Apple continues its assault on independent, social media – this time by bullying Think Secret, a Apple rumors site, into the deadpool. The publisher of Think Secret issued this short press release:

Apple and Think Secret have settled their lawsuit, reaching an agreement that results in a positive solution for both sides. As part of the confidential settlement, no sources were revealed and Think Secret will no longer be published. Nick Ciarelli, Think Secret’s publisher, said “I’m pleased to have reached this amicable settlement, and will now be able to move forward with my college studies and broader journalistic pursuits.

Think Secret is/was a Apple rumors site, often dishing dirt on the company. A lot of times they got things wrong. Other times it was dead on. You can see that they even had an Anonymous Email Form for people to submit rumors to the site. But, I guess rather than go after the leakers, Apple decided to pit their legal team up against the blogger and shut him down for reporting it.

Fortunately, Think Secret managed to maintain secrecy over the identities of the news they reported.

According to a story on Wired, Ciarelli continues to be a fan of Apple’s products. That might be, but I think this highlights to the blog world that Apple doesn’t care about you. They see you as the enemy. Convenient when contributing to the hype of a release – an enemy when you decide to report rumors about the company. Typical of the closed-mouth company.

One thing is clear: Apple surely isn’t going to embrace the social media anytime soon. I can only hope Ciarelli cashed in on this one.