Obey it. Apple’s completely in the right on this one.

  76. Fotograffiti

    January 14th, 2007 at 11:05 am

    They did not go after someone who just reported a story. I would imagine the line was crosses with the blogger, reported on it and provided a link to where you can obtain the skin in question. As far as those people that want to run out and install it and show your Apple fanboy friends…go ahead and get ready to get laughed at. Although it may look similar at first glance, the fact is that it doesn’t function anything like an actual Apple phone, and that is what really matters. So run out and and show your friends how you tried to copy them…they’re used to it by now.

  77. SimpleMatchingService.com

    January 14th, 2007 at 11:08 am

    Have you read Doctorow’s take on it? Apple = Roach Motel

    http://www.boingboing.net/2007.....h_mot.html

  78. xxdesmus

    January 14th, 2007 at 11:10 am

    @ Fotograffiti

    You almost made a logical argument until you mumbled something about copying.

    Just take a look at some of the “features” used on your beloved iPhone (think Visual Voice Mail) and you’ll start to see the irony in your comment.

  79. Danny

    January 14th, 2007 at 11:12 am

    >They did not go after someone who just reported a story. I

    From the guy who got the letter:

    > I just posted a link and a screenshot… NOT the actual files required to DO the installation.

    Sounds like a reporting to me.

  80. Michael B

    January 14th, 2007 at 11:22 am

    @Fotograffitti
    “the fact is that it doesn’t function anything like an actual Apple phone, and that is what really matters. ”

    What FACT?

    You write that as if you’ve held one in your hand, made a few phone calls, sent a text message, or watched a movie.

    I’m not saying that you are wrong about the other GUI, and maybe it doesn’t function like an Apple iPhone, but don’t say it’s a FACT when you personally know nothing of the device, other than what Mr. Jobs spoon fed you.

    And if you are meaning to say that it is function over form, then I’ll guess that you will be disappointed when you have an iPhone in your hands.

  81. Greg

    January 14th, 2007 at 11:30 am

    Palm should sue them for viewing SMS’s in a chat context (although I am not even sure who was the first to do that…Apple sure wasn’t though)

  82. jlkj

    January 14th, 2007 at 11:37 am

    Reporting and helping to distribute are different things, folks. Always have been, always will be.

    By providing the location of where to download it, you are helping distribute it.

    “As far as I can tell, the software is no longer available anywhere for download. If that is incorrect, please let us know.”

    You clearly show intent to help distribute. Why?

  83. Fotograffiti

    January 14th, 2007 at 11:39 am

    @Michael B

    The FACT is that a skin will not give you the same functionality as an actual iPhone. I am not saying that cause I own one, just common sense. So when you change the skin, your phone will be an 8 GB widescreen video ipod with all the features of the iphone, will display webpages just as nicely (switching automatically between regular and widescreen), integrate with Google Maps, not to mention all the other features which can’t be accomplished with a simple skin (Many people bashing it, I am sure have never bothered to watch the keynote showing how it works. It can be tough for some to get past the Apple logo.)

  84. adam

    January 14th, 2007 at 12:07 pm

    @simplematchingservice

    Cory wants anyone to be able to copy anything. From his Bio:

    “I believe that we live in an era where anything that can be expressed as bits will be. I believe that bits exist to be copied. Therefore, I believe that any business-model that depends on your bits not being copied is just dumb, and that lawmakers who try to prop these up are like governments that sink fortunes into protecting people who insist on living on the sides of active volcanoes. Me, I’m looking to find ways to use copying to make more money and it’s working: enlisting my readers as evangelists for my work and giving them free ebooks to distribute sells more books. As Tim O’Reilly says, my problem isn’t piracy, it’s obscurity. Best of all, giving away ebooks gives me lots of key insights into how to make money without restricting the copying of bits. It’s a win-win situation.”

    That is his opinion. It obviously isn’t the only one.

  85. Mike Cantelon

    January 14th, 2007 at 1:03 pm

    I love Apple’s design, but its arrogance is the reason why I’m choosing to learn Linux desktop development, rather than investing in “the Apple way”.

  86. devolute

    January 14th, 2007 at 1:07 pm

    Silly Apple. They should learn that imitation is the greatest complement and leave it at that.

  87. MacAvenger

    January 14th, 2007 at 1:33 pm

    Sooo many of you people can’t see the forest for the trees, you have been using inferior technology for so long that you have brainwashed yourselves into scorning good os’es. (until MS makes a halfbaked imitation years later).
    You will use any excuse to not be modern!

