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From: tim@hoptoad.uucp (Tim Maroney)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: From the press: "Group Steals Apple's Secret Software Code"
Message-ID: <7603@hoptoad.uucp>
Date: 9 Jun 89 05:33:08 GMT
Organization: Eclectic Software, San Francisco
Lines: 94

Reprinted without permission from the San Francisco Chronicle, Friday, June
9, 1989, Page C1.

GROUP STEALS APPLE'S SECRET SOFTWARE CODE
By Don Clark
Chronicle Staff Writer

A band of self-styled idealists is trying to give away Apple Computer
Inc.'s crown jewels -- secret software that could be used to copy the
Macintosh computer.

The Cupertino-based company said yesterday that a number of people have
received floppy disks in the mail containing a portion of the software
"source code" for the Macintosh, purportedly from a group calling
itself "the nuPrometheus League (Software Artists for Information
Dissemination)."

"Our objective at Apple is to distribute everything that prevents other
manufacturers from creating legal copies of the Macintosh," a letter
accompanying the disks states.

That wording, as well as the fact that source code is guarded very
tightly, suggests that the software leak started with Apple employees.
The company, which learned of the letters Tuesday, did not rule that
out.

"We are aggressively investigating," said Carlene LeVasseur, an Apple
spokeswoman.  "This is stolen property, and once an individual or
individuals responsible are found, they will be prosecuted."

Source code is the original instructions for software, written in a
programming language that humans can read that is later converted to a
form a machine can understand.

Access to source code, which frequently includes comments or drawings
that interpret key functions, could theoretically speed the process of
making a Mac clone, industry participants said yesterday.

But any overt use of it would be a crime that is easily spotted, they
said.

"I'm sure this is going to scare Apple," said Andy Hertsfeld, an
independent programmer who helped develop the Macintosh software.
"But it's just kind of a childish thing."

Apple has aggressively used lawsuits to protect the operating software
that gives the Macintosh its exclusive ease-of-use.

That strategy has been controversial among many Macintosh devotees,
some of whom believe that Apple's exclusive ownership allows it to
charge outrageously high prices.

The nuPrometheus League -- whose name is derived from the Greek god who
stole fire and gave it to the human race -- also cites Apple
management's litigiousness.

"As an organization, the nuPrometheus League has no ambition beyond
seeing the genius of a few Apple employees benefit the entire world,
not just dissipated by Apple Corporate through litigation and
ill-will," the letter states.

Some observers said the incident could reflect internal dissension at a
company once known for its counter-cultural ethos.

"I would treat this as another sign that the age of Camelot has ended
at Apple," said Paul Saffo, an analyst at the Menlo Park-based
Institute for the Future.

The first nuPrometheus disk, the letter states, included source code
for Apple's QuickDraw system for controlling screen displays and other
functions stored in chips called ROMs (read-only memories).  It
promises that the group will later send other code for ROMs and entire
releases of operating system software.

The letter encourages those interested in receiving disks to place
classified ads titled nuPrometheus in two local trade papers, MacWeek
and Computer Currents.

[Note from Tim:  I am simply running this because I got an early copy
of the Chronicle today, as I often do.  I have no connection with or
knowledge of this group (if in fact it is a group, not an individual),
nor was I one of the recipients of this software.  It would be
impolitic for me to express approval or condemnation of the action,
except to say that I feel the same ambivalence that I'm sure many
people reading this message do.  Finally, I should point out that it
would be exceptionally dumb for anyone to run such a classified ad, as
they would be setting themselves up for an easy conviction on charges
of receiving stolen property.]
-- 
Tim Maroney, Mac Software Consultant, sun!hoptoad!tim, tim@toad.com
Postal: 424 Tehama, SF CA 94103; Phone: (415) 495-2934

"Please help support the moratorium on meaningless quotes in .signatures."
  -- Doug Asherman on rec.music.cd