I've been keeping quiet about the whole Apple vs. dePlume et al. case because, well, it hit pretty close to home. I designed thinksecret.com several years ago and my name is featured on every page at the bottom. Although that is my only connection to the site, other than being a reader, Apple, in their pursuit of leak-stoppage, has subpoenaed me to produce the true identity of Nick dePlume.

Guess what? I have never met the guy. Almost all of our communication took place via instant message, and my payment for designing the site came from Nick dePlume via PayPal. I have to salute Nick for being smart enough to keep things pseudonymous from the start; despite being a teenager, he's put a lot of thought into his enterprise from the start.

I first contacted him when I was designing and reporting for ZDNet News, to consult about a story I was working on. We remained friendly and chatted online occasionally, even after I left ZDNet until the opportunity to redesign his site came along. Since then, again, we have communicated primarily online via instant message.

The suit against Think Secret came as a surprise to me. Like most other readers, I checked the site from time-to-time to see what Apple might be coming up with in the future, and found the reporting to be often accurate, and often inaccurate. Rumors abound on the interweb. Anyone can say anything about anyone, and before it can be stopped, the rumor has reached the far corners of the 'net. Macintosh rumormongering has been a tradition for over 20 years, ferchrissakes. People want to know what is coming in the future; we're curious creatures by nature. But much as Lisa DiCarlo explains in Forbes,

"…most of its secret product news is not published first by national, mainstream media, but by Apple advocates. These people are customers, fans and Apple-lovers."

People's enthusiasm for new products is rarely diminished by foreknowledge of the product, unless the product is a real dog. And even when people know what's coming, they show up for Steve Jobs' keynotes in droves because of his presentation. They know the big picture, but are waiting to be entranced by his explanation of the details. These are not people who are running out to create competing products, these are loyal fans and customers who are already excited.

Nevertheless, Apple and Jobs expend untold resources preventing any information that is not delivered via press release or Job's tongue. From my personal experience with new Apple product announcements I know that I arrive at every MacWorld with the same sense of anticipation, whether or not I have an idea of what will be presented. My involvement with the case is beyond peripheral, but the subpoena shows how far and wide Apple is willing to cast a net to plug these leaks. Now with the Harvard Crimson, the Washington Post (reg. req.) and the Associated Press doing feature stories and interviews with the person behind Think Secret, I can only hope my involvement with the case has ended, and this 25+year Apple owner can get things back to normal.

My take on the whole deal is that you can't put toothpaste back into the tube. I don't know anything about Apple's NDAs or how trade secrets are protected, but it seems to me that the correct predictions made on Think Secret surfaced only slightly before the actual product introductions. I do not know how much impact that has on the products, but after seeing the almost-universal acclaim for the MWSF '05 introductions, I'm not sure how this impacted the introduction. Furthermore, the products were not much of a surprise, as they were products that pundits and the general public alike have been demanding. I wish Nick the best of luck with his defense, and I look forward to his next scoops.