Saturday, January 15, 2005 4:55 PM
Looks like legal issues have arisen for yet another blogger, this time Harvard student Nicholas M. Ciarelli. According to an article in
The Harvard Crimson, Ciarelli, using the name Nick dePlume on his site
ThinkSecret, "announced the arrival of the Mac mini—a $499 computer—and the iLife ’05 software package two weeks before they were introduced at the Apple expo..."
The Crimson article continues, suggesting that in "a complaint filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara last Tuesday, Apple alleges that Think Secret has not obtained its information legally. Apple claims that Ciarelli and his company, The dePlume Organization, broke the law when soliciting insider tips online from anonymous sources, 'inducing' Apple employees to break their confidentiality agreements with the company."
What makes this situation even more intriguing to the blawgosphere is an email response Ciarelli sent to The Crimson. "'I employ the same legal newsgathering practices used by any other journalist,' he wrote.'I talk to sources of information, investigate tips, follow up on leads, and corroborate details. I believe these practices are reflected in Think Secret’s track record.'”
I don't claim to have any knowledge of media law, but reading Mr. Ciarelli's above comment makes me wonder if there is a legal definition for "journalist." Can someone who writes and reports stories on a blog be considered a journalist? And what legal rights and responsibilities go along with that title? Further, can a weblog read by 100 people be considered under the same legal guidelines as a newspaper with a circulation of 100,000?
Certainly the question of whether the number of readers of a given weblog should play a role in determining whether or not it is "media," seems difficult to answer. For example, the ThinkSecret site looks something like a weblog and is apparently a hot site for a wide variety of professionals with an interest in Apple. But no one is claiming that its readership is on par with the online properties of CNN or the Wall Street Journal. Yet, the makeup of the ThinkSecret readership, no matter how small, is allegedly very influential.
From the Wall Street Journal: "Nicholas Ciarelli started what became ThinkSecret.com at age 13 as an online hangout for fellow enthusiasts of Apple's Macintosh computers. It has since turned into one of the most influential Web sites about the company, drawing analysts, reporters and industry watchers eager to read guesses about Apple's next move. 'Whenever there's a hot rumor, I'm there,' says Andrew Green, vice president of marketing and creative director at Digital Lifestyle Outfitters Inc., which makes accessories for Apple's hot iPod music players.
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster says Think Secret's early report of a sub-$500 Mac spurred him to put out a research note on the speculation two days later." [read full Journal article]
Judging from the above, postings to ThinkSecret may impact everything from Apple's stock price to Apple competitor's strategic plans (not bad for a 19 year old kid!).
Blogging technologies have opened the door for instaneous information flow and are clearly moving the marketplace. But, as Apple's recent actions suggest, Corporate America may not be eager to go along for the ride. Something tells me that for blogs and the bloggers who write them, the legal fights are just beginning. And yet finally, among all of this uncertainty, I do see one certainty: this is a fascinating time to be a media lawyer.