  88. Oliver Widder

    January 14th, 2007 at 1:33 pm

    Don’t let the bloggers spoil the iPhone party.
    See my small cartoon:
    http://geekandpoke.typepad.com.....is_ph.html

    Bye,
    Oliver

  89. Big D

    January 14th, 2007 at 2:21 pm

    I don’t see apple going after developers who are selling the ipod skins for windows mobile media player, so why is this any different?

  90. K

    January 14th, 2007 at 2:42 pm

    Apple has the right to protect the interest of its company and stock holders, end of story.

  91. K

    January 14th, 2007 at 2:42 pm

    Apple has the right to protect the interest of its company and stock holders, end of story.

  92. Zerp

    January 14th, 2007 at 3:05 pm

    This is completely ridiculous

  93. Anonymous

    January 14th, 2007 at 3:37 pm

    Sorry but this is more of a case of app protecting it’s User Inteface. Which the legal system has upheld many times. Sure it’s a bad imitation. Apple did the same thing when people started doing it with OS X themes before OS X was out. After that they stopped. I’m pretty sure Apple will stop as soon as the iPhone is out as well. They usually do stuff like this so people don’t get the idea that the “theme” is just as good as the real thing. Imagine If somebody at Pepsi designed their cans to look exactly like coke cans? Apple doesn’t want people to think the iPhone is just about a sleek UI, which it isn’t. It’s a whole different breed of touch screen with CMOS sensors under every pixel.

    Apple will stop once the iPhone is out, in the meantime everybody here think about it. What if I were to copy the techcrunch website, and start a blog called “TechCrunchz” that looked exactly the same? Would you not scream “foul”? Apple does have the patent on the UI, just the same as Mac OS X. Ever since Apple designed the sleek Aqua theme (which is showing it’s age) everything from websites, to OSes, to Vista have been trying to copy the look and feel. It’s no secret that people love to copy the look and feel Apple comes up with, because frankly it’s pretty cool.

    I think the reason Apple is sending Ceast & Desists is the same reason they did it when the OS X themes started coming out for Windows before the release of OS X. They don’t want product confusion or people to think that just by having the “look” of the iPhone they have pretty much the same experience. It’s a very different experience.

    Apple has the right to protect that. Sure the guy who designed the theme is enterprising, and it’s cool that he did that, I admit I’d like that theme on my Pocket PC as well, but Apple has every right to protect their designs.

    As for saying it’s like thinksecret all over again, thinksecret WAS A COMPLETELY different issue, it was about an Apple employee who signed an NDA leaking secret information about Apple products to a website, part of which he agreed not to do. This HAS NOTHING to do with the iPhone theme and is not related in anyway.

    Start thinking long and hard if you’d like the theme of anything you’ve designed copied, especially if you design UIs. You’d be pretty damn upset if another company or person suddenly made something that looked EXACTLY like what you just spent 6months to 2 years designing.

  94. Andy Breene

    January 14th, 2007 at 3:40 pm

    The sad thing is is that Apple are within their legal right to request people take down links to infringing content.

    All explained here:
    http://www.webtvwire.com/linki.....in-the-us/

  95. Anonymous

    January 14th, 2007 at 3:41 pm

    And as far as Apple going after people who just reported on the story, that’s patently FALSE, Apple went after the person because he LINKED to the download of the theme, which the supreme court has just upheld as the same thing as distributing the file itself. Apple won’t sue anyway talking about it, but they might sue people who have a link to the theme to take down the link.

    Where do you think the person designed that theme from? He went to Apple > Media Relations > Images and downloaded high resolution images of the Apple theme to create his own.

    Before you download the media images you have to click that agree not to make any works or use theme for anything other than PR photos.

  96. Reg

    January 14th, 2007 at 3:47 pm

    I love that some users think a pretty skin is all it takes to makes their PDAs work just like an Apple device!

    (Says me, stopping by briefly to post on my way to finding a download link to install on my iPAQ WM5 phone!)

  97. Kosso

    January 14th, 2007 at 5:06 pm

    Interesting : how about the services like Snap.com which are scraping snapshots of the pages which Apple are complaining about? Are they going after them too?

    The ApplePhone does indeed look very sexy and functional. And I want one. I’m a sucker for nice shiny toys. But I still think Nokia have the finest mobile phones on the market today - and tomorrow. And their use of the Symbian Series60/90 OS alongside convergent technologies such as Wifi and GPS, with a very capable browser (which supports file uploading with HTML) will keep them as a leader for users and developers, imho.

