back to article Naughty-step Apple buries court-ordered apology with JavaScript

Apple insisted it would take 14 days to publish a three-sentence declaration on its UK website that Samsung had not ripped off the iPad design. But in the 48 hours Judge Robin Jacob instead gave the Jesus mobe maker, Apple has managed to upload both the statement and a wad of JavaScript code that resizes the homepage's central …

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  1. Richard Wharram

    Contempt yet?

    Surely now. Surely.

    1. dotdavid
      Unhappy

      Re: Contempt yet?

      I fear this is a little too technical for the MSM, and thus won't be reported anywhere the court is likely to read, and thus won't be noticed.

      That said, Samsung certainly reads The Reg so maybe they'll bring it up in court.

      1. Psyx

        Re: Contempt yet?

        "I fear this is a little too technical for the MSM, and thus won't be reported anywhere the court is likely to read, and thus won't be noticed."

        With a few minutes research, I'm pretty sure that you can find out the name and email addresses of both the judge and Samsung's legal representation, and drop them a wee note.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Contempt yet?

          And this afternoons challenge is to find the judges email address and post him a link to this article, prize is a choccy biscuit.

          1. jonathanb Silver badge

            Re: Contempt yet?

            You don't contact the judge, you contact Samsung's legal team.

            1. Dazed and Confused

              Re: Contempt yet?

              > You don't contact the judge, you contact Samsung's legal team.

              No, you get the El'Reg journalist to ring the judge and ask for there comments.

              then duck

              fast

          2. pɹɐʍoɔ snoɯʎuouɐ
            Coat

            Re: Contempt yet?

            ...or just write to the court !!

            now which pocket did I put that envelope in !!

      2. Alan Brown Silver badge

        Re: Contempt yet?

        Given TheReg stories were quoted in the last hearing, I think the judges will notice.

        1. Tom 13

          Re: Given TheReg stories were quoted in the last hearing

          I think that will just be salt in the wound. I expect the judge has his own people watching because of previous behavior. Judges may be lenient if you're just a child rapist, but if you ignore their direct orders... Let's just say that is some up with which they will not put.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            A bit strong ...

            When it comes to sentencing to statute, Judges can only apply what parliament mandated.

            However, when it comes to contempt of court, Apple would be best advised (and you can bet your bottom dollar they HAVE been advised, only chose to ignore it) that a court of law is a judges fiefdom, and it would behove them to behave nicely, sit up straight, and only speak when spoken to .....

      3. Steve Evans

        @dotdavid - Re: Contempt yet?

        Don't give up hope yet, the El Reg subheading on the original "apology" was actually reported in court last week as an example of how their "apology" was seen by the IT community.

        TBH if I had a silly wig I'd have slapped them down with a contempt on the first "mistake". They should have counted themselves very lucky to have escaped that and played their second move with a bit more respect and care. This second "naughty" is not just showing contempt for the court in legal terms, but taking the piss (not a legal term)!

        It might have been slightly excusable (or explainable) if the link had ended up off the bottom of a static page on some smaller monitors, but to have it dynamically resize to enlarge the ipad mini to force the link off the bottom even on my 1400 pixel high screen just beggars belief!

      4. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Contempt yet?

        Quote: "I fear this is a little too technical for the MSM"

        I spoke to my significant other who is an aspiring Dark Forces initiate (err... sorry - trainee patent attorney) and she said that the judge in question knows his stuff. Based on her expert opinion

        1. He will understand exactly what apple has done.

        2. He will not be amused

        I would not like to be in the place of the Apple legal team on this one

        1. Mark 65

          Re: Contempt yet?

          I like Apple's gear, I confess, but fuck I am sitting here hoping, waiting, and willing the judge to smash the corporate life out of them or give some executive 30 days. Their behaviour is utterly puerile and shows nothing but utter contempt.

    2. Autonomous Cowherd
      WTF?

      Re: Contempt yet?

      This behavior seems similar to that of a bratty child doing everything they can to test the limits of a teacher who they know ultimately cannot do anything to harm them.

      At this point, my interest in the case is no longer about the original ruling.

      In my opinion, they are acting like they feel they are above the law. They are showing clear contempt for the British legal system, (or simply any legal system that doesn't rule in their favor). Up to this point, contempt was a grey area. I don't think its as fuzzy anymore.

      I hope there are repercussions for this!

      1. Arctic fox
        Headmaster

        @Autonomous Cowherd "they are acting like they feel they are above the law."

        Indeed they are - that is obvious. What is also interesting is the fact that you have already been down-voted for what would appear to be indisputable. It appears that some if their supporters agree with this childish defiance that Cupertino are exhibiting. I do not need to mention any names but I think that it is remarkable that some of them actively support defiance of the law by their favourite company but go absolutely bananas on the occasions when A Certain (In)Famous Software Company gets caught playing fast and loose with the law. Sauce, goose, gander and all that.

      2. Tom 13

        Re: they are acting like they feel they are above the law.

        As a crazy right-wing 'Merkin, I wholeheartedly concur and wish you luck.

