Apple is clamping down hard on leakers, and as part of its no-leaks push, the company has reportedly sent a cease and desist letter to the person behind a social media account that sold illegally obtained prototypes of Apple devices. Over the past couple of months, Apple has reportedly sent legal notices to some prominent leakers that shared details about unreleased Apple products, ranging from iPhones and Macs to ambitious projects, like AR glasses and headsets, that are still a few years away. Apple has even allegedly tried tricks like planting fake information about upcoming events to zero in on the source of leaks.
However, there’s a lot more to the story here. Aside from leakers and rumormongers, the company's legal team even got in touch with a well-known graphics designer who made concept renders of yet-to-be-launched Apple products based on leaks and speculations. Furthermore, the company went after one of its former employees and sued them for allegedly sharing details with a journalist for personal gains about unreleased products, feature development roadmap, and planned announcements.
As per a Vice report, a cease and desist letter was sent to a Chinese citizen who engaged in hawking stolen iPhone prototypes on social media. For those unaware of the legalese behind a cease and desist order, it is usually sent to remind an individual (or group) that they are engaging in an activity that hurts the affected party, and refusing to comply might result in legal action down the road. In Apple’s case, the trillion-dollar company wants the person in question to refrain from selling prototype Apple devices that fetch a high price on the gray market.
Apple Desperately Looking To Stop The Leak Train
The letter, sent reportedly by a law firm called Fangda Partners that represents Apple in China, sought to put a brake on the seller’s business which includes “acquiring, advertising, and selling leaked Apple devices.” According to the report, Apple says that the seller’s activities infringe upon the company’s trade secrets, a deed that is punishable by up to ten years in prison or a fine of up to $250,000 — or both — under the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 in the United States. More importantly, it asked the seller to reveal the identity of the people who steal off-the-public-limit hardware. Put simply, Apple wants to stop the sale of sensitive hardware and aims to nab the culprit behind the theft of such devices at the same time.
As per the seller, Apple allegedly wants to know how the details of unreleased products got out and at what point in the supply chain hardware was stolen. However, prototype devices are not just collector’s items. They are highly valued in the hacking community where they can be exploited for jailbreaking, finding vulnerabilities, and gaining root access to code that is otherwise not possible on a retail unit. It is unclear whether Apple has sent such notices to other leakers, but the recent wave of iPhone and Mac leaks certainly appears to have the company worried.
Source: Vice