Donate to EFF

Apple v. Does

UPDATE: EFF Wins Appeal in Apple v. Does, May 26, 2006

» Full Decision in Apple v. Does May 26, 2006

» Frequently Asked Questions about this case

In December 2004, Apple filed a lawsuit in Santa Clara county against unnamed individuals who allegedly leaked information about new Apple products to several online news sites, including AppleInsider and PowerPage. The articles at issue concerned a FireWire audio interface for GarageBand, codenamed "Asteroid" or "Q7." In addition, Apple filed a separate trade secret suit against Think Secret on January 4, 2004.

Apple is seeking information from these news sites regarding the identities of the sites' sources, and has subpoenaed Nfox.com, the email service provider for PowerPage, for email messages that may identify the confidential source.

EFF, along with co-counsel Thomas Moore III and Richard Wiebe, are representing the online journalists to protect their anonymous sources.

EFF opposes Apple's discovery because the confidentiality of the media's sources and unpublished information are critical means for journalists of all stripes to acquire information and communicate it to the public. Because today's online journalists frequently depend on confidential sources to gather material, their ability to promise confidentiality is essential to maintaining the strength of independent media. Furthermore, the protections required by the First Amendment are necessary regardless of whether the journalist uses a third party for communications.

Appellate Argument Audio Files

Running time: 1h14m

mp3	ogg
32kb/s [18M]	32kb/s [21M]
64kb/s [36M]	64kb/s [37M]

Petition to Court of Appeal:
O'Grady, et al. v. Apple Computer, Inc., Case Number H028579

• Petition for Writ of Mandate [PDF, 184K]
• Apple's Opposition to Writ Petition April 7, 2005 [PDF, 6.8M]
• Reply to Apple's Oppositon to Writ Petition April 22, 2005 [PDF, 120K]
• Apple's Response to Amicus Briefs May 11, 2005 [PDF, 1.8M]
• Petitioners' Motion to Unseal Portions of Declarations [PDF, 1M] July 1, 2005
• Answer to Petition [PDF, 1M] July 5, 2005
• Petitioners' Opposition to Apple's Answer to Petition [PDF, 27K] July 25, 2005
• Order Granting Motion to Unseal Portions of Declarations [PDF, 156k] August 30th, 2005
• Redacted Versions of the Declarations of Robin Zonic and Al Ortiz [PDF, 3.4M] September 9, 2005

Order to show cause

• Order to show cause [PDF, 133K] June 2, 2005
• Apple's Return in Response to Order to Show Cause [PDF, 589K] July 5, 2005

Amicus Briefs (and related documents) in support of Petitioners

• Amicus Brief of Bear Flag League April 15, 2005 [PDF. 1.2M]
• Amicus Brief of Online Journalists and Organizations April 11, 2005 [PDF, 117K]
• Online Journalists Application for Leave to File Amicus Brief April 11, 2005 [PDF, 114K]
• Amicus Brief of the US Internet Industry Association and NetCoalition April 11, 2005 [PDF, 74K]
• Amicus Brief of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, et al April 7, 2005[PDF, 192K]
• Motion of Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, et al, for Leave to File Amicus Brief [PDF, 66K]
• Application of ACLU to Adopt RCFP Brief April 17, 2005 [PDF, 176K]

Amicus Briefs in support of Apple

• Amicus Brief of Information Technlogy Industry Council May 11, 2005 [PDF, 784K]
• Amicus Brief of Genetech April 25, 2005 [PDF, 1M]
• Amicus Brief of Intel and BSA April 28, 2005 [PDF, 612K]

Motion for Protective Order

March 11, 2005

• Decision on Motion for Protective Order

March 2, 2005

• Reply Brief [PDF, 140K]
• Kasper Jade Supporting Declaration [PDF, 288K]
• Jason O'Grady Supporting Declaration [PDF, 268K]

February 25th, 2005

• Opposition to Motion for Protective Order [PDF, 800K]
• Declaration of Eberhart in Opposition to Protective Order [PDF, 552K]

February 14, 2005

• Notice of Motion for Protective Order [PDF, 68K]
• Memo of Points and Authorities [PDF, 160K]
• Declaration of Dan Gillmor [PDF, 104K]
• Declaration of Professor Thomas Goldstein [PDF, 104K]
• Declaration of Kasper Jade (Apple Insider) [PDF, 68K]
• Declaration of Jason O'Grady (PowerPage) [PDF, 76K]
• Declaration of Kurt Opsahl [PDF, 80K]

Subpoenas

• Business Records Subpoena [PDF, 224K]
• Subpoena to Kraft with Notice [PDF, 592K]
• Subpoena to Nfox with Notice [PDF, 588K]

Initial Documents

• Apple v. Does Complaint [PDF, 1.2MB]
• Supplement to Ex Parte Application [PDF, 1.4MB]
• Santa Clara County Court Order re Discovery [PDF, 404k]
• Commission to Texas Court re Subpoena to Red Widget (PowerPage's ISP) [PDF 304K]
• Second Santa Clara County Court Order re Discovery [PDF 52K]
• Commission to Nevada Court re Subpoena to Nfox (PowerPage's Email Provider) [PDF 144KB]

Related Media

• Apple Can't Strongarm Bloggers January 10, 2005
• Why We Fight Apple's Subpeonas
• EFF Media Releases about this case

Thanks

EFF thanks co-counsel Thomas Moore III and Richard Wiebe, who are providing pro bono assistance in this case.

Richard R. Wiebe, Law Offices of Richard R. Wiebe, 425 California St #2025 | San Francisco, California 94104
Phone: 415.433.3200 | Fax: 415.433.6382

Thomas Moore III, Partner, Tomlinson Zisko LLP 200 Page Mill Road | Palo Alto, California 94306
Phone: 650.325.8666 | Direct: 650.330.4160 | Fax: 650.324.1808 | Email: TMooreIII@tzllp.com