Apple v. Does [1]

On December 13, 2004, Apple filed suit against unknown defendants for misappropriation and publication of trade secrets in connection with reports about its "Asteroid" product (a FireWire audio interface for Apple's GarageBand) that appeared on Apple-related news sites, PowerPage, AppleInsider, and ThinkSecret. Apple sought and obtained permission to issue subpoenas to PowerPage, AppleInsider, ThinkSecret, and PowerPage's email service provider, Nfox.com and Karl Kraft, requesting documents relating to the identity of the news site's confidential sources.

On February 14, 2005, Jason O'Grady (from PowerPage), Monish Bhatia (hosting service provider for AppleInsider), and "Kasper Jade" (AppleInsider) moved for a protective order to prevent the discovery sought by Apple on grounds that their sources and unpublished information were protected under the reporter's shield embodied in Article I, section 2(b) of the California Constitution and California Evidence Code 1070 and the reporter's privilege under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. they also argued that the subpoenas issued against Nfox and Kraft could not be enforced without violating the Stored Communications Act (18 U.S.C. sec. 2702(a)(1)).

The state district court denied defendants' motion to quash the subpoenas. In O'Grady v. Superior Court [2], 139 Cal.App.4th 1423 (Cal. Ct. App. 2006), the Court of Appeals quashed the subpoenas, holding that the federal Stored Communications Act barred enforcement of the subpoena served on PowerPage's email service provider, and that discovery of unpublished information or confidential sources from the news sites would violate California's reporter's shield provision and the First Amendment.

Apple announced that it would not appeal the ruling, and voluntarily withdrew the lawsuit in January 2007.

This case is related to Apple Computer, Inc. v. DePlume, No. 1-05-CV-33341 (Cal. Super. Ct. Jan. 04, 2005). Please see CMLP's database entry [3] for more information on the status of that lawsuit.