Apple stamping on free press

The Apple jackboot has been much in evidence over the past week. In this case, the company is "pushing IDG to block media passes" to MacWorld -- which opens in 10 days time -- to Web sites that publish items based on "rumours and speculation". In eWeek, a former MacWeek staffer reveals how Apple tried to suppress stories, so this doesn't appear to be an isolated case. In The Register, Andrew Orlowski -- who also links to the eWeek story -- points out that, considering its tiny market share, Apple gets an amazing amount coverage in the major publications, where Mac users occupy senior postions. (Most serious publications use Macs, including the Guardian. Few seem to have much of a clue about Windows or GNU/Linux.) The result is that Apple generally gets a very easy ride, though the World's Leading Computer Journalist, The Wall Street Journal's Walter Mossberg, is unlikely to agree with Orlowski's "drooling Mossberg" aside.