ThinkSecret RIP after Apple settlement (and empty Sun)

Shhh! It's IT Blogwatch: in which we mourn the passing of a premier Apple rumormonger. Not to mention an abandoned Sun Microsystems building...

Gregg Keizer reports:

A popular Apple-centric rumor Web site has shut down as part of an out-of-court settlement ... which was announced today by Nick Ciarelli, publisher and editor in chief of the popular ThinkSecret site, came nearly three years after Apple filed a lawsuit that accused him and his site of illegally soliciting leaks from Apple employees. [more]

Jacqui Cheng fills us in:

ThinkSecret ... one of ... the Mac community's ... oldest and best-known rumor sites ... has a long history of reporting on rumors, successfully predicting the introduction of the Mac mini as well as iWork in 2005 ... This was one of several cases that have challenged the distinctions between bloggers and journalists ... with the courts ruling that ... [they] were functionally identical. [more]

Nick "dePlume" Ciarelli issued a terse press release:

[It's] a positive solution for both sides ... no sources were revealed and Think Secret will no longer be published ... I'm pleased to have reached this amicable settlement, and will now be able to move forward with my college studies and broader journalistic pursuits. [more]

John Murrell doesn't sound convinced:

Think Secret — always passionate, often entertaining, and sometimes even right ... Apple said Ciarelli “induced” employees to leak with his open invitation for insider dope, and it wanted names. Ciarelli said he was just using standard news gathering methods ... The question that has always hung over this case is whether Apple would have tried the same strong-arm tactics if the tips had been published by, say, the Wall Street Journal. [more]

Mike Masnick mocks:

It made sense to go after whoever leaked the info to ThinkSecret, but going after the publication was ridiculous ... it sets a horrible precedent for plenty of sites, and may create quite the chilling effect on reporters and bloggers alike. It's really a shame that Apple even decided to pursue this vendetta, and the fact that it ends with Think Secret being shut down completely is a travesty. [more]

Mathew Ingram is incandescent:

Damn you, Steve Jobs ... Apple comes off looking like some power-crazed South American dictator, the kind who can’t stand it when the media reveal government secrets and so arrests the entire press corps ... Apple should be ashamed of itself. [more]

Fake Steve Jobs distorts reality:

Matthew Ingram, let me just make something clear. We did not shut down Think Secret. That did not happen. Okay? That's not reality. Reality is, Think Secret shut down on its own. Which come to think of it might be a good idea for you, Matthew Ingram. Otherwise we may have to come over there and not shut you down, too. [more]

But scratt simply shrugs:

Good riddance in my view I am afraid. I bet he ... makes a bundle from the domain name. [more]

And finally...

• Amazing pictures of an abandoned Sun Microsystems building
  

Buffer overflow:

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• Symantec Security Response: The Orkut Worm Has Landed!
• Om Malik: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Thin Solar
• Tony Pearson: Three Questions about EMC Invista
• Rough Type: Reality mining and your cell phone
• PC Mechanic: IBM Stays In The Game With More Social Networking In Lotus
• iface thoughts: W3C v/s Developer Community
• Groklaw: Samba Team Receives Microsoft Protocol Documentation
• Matt Ford: Science magazine's top 10 breakthroughs of the year

Other Computerworld bloggers:

• Don Tennant: Charles luxuriates, Sanjay languishes
• Mark Hall: Back door wars
• Shark Tank: First things first
• Douglas Schweitzer: Breach across the pond
• Shark Bait: Atari Montage

Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/adviser/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and spam. A 20 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. You too can pretend to be Richi's friend on Facebook, or just use boring old email: blogwatch@richi.co.uk.

Previously in IT Blogwatch:

• 700 MHz auction bidders revealed by FCC (and cancelcancel)
• Japanese iPhone negotiations (and LucasFilm cards)
• Ribbit: voice 2.0? (and holiday wallpaper)