It appears that in a settlement with Apple, Think Secret has agreed to shut down indefinitely. This is bad news for Apple fanboys and for tech journalism in general, for a few reasons.

• Think Secret was one of the more objective and sensible “rumor” type of sites in the first place.
• There will be sites that pop up in its place, but they aren’t likely to be as good.
• A component of Apple’s success that cannot be underestimated is the huge amount of buzz that is generated leading up to the release of a new product. Fewer rumors/news stories = Less buzz = Less excitement.
• It sets a very bad precedent for news sites in the future. Yes, Apple has exhibited a pattern of such behavior in the past, but to my knowledge, their heavy-handed legal tactics have never resulted in the closing of such a high-profile outlet. Reporter’s privilege has always been interpreted to apply in these “trade secret” cases, as long as the reporter himself isn’t knowingly committing an illegal act in disclosing or discovering it. I don’t use the phrase “chilling effect” a lot, but the environment just became even more hostile for any journalist who learns any of Apple’s secrets.

One thing is for sure… Whichever Apple employee leaked the info has got to be happy about this news:

As part of the confidential settlement, no sources were revealed[…]