Apple Lawyer Tells Valleywag to “Knock It Off”

By Dena Cassella Published January 27, 2010

Apple’s top secret—and technically unconfirmed—tablet PC has been flooding the Web with rumors all week. Tech blog Valleywag decided to up the ante on the mythical tablet and initiated an Apple Tablet Scavenger Hunt. Valleywag announced it was offering a $10,000 reward for “bona fide” pictures of the tablet, $20,000 for a video, $50,000 for pictures or video of Apple CEO Steve Jobs holding the tablet, and $100,000 “to let us play with one for an hour.”

Apple was not pleased with the site and told its legal representative Michael Spillner of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe to warn Valleywag—which he did, in the polite form of a letter. “While Apple values and appreciates vibrant public commentary about its products, we believe you and your company crossed the line by offering a bounty for the theft of Apple’s trade secrets,” read the letter, which was quoted in The Wall Street Journal. “Such an offer is illegal and Apple insists that you immediately discontinue the Scavenger Hunt.”

Recommended Videos

Unaffected by the legality of the issue, Valleywag confirmed on its site that it was still offering prizes for the tablet information and that “we can’t tell Apple who you are if we don’t know who you are.”

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Haole built. O'ahu grown

Topics

Computing

Apple will check your public iCloud links for harmful content, and it doesn’t rule out banning accounts

Public iCloud links now come with a content check.

iCloud Private Relay

I’ve sent more iCloud links than I can count. Still, I never once wondered who else might be looking at what sat behind them. Well, it looks like Apple has started wondering for all of us.

In a new support document, Apple confirms that iOS 27.3 will begin checking content shared through public “Anyone with the link” iCloud links for harmful material (via Apple). While the developer beta is already available, the stable build is expected in December 2026.

Computing

Safari’s biggest tab-management upgrade in years could finally end your browser clutter with iOS 27.3

Safari learns to tame tabs and dim bright pages.

Here’s a confession: I never close my browser tabs. I just let them pile up until my browser looks like a Tetris game I’ve already lost. Well, it looks like Apple is finally ready to help me clean up.

Apple’s first iOS 27.3 developer betas are here, and they add three new Safari features: Vertical Tabs, Adaptive Dark Mode, and Siri commands. It’s the one I’m most excited about.

Computing

Apple issues a grim warning as memory costs soar. It seems pricey iPhones and Macs are here to stay

Apple’s memory bill is climbing, and your receipt may follow.

MacBook Pro PROLED XDR laptop

Whether it’s iPhones, iPads, or MacBooks, Apple has already slapped revised price tags on a long list of products. Since these products already cost hundreds of dollars more than they did (especially MacBooks and the Mac mini, which use highly capable M-series chips), I was quietly hoping this was it.

However, during its recent earnings call, Apple ended that hope. The company has warned that memory chip prices are climbing at an “unprecedented” pace, with CEO John Ternus telling investors that costs will be even higher in the December quarter (via The Guardian).