Ed.Edell@f563.n107.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Ed Edell) (06/10/89)
Following is the complete article that appeared in the
6/9/89 edition of The Wall Street Journal, page B 3 .
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Mysterious Group Is Pirating Apple's Super-Secret Code
By Roger Lowenstein and G.Pascal Zachary
A group of high-tech Robin Hoods- possibly including employees of
Apple Computer Inc.- apparently is trying to disseminate the
super-secret source code of Apple's Macintosh computer.
Various people have gotten copies of a floppy disk with the closely
guarded Macintosh code, along with a letter signed by "the New
Prometheus League (Software Artists for Information Dissemination)."
The letter states:; "Our objective at Apple is to distribute
everything that prevents other manufacturers from creating legal
copies of the Macintosh.
"As an organization the New Prometheus League has no ambition
beyond seeing the genius of a few Apple employees benefit the entire
world...[and] not just dissipated" by Apple through litigation and ill
will."
Apple Computer in Cupertino, CA said it first became aware of the
letter on Tuesday. The company said that it hasn't ruled out the
possibility that some of its own employees could be the source of the
leak and that it is conducting an investigation.
"This is pretty serious, and we're taking it seriously," said a
spokewoman for the company who said Apple intended to prosecute the
culprits.
The software pirates group is named for the Greek God who stole
fire from the Gods and gave it to man. The disks were mailed from San
Francisco without a return address.
The letter advises that "anyone interested in receiving our next
mailing should place a classified ad in Macweek, (a trade journal),
with the word New Prometheus ."
Apple has never licensed the source code to anyone and has
successfully defended its copyrights covering the code in court, thus
preventing efforts by competitors to build a "clone," or compatible
computer, of the Macintosh.
John C.Maxwell, a Dillon Read analyst, says he has obtained a copy
of the disk, adding "at this juncture it doesn't seem to be anything
that is threatening to Apple's proprietary secrets. It's more of a
psychological issue. How did someone get to copy this and why are they
doing it?"
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