Apple Settles With Rumor Site Think Secret

Apple rumor site Think Secret will be closing shop after it reached a settlement with Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple, ending a three year legal battle that touched on both Apple's right to its trade secrets and Think Secret's freedom of speech.

Think Secret posted the news on its site on Dec. 20, announcing that as part of the agreement Think Secret will cease publication, but the web site did not reveal any of its sources to the company.

"Apple and Think Secret have settled their lawsuit, reaching an agreement that results in a positive solution for both sides," reads the release.

Apple sued site publisher Nick Ciarelli and his company, dePlume Organization, for violating trade secrets and inducing its employees to violate their confidentiality agreements after Think Secret scooped the January 2005 MacWorld announcement of the Mac Mini and other Apple products.

Ciarelli, a student at Harvard and an editor at the university's newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, said that he is satisfied with the settlement and looking to move on. "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," Ciarelli said.

Ciarelli, a student at Harvard, started the Think Secret site in 1999 when he was just 13 years old. He was 19 when Apple filed the suit.