Student looks for representation in Apple case
18 January 2005
A student whose website is being sued by software giant Apple has revealed that he is in need of legal assistance.
Apple is taking legal action against 19-year-old Harvard University student Nicholas Ciarelli after a leak about the Mac Mini appeared on his website, www.ThinkSecret.com, on December 28th last year.
Because of the estimated cost of his defence, Mr Ciarelli is seeking free or inexpensive representation. His site posted unreleased information about Apple's upcoming products and the notoriously litigious computer firm took action.
Apple alleges that the website illegally published company trade secrets in a January 4th lawsuit, which also targets the site's unnamed sources for the leaks.
Mr Ciarelli's identity as the site's publisher and editor was only published this week and he is not named as a defendant, but he still requires legal representation to argue that he requires First Amendment protection and used proper newsgathering techniques to break the story.
"A lot of lawyers are interested in my case, but few are able to do it for free or low cost," Mr Ciarelli, of Cazenovia, New York, told the Associated Press. "I'm seeking representation."
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based civil liberties group, defending two other sites, AppleInsider.com and PowerPage.org, has announced that it will not defend Think Secret, but is trying to find Mr Ciarelli counsel.
Mr Ciarelli started www.ThinkSecret.com in 1998 when he was 13. The site, which accepts advertising, is read by Apple enthusiasts and industry analysts because of its exclusive stories about company developments.
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