Apple suing teenager

Now he's 19 and a Harvard student, but Nicholas Ciarelli was 13 when he first started annoying Apple by building a Web site that published "insider news and rumors about Apple," the Washington Post reports. His Web site, ThinkSecret.com, now generates millions of pageviews a month from Apple's "legendarily zealous fans," the Post adds. "After a series of letters warning the Web site to stop publishing proprietary information, Apple decided enough was enough." Apparently, it was Nicholas's prediction that Apple would come out with a computer for less than $500 (the Mac Mini) and other tip-offs that sparked Apple's lawsuit "accusing him of illegally misappropriating trade secrets." [Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the Mini at MacWorld last week - see my news brief.] How does Nicholas get this information? Just like any journalist, he says - by talking to "sources" and following up and confirming hunches or things he hears. Of course, some sources could be disgruntled Apple employees posting inside info at ThinkSecret.com. Addendum: The latest news is that Terry Gross, a San Francisco-based lawyer "specialising in freedom of speech and the Internet," is taking up Nicholas's defense free of charge. That's from the Associated Press Thursday, 1/20.