    Nokia have more mp3 players in people’s pockets than any other manufacturer, as far as I am aware.

    Nokia: Connecting People
    Apple: Locking People Up

  98. Leandro Ardissone

    January 14th, 2007 at 5:11 pm

    Apple don’t like ppl experiments. Apple sucks

  99. B.L. Ochman

    January 14th, 2007 at 6:36 pm

    It seems strange that the law firm referred to their client Apple Computer, Inc. when the company changed their name to Apple, Inc. on Jan 9, coinciding with the intro of the iPhone.

    I’m sure Apple has more than one law firm, but wouldn’t they tell them all that they’d changed the company name?

    And the cease & desist was sent by email. anyone can register any email address. DId anyone actually get a hard copy of this email?

    It smells like a hoax.

  100. Amy Wilsch

    January 14th, 2007 at 7:16 pm

    Apple gets more press by being the underdog. Lindows, Linux even, let’s go enterprise, Sun, Oracle - who’s talking about these much? It’s always more fun to root for the underdog, and on everything except music they are by far still the underdog.

    Watching these grown men constantly try to dominate is amusing in a disturbing way. Ellison, Jobs, Ballmer, Gates, Allen, even ‘the Woz’ jumps in once in a while. Maybe Bill Gates is finally feeling the cold steel hand of mortality and realizing that it’s not all a big pi**ing match after all. can’t take your “toys” with you!

    Why can’t someone convince them: guys, you’re all filthy stinking rich, you can buy small countries for god’s sake. Enjoy your money, your time on earth, do something good with it, serve your customers well, make your shoareholders rich(er), and just sit back and enjoy the ride. It’s like they can’t be happy until they rule the universe and control everything. It’s not enough to win, everyone else has to lose…

  101. Amy Wilsch

    January 14th, 2007 at 7:17 pm

    PS I still want an iphone!

  102. Derrick Daye

    January 14th, 2007 at 7:55 pm

    Bullying Bloggers is not Apple’s style. At least not the brand manager’s style. This is about Apple’s corporate attorney’s trying to earn their keep.

    There are times when top management needs to step in and say ‘hey, your doing more harm than good.’ This is one of those times.

    Remember, litigation feeds attorneys not necessarily sales.

  103. Apple is the new Hitler

    January 14th, 2007 at 9:04 pm

    Apple is killing there PR, which is all they really have over Microsoft - take away the loyalty and fanbase that comes from their good PR, and they’re just as bad as MS.

  104. Norton

    January 14th, 2007 at 9:23 pm

    I bet if Palm had released something like the iphone, they woulda got stomped on and trashed. Let’s see. No replaceable battery, no java, no 3G, users cant write apps for the phone, no 3rd party software, lockin with Cingular, an OS which takes 500megs on the phone, no word, excel, ms-exchange and outlook sync, and you’re supposed to like it. An obsolete design with features already present in unlocked phones available on the market for years.

    Since it’s apple (or google), the fanboys love it, and will bend over backwards and pay through their noses to get shafted.

    RDF at work again.

  105. CJ

    January 14th, 2007 at 9:23 pm

    For many years, Apple has sought to be the only child as does Apple fans, and nothing else is good enough or worthy. So, now, besides their systems not being able to communicate properly over the internet, they don’t want to communicate and embrace bloggers. Their PR sucks, and they have a history of being sued because they use things, like iPhone without permission. So what’s up with them? Why are they so arrogant and elitist when it comes to their product? So what if someone wants to create a skin, who cares? It’s not like the creator is making millions of it!

  106. Norton

    January 14th, 2007 at 9:39 pm

    Fsck you apple. Get your windoze skin from here: http://rapidshare.com/files/11.....n.zip.html

  107. Matt

    January 15th, 2007 at 2:43 am

    Theres nothing funnier than people jumping on the I-Pod band wagon and then winging about how crap it is.

    “No replaceable battery, no java, no 3G, users cant write apps for the phone, no 3rd party software, lockin with Cingular, an OS which takes 500megs on the phone, no word, excel, ms-exchange and outlook sync, and you’re supposed to like it. ”

    Boo Hoo.
    Go smash your i-pod and get something else.

  108. Brian Turner

    January 15th, 2007 at 5:34 am

    I don’t think the screenshot is the issue but the linking directly to the file.

    We’ve seen plenty of examples recently where links to content that may violate copyright’s have been implicated as an infringement themselves, by aiding distribution of said content. In that regard, I think Apple’s position appears much less aggressive.

