Low End Mac Reader Specials

Memory To Go Special: MacPro 8 Core 8GB kit $232 / 4GB kit $116 / 2GB kit $72. New Macbook 2GB DDR3-$65. HARD DRIVES available -- Free shipping / LIfetime warranty.

Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com

LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, iMac's, Apple Batteries and Apple A/C Adapters. Also Great prices on Used Apple Computers. Call 1-800-941-7654 Click Here.

Mac users can finally play Party Poker for Mac. Not only that, they can also learn how to play PokerStars for Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, laptops, and LCD TVs side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for a new cell phone GPS products or MP3 players. The Ciao network makes searching products easy for you.

Mac Musings

Apple Strongarms Mac Junkie

Inept Host Removes Site

July 24, 2000 - Dan Knight - Tip Jar

It looks like Apple legal finally managed to shut down one site, at least temporarily.Power Mac G4 Cube

Background

The weeks prior to Macworld Expo were full of rumors of a cube-shaped Mac. Some thought it would have handles, some said it would measure 14" (35 cm) in each direction, some thought it would be stackable.

On Tuesday, July 18, on the eve of Macworld Expo, AppleInsider managed to publish photos of the Power Mac G4 Cube. As always, Mac lovers looked at the photos with suspicion. In fact, Mac Junkie wrote AppleInsider's G4 Cube "Photo" a Fraud! on July 18, claiming it was no more than a Photoshop hack - and a flawed one at that.

Fully within his legal rights, Ben Apple included AppleInsider's photo to illustrate his article. As anyone who has followed Web law now knows, once a "trade secret" has been posted to the Internet, it loses legal protection. Since AppleInsider had already posted the image, Mac Junkie was on safe legal ground.

Further, the image was used within the "fair use" restrictions of copyright law, since Apple's article discussed the image and AppleInsider's claims. In fact, he went so far as to claim the image was fraudulent.

Apple Legal Steps In

Just before midnight of July 18, Ben Apple of Mac Junkie received email from cpyrt@apple.com notifying him that the image used in his article infringed on Apple's copyright. As is Apple's normal practice, they also sent a copy of this email to Mac Junkie's host.

Do note it is Apple legal's normal policy to contact a site's host. When they went after Low End Mac for publishing a photo of the graphite iMac DV Special Edition before it was released (like Mac Junkie, we had obtained it from another site and were using it to illustrate news), they contacted my host but not me. My host was kind enough to contact me before action and also forward me a copy of Apple's letter. Ben Apple should be grateful Apple is now contacting the site publisher as well as the site host.

As requested, Apple removed the AppleInsider cube image from his site, notifying Apple Computer of his compliance at 02.00 a.m. on July 19, just hours before Steve Jobs was to unveil the Cube to the world. (I don't know if AppleInsider ever removed their images. They are up at present.)

Although Mac Junkie was acting within the law, they agreed to comply with Apple's request.

Addr.com Drops the Ball (and the Site)

Mac Junkie is hosted by Addr.com, which apparently doesn't realize it is not responsible for the content of the sites it hosts. Further, Mac Junkie's use of the supposedly infringing photo does not violate their web hosting policy.

Regardless, Addr.com chose to wipe the Mac Junkie site at about noon on Wednesday, July 19 - not only the first day of the Expo, but also after Apple Computer had unveiled the Cube to the world. They did this without bothering to ask Ben Apple if he had complied with Apple's request.

As of Friday afternoon (July 21), Addr.com had restored all old site content. Mac Junkie is back in action and ready to move to a more professional hosting company.

Loss of Service and Income

Of course, there's the issue of lost site income. Like most free sites, Mac Junkie generates income based on ad impressions. When the site disappears, so does the ability to deliver on advertising contracts.

Worst of all, the six busiest days for Mac sites every year are the three days of Macworld Expo in January and the three days in July. By taking Mac Junkie down just as other sites were posting reports on the keynote speech and other news from the Expo, Addr.com has caused significant harm, probably in excess of 10% of site income for the month.

Addr.com's actions are unconscionable, to say the least. Pulling a site without contacting the site's owner first is completely unprofessional. The closest analogy I can think of was when one of the larger cable companies stopped serving ABC affiliates for several days earlier this year. But in Mac Junkie's case it was worse than that; nobody could access their site.

I wish Ben Apple the best in pursuing a financial settlement with Addr.com. Since he was within the law when publishing the images in the first place, within the terms of service of Addr.com, had even complied with Apple's request, was paying Addr.com for service, and depended on those contracted service for income, a good lawyer should be able to obtain a very nice settlement.

Let's hope other hosts have more integrity when it comes to dealing with their customers. LEM

Dan Knight has been using Macs since 1986, sold Macs for several years, supported them for many more years, and has been publishing Low End Mac since April 1997. If you find Dan's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.

Recent Mac Musings

Links for the Day

Recent Content on Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.


Have a question?
Ask an expert!

Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Video Cards
Email Lists
InfoMac's Low
End Mac Forum

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
MacMall
TechRestore
MacResQ
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.