Woz: Apple Going After Wrong People

Apple founder Steve Wozniak spoke out recently about a lawsuit involving a beta copy of Mac OS X 10.4 that leaked onto the Internet late last year, saying his former company should drop the matter.

The case involves three named defendants, one of which is Vivek Sambhara of Atlanta, Georgia. Sambhara was interviewed by technology enthusiast Web log DrunkenBlog in early January where he explained the case against him in more detail.

"I wish that Apple could find some way to drop the matter. In my opinion, more than appropriate punishment has already been dealt out," Wozniak said after reading the interview. "In this age of professional spammers and telemarketers making fortunes, we're misusing our energies to pursue these types of small time wrongdoers. I will personally donate $1,000 to [Sambhara's] defense."

Sambhara says he does not have the money to afford a lawyer for this type of lawsuit. He has contacted several, but according to DrunkenBlog, most have required a $7,500 retaining fee at a minimum just to try to mitigate damages. Since it is a federal case, no public defender is provided to the defendant.

The lawsuit follows several others filed by Apple in order to keep its upcoming products under wraps. Apple has had a long history of keeping details quiet up until launch day or company conference. The most notable of these lawsuits involves a case against ThinkSecret, a Web site run by Nicholas Ciarelli, a Havard University student.