    2c.

  109. Severin

    January 15th, 2007 at 6:28 am

    First, I understand the man who spent 6 months building this theme would be upset.
    Secondly, apple has the right to protect its design.

    But,
    this theme applied on any mobile device will NEVER replace an iphone. It will always be a fake… In fact, if this spread up, it will be a fantastic advertising campaign for the iPhone. And at the time the iPhone will be out, every person using the “fake” interface will be dying to use the authentic one…

    I really think this is a bad decision from Apple …
    Just useful to become unpopular

  110. Dr Fence

    January 15th, 2007 at 7:47 am

    I don’t get it … what does Apple gain from this behavior?

  111. Rob

    January 15th, 2007 at 7:50 am

    I downloaded it here http://www.geekissimo.com/2007.....vo-iphone/

  112. Dave

    January 15th, 2007 at 8:02 am

    Like I’ve said before, it’s all about the power of oligopolies - use IP law, bullying tactics, and politicians 4 sale to lock out the true entrepreneurs.

    But people will still fall head over heels in love with Apple!

  113. Raff

    January 15th, 2007 at 10:03 am

    Apple Community = Stockholm Syndrome

  114. mine ok

    January 15th, 2007 at 10:29 am

    hey did jobs make his workers do a 100 hour a week to get this done?

  115. Ravish

    January 15th, 2007 at 1:00 pm

    I installed Mac Transformation Pack on my windows PC to make it look like Mac. Is Apple going to sue me for doing this? and mike for hosting my comment?

    I would love to buy Macbook Pro but Apple sell it for over $3600 in India and does not even provide after sales service.

  116. G. Fawkes

    January 15th, 2007 at 2:11 pm

    The last original Apple I had was Apple ][ … lol ;-)

  117. Peter

    January 15th, 2007 at 2:56 pm

    I am wondering if Apple can sue all the chinese plagiates that will be on the market soon. They are concentrating on the wrong guys. I think it will be very contraprodictive to all the millions of Dollars they put into marketing. They will not convince me of their products with this kind of bad etikette!

  118. WM5useri730

    January 15th, 2007 at 3:31 pm

    Some people on here are such A**holes and Apple fan boys i.e. CLUED. If you would take the time to get your head out Apple’s a** and read what the letter said that was sent to these blog sites you would see that they Apple said we copied the entire iPhone. They said the desktop was identical to the iPhone. Since when does Apple have a start menu? And don’t come for me because i can get right back with you. Apple needs to leave people alone before someone takes them for all they have.

  119. Bill Roark

    January 15th, 2007 at 3:46 pm

    To all PC Users:

    If you have to ask, you’ll never know!

  120. Anonymous

    January 15th, 2007 at 7:48 pm

    WM5useri730, I downloaded the theme, and “de-structed” it completely, the icons used to create this are literally CHOPPED RIGHT OUT OF APPLE’S WEBSITE. They didn’t even bother to recreate them, or modify them in anyway, I actually took the .bmp files, took the file off Apple site and lined them all back up and you can see exactly where they were CHOPPED UP.

    Disgusting. At least have some dignity in creating the theme. Geeze, It’s no different than just copying images off a website, and pasting them on your website or switching them to JPEG. You can even see the exact compression errors and color profiles still embedded.

    It’s a clear case of copying, not even a case of look and feel, Apple can sue and WIN, any case related to this because the person just changed them to .BMP files. Pretty piss poor if you ask me. Geeze, at least do 30 minutes of work when making the theme. I’ve made sexier themes.

  121. David

    January 15th, 2007 at 7:50 pm

    Interesting that Apple have the cheek to threaten people yet they’ve clearly stolen the NAME iPhone!

    http://iphone.com

    Now they’re about to get a taste of their own medicine :)

  122. Anonymous

    January 15th, 2007 at 10:16 pm

    Apple didn’t steal anything with the name iPhone, I’ll be anyone here $500 Apple wins the right to the iPhone name, any takers? Back a few years after the Newton Apple owned iPhone.org, and .net for a while I believe, the also filed numerous strange patents using iPhone, and other stuff. Also there are about 48 companies worldwide already using the name iPhone, many who DO NOT have the rights to it but have used it anyway. Anyway I know a lot more about the iPhone name ordeal than I dare say, but Apple’s not going to lose. I’ll personally donate $500 to charity or the bet, and the moderator of this site can contact me offsite (don’t publish my email) to confirm the bet/charity or post here to confirm it if he wishes.

