How Many Bloggers Can Take A Bite Out of Apple?

Posted by Eriq Gardner

The blogger behind the popular Secret Diary of Steve Jobs says that Apple wanted his website down so badly, they waived some money as an enticement. Is this a new trend for the tech behemoth? Remember that Apple's payoff to another website, the gossip-mongering Think Secret, caused much fuss in the blogosphere last week.

After "Fake Steve Jobs" (who was unmasked this year as Forbes senior editor Daniel Lyons) revealed the potential payday, he says he got an angry letter from Apple lawyers whining how settlements had to be conducted in good faith with confidentiality. Imagine the lawyer's response after seeing his first letter posted online. The situation has calmed down, with the offer still up in the air. Supposedly. Who can tell whether this is all just a joke or whether Apple really intends to buy out all potential litigants. Apple's deep pockets can't be that deep and Jobs' ego can't be that fragile, can they?

Speaking of Apple, the company recently paid Burst.com $10 million to settle a lawsuit that alleged Apple's iPod and iTunes infringed upon Burst patents for transfering audio and video digitally. We hear on good authority that Burst, which previously took $20 million in settlement money from Microsoft too, has patent claims on DVR technology and is about to sue Tivo, Comcast, and other companies. Considering Tivo has been battling with Echostar for years over patents on DVR technology, this could get interesting.