    3. dogged
      Meh

      Re: Contempt yet?

      "I’m at a loss that a company such as Apple would do this."

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Contempt yet?

        They are doing this because their reason is clouded by blind insane greed!!!

    4. Shagbag

      Re: Contempt yet?

      Possibly.

      If you read the Court Of Appeal decision, at paragraphs 81-84:

      "...[the publicity order] is not to punish the party concerned for its behavoir. Nor is it to make it grovel - simply to lose face. The test is whether there is a need to dispel commercial uncertainty... Apple itself must (having created the confusion) make the position clear: that it acknowledges that the court has decided that these Samsung products do not infringe its registered design. The acknowledgement must come from the horse's mouth. Nothing short of that will be sure to do the job completely."

      Given Apple's continued childish behaviour towards the Court, I can't help but think the Court may decide to put Apple "on the naughty step" and require it to post the notice 'above the fold' so to speak.

      I hope that happens.

      1. Confused Vorlon

        Re: Re: Just another attempt

        Mandated popover?

        Not only would it work, but it would make their web design people cry...

        1. Greg J Preece

          Re: Just another attempt

          Mandated popover?

          Not only would it work, but it would make their web design people cry...

          Fuck yeah! Let's see the judge mandate a GeoCities template, with animated gifs, and the entire apology in a slow-moving, blinking <marguee> tag, with the "click to enter" link right at the end.

          1. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

            Re: Just another attempt

            Let's see the judge mandate a GeoCities template, with animated gifs, and the entire apology in a slow-moving, blinking <marguee> tag, with the "click to enter" link right at the end.

            Flash intro! Flash intro!

            (And it's <marquee>, as in the sign over a theater. Not that it matters particularly; I dare say most of us knew what you meant.)

    5. J. R. Hartley

      Re: Contempt yet?

      Can I just take this chance to say I really, really, really, really despise Apple and can't wait until karma hits them hard. Complete assholes!!

      1. Goldmember

        Re: Contempt yet?

        Apple are absolute proof against the existence of Karma.

        Still, upvote for the sentiment.

    6. Rampant Spaniel

      Re: Contempt yet?

      They really are pushing it. Leaving aside if the ruling originally was right or wrong (and I can see both sides), Apples interpretation of the judgement the first time was a little risky but borderline. At that point I didn't think they were too far off base. Having had the judge rollock them over apology v1 it seems a little unwise to do anything other than exactly what the judge ordered. Taking steps to deliberately move the apology lower and keep it lower on the screen so it is less likely to be seen isn't actually explicity forbidden but after apology v1 I don't think I would personally take the chance myself. I think they are risking seriously pissing off the judge here. The next step is simple for the judge. Their front page consists of only an apology (drafted by the judge) and a link to enter the main site which cannot be clicked for 20 seconds. Perhaps a fine as well. Judges don't like people taking the piss out of their judgements (no matter if the judgement was sound or not, they aren't going to believe their own judgement was unsound) and will dole out progressively harsher punishments in the future.

      Given how much Apple likes to be in court rooms, pissing off judges could be costly in the long run.

    7. jestersbro
      Meh

      Re: Contempt yet?

      It has to be now. Whilst they (Apple) have complied by at least posting the apology, they haven't held to the spirit of the ruling and they have also made a deliberate attempt at obfuscation. Compare/contrast the 2 websites.

      Apple are really pissing a whole load of people off by this behaviour. Wifey has declared that when her MacBook Pro dies she wan't a PC laptop instead simply because she feels that Apple have become so blatantly unethical.

      1. Waspy
        Devil

        Re: Contempt yet?

        Steve made the company in his own image......wasn't there that story about how Steve Jobs sneered about Bill Gates when asked why he doen't do more for charity? I think the quote was something like "Bill is basically unimaginative and has never invented anything, which is why I think he’s more comfortable now in philanthropy than technology". And didn't Saint Steve cancel all of Apple's charitable programs upon his return in '96?

        Despite what Steven Fry might try and tell people, Apple are a nasty and manipulative company created in the same vein as their nasty and manipulative founder. To be honest, Jobs seems like he was borderline psychopathic: Apple thinks it is always right because it is psychopathic!

    8. jestersbro
      Mushroom

      Re: Contempt yet?

      BOREDOM ALERT!

      Been doing a little light lunch time reading and cross refrencing the appeal (http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/1339.html) with Judge Birss' judgement (http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Patents/2012/2049.html).

      This may get boring if I go too far but in a nutshell read para 85 and para 88 of the final appeal and para 4 and para 57 of Judge Birss' judgement.

      Please read both and let me know what YOU think should really have happened this weekend and what, if anything, should be done now and if there is in fact any other variation I wasn't aware of.

  2. Piro Silver badge

    Why don't they just stop playing around..

    The new message is fine. It's clear, factual, doesn't have their useless opinion piece in it.

    But did they REALLY have to play around to hide it?

    That said, initially I had no idea what the fuss was about, as I use noscript, so the page didn't resize.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Why don't they just stop playing around..