  123. Anonymous

    January 15th, 2007 at 10:24 pm

    I think it’s funny that everything used to be eCrap, then Apple started it off with iMac, and ever since there has been companies registering and making everything “iCrapola”. Cisco just wanted attention, I personally think the name is boring.

    I think Cisco should come up with some less lame and so should Apple. Apple should just call their product “The Phone” aka Apple Phone, like they did with Mail.app and vista copied the idea of it. It’s so simple and no trademark issues with just using the word phone. Apple can just call it i-phone. “The letter I Phone” ;-)

    Either way I think the whole thing is silly. Cisco is only mad because Apple said they wouldn’t make the first device interoperate with Cisco, that’s all Cisco wanted in exchange, which was something Apple couldn’t give give because they were beholden to Cingular, and probably wouldn’t have been allowed to offer IP telephony. However, you know everyone and there mother is going to start making java apps ;-)

    Java skype, Java IM client, all things you can hit on a web page with your iPhone. Let the fun begin.

  124. uwe

    January 16th, 2007 at 12:06 am

    I’m wondering how many of these iPhone patents are valid in Europe. Over here, software and ideas can not be patented which is good.

    I always wanted to replace the crapy WM5 standard apps with something M$ will never deliver and it’s time to do it now. You simply have to get the icons somewhere else :)

  125. holeg

    January 16th, 2007 at 10:01 am

    quote: This iphone will not be a big hit. Who in their right mind will spend $500 for a phone that isn’t going to offer that much more than the $200 pda?

    This is not true. In german amazon you can buy the iPhone right now and it was place one after a few days in the bestseller list …. I haven’t seen this before on anotther product which will only be available 9 Month later.

  126. A.A.

    January 16th, 2007 at 1:52 pm

    Apple hasn’t sued me for using the Logic Pro for a free music creation suite or for a Babya iPhone mockup:
    http://babyasoftwaregr.livejournal.com/81170.html
    Interestingly, Modaco seems to be based in the EU.

    The SMH has a article showing the skin-http://www.smh.com.au/news/mobiles–handhelds/iphone-skins-irk-apple/2007/01/15/1168709656280.html

  127. chris

    January 19th, 2007 at 4:35 pm

    well u no wut clued!!!!!!!
    people arent as poor as u think iso dont think that people cant afford them because i could but instead i decided to to get a zune and it was the right thing to do because
    u have nothing better to do than read everyone elses comments and bash them for saying something that kinda makes sence things that are made are ment to be exploted even the iphone have you ever downloaded something fee when it really costs money are you saying that the record labels should sue you because u got it free so really it doesnt matter besause the iphone is an over priced piece of crap any way
    also i could afford one of those

    and what ur doing is called being a a**

  128. Nick

    January 21st, 2007 at 6:55 am

    So please clarify: Customizing skins and themes are now illegal? What if I’m a fan of Spiderman or Superman and I want their pics as my wallpaper? Do I need to write to Marvel/DC Comics/Sony Pictures, etc. or even to the guy who created these superheroes before I can place them on my desktop or phone?
    Because it seems that’s the message “Apple Computers, Inc.” (if ever there’s a thing) is trying to convey.

    Oh, and did I commit a crime by typing the word “Apple”? So next time I bite into my favorite fruit I should call it the “red fruit”?

  129. Andre

    January 23rd, 2007 at 10:01 am

    Welp, I stopped about halfway through these posts because everybody who is posting about the outrage of Apple is posting that they sent a cease and desist letter about the iPhone-like skin.
    Actually, the picture of the iPhone on this blog is an Apple commercial, ripped off the Apple website. I recognize it from the JP Pruitt-like supermodel’s hand that’s holding the iPhone.

    To you people who don’t understand, that’s what they are complaining about.

    This blog is using Apple’s pictures, basically commercials paid for by Apple, of the iPhone from Apple’s website, in a way that is unflattering (I’m sure they wouldn’t have minded so much if it was an Apple fanboi entry).
    Apple wouldn’t have a leg to stand on if this lazy-ass blogger made their own pictures (artist sketches, Hah! That would be excellent), or at least didn’t use another websites content as it’s own. Which is the heart of this.
    Moral of the story? Kids, don’t be lazy ass with your web design. Create your own content.

  130. bk

    January 23rd, 2007 at 12:29 pm

    I’m joining the apple cult and waiting for Jobs to tell me to drink the death juice so that I can catch the comet and get off this god forsaken planet!