Apple Challenges Bloggers Over iPhone Screenshots

Since the iPhone announcement earlier this week, Apple has enjoyed a massive wave of free publicity from bloggers. Engadget’s live reporting alone had 10 million page views.

Turns out Apple is not happy about all the publicity. Someone has created a skin for Windows Mobile phones that looks very similar to the new iPhone user interface. Shortly after Paul O’Brian posted a link on an xda-developer forum to the interface, he got a cease and desist letter from Apple’s lawyers. The lawyers warn, "The icons and screenshot displayed on your website are copyrighted by Apple, and copyright law explicitly prohibits unauthorized display and distribution of copyrighted works. Apple therefore demands that you remove this screenshot from your website…"

Michelle Arrington of TechCrunch has accused Apple of going after the wrong person, "If Apple wants to go after the guy that made the Windows Mobile skin that looks like the iPhone, fine. But to bully bloggers who are simply reporting on this is another matter." Arrington speaks from personal experience. In August Apple challenged him for embedding a YouTube video link to Mac OS X 10.5. In addition, Apple’s challenge raises a question if bloggers are permitted to post screenshots of the iPhone as thousands have done without concern from Apple’s lawyers. This news comes as Cisco is suing Apple for using the iPhone name which they claim to have trademarked in 2000.