      "as I use noscript"

      Ditto - as I do always on sites I don't trust

      1. Dave 126

        Re: Why don't they just stop playing around..

        I'd guess that people who use NoScript are more likely to be already aware of the court's ruling than the population at large.

        Thumbs up for recommending NoScript, though.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Why don't they just stop playing around..

          "Thumbs up for recommending NoScript, though."

          Yeah - seeing people mention it on every article possible never grows old. It's important to realise they're doing to promote their own cleverness in being aware of Web risks (because, you know, everyone else is stupid,) rather than promoting the product itself, though.

          1. MrT

            That's quite a trick piece of code...

            ...considering they wanted 14 days just to alter the visible text of the statement.

            NoScript here too - it's the first thing I install on Firefox, even before setting hte homepage.

  3. Mage Silver badge
    Alert

    Certainly Contemptible

    They are like a naughty Child.

    Will the tell the Judge that the Dog ate it?

  4. Miguel Farah
    Thumb Down

    Stupid, stupid move.

    Apple is complying with the letter of the order in the absolute minimum way it possibly can. Are they trying to provoke the judge, or are they just being so blindsided by their own side that they don't see the consequences for their actions?

    This reminds me of my 9-year-old son. When I order him to do something he doesn't want to, he does it in the sloppiest way possible, earning two or more extra yellings from me and taking much more time complying with it than if he'd done properly whatever he's been commanded to. In the end, his TV privileges have been cut short (unnecessarily) several times, and it's his own damn fault. If he had an allowance, I'd fine him, as well, but it isn't the case (yet).

    Apple, on the other hand, should (IMHO) get heavily fined for this.

    And, perhaps, the judge should order to have their apology written in ugly 90s-style HTML. I bet THAT style dissonance would hurt them even more than being fined.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Stupid, stupid move.

      What I would give for the next set of compliance orders to insist that it blinks in multi-colour like true 90s style HTML....

      1. g e

        Re: Stupid, stupid move.

        With a Samsung logo, right at the top of the page

        1. dajames
          Facepalm

          Re: Stupid, stupid move.

          With a Samsung logo, right at the top of the page

          No, with an Apple logo at the top of the page, and the words "My name is Tim Cook, and I endorse this judgement" at the bottom.

      2. Peter Murphy
        Happy

        Re: Stupid, stupid move.

        I'd go one further - use "blink" and "marquee" for the sentence declaration. Of course, it pisses over Apple's "sense" of aesthetics. Good. They deserve no better.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Stupid, stupid move.

          Errm, aren't they IE-only non HTML attributes?

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquee_element

          1. Loyal Commenter Silver badge

            Re: Stupid, stupid move.

            "Errm, aren't they IE-only non HTML attributes?"

            Indeedy, but I'm sure that HTML5 that Apple are so keen on, and the overzealous use of JavaScript that they seem to enjoy can replicate the effect of having the judgement scroll past as if in a marquee tab, in blinking 24 point magenta Comic Sans. Maybe the court should also mandate some 'comedy' animated GIFs, maybe of poorly-drawn exploding iPads in 16 colours?

          2. Shakje

            Re: Stupid, stupid move.

            Marquee seems to work on most, blink only on FF (I saw Opera mentioned, but haven't tried it yet).

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Stupid, stupid move.

          I'd like a trailing cursor and night-sky-with-stars background too

        3. Minophis
          Happy

          Re: Stupid, stupid move.

          I'd go even further and get them to do it comic sans

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Stupid, stupid move.

        You mean like this:

        http://wonder-tonic.com/geocitiesizer/content.php?theme=2&music=3&url=www.apple.com/uk

        1. D@v3

          Re: you mean like this

          Nice, it even tried to get me to install a plug in (Quicktime, for the record, which seemed apt)

    2. messele
      Thumb Down

      Re: Stupid, stupid move.

      On the other hand, if you need to YELL at your Son to get anything done is it any wonder he has no respect for you?

      1. Smallbrainfield
        Childcatcher

        Re: Stupid, stupid move.

        Ha ha ha, you clearly don't have any kids.

      2. David Dawson
        Trollface

        Re: Stupid, stupid move.

        On the other hand, if you need to YELL at your Son to get anything done is it any wonder he has no respect for you?

        --

        how did you make that leap?

        is the OP a bad parent now in your opinion?

        Well, guess what, your opinion is based on so little information that it is completely worthless, troll.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Stupid, stupid move.

          "Well, guess what, your opinion is based on so little information that it is completely worthless, troll."

          It's based on the admitted fact that he yells at his 9-year-old child as a matter of course; what further information is required to conclude that he's a bad parent? Oh, perhaps the tone in which he reports it ...

          "EARNING two or more extra yellings from me and taking much more time complying with it than if he'd done properly whatever he's been COMMANDED to" [my caps]

          What is this, 1950? Yelling is not a form of parenting; it's a form of bullying. Amazing that OP got modded down so much - I guess abusing your children in this way is still in vogue. There are a hundred ways to get children to behave that don't involve yelling. Y'all should try reading a book on the subject sometime.

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