MacHeist was a website that bundled and resold Mac OS X software. The site conducted marketing through challenges (or "heists") that allowed customers to win software licenses and/or discounts; and sold software in bundles that increased in size as more customers purchased the offer. The site was founded by John Casasanta, Phillip Ryu, and Scott Meinzer. After a final promotion in May 2016, the original incarnation went offline. As of November 2018, the website is a front-end for marketing by native advertising company StackCommerce.
MacHeist
MacHeist I was a six-week-long event that the site ran at the end of 2006. It culminated with a week-long sale of a bundle of ten Mac OS X software applications for US$49. Prior to the sale, a number of challenges (or "heists") were posted on the MacHeist site. These challenges typically offered cryptic clues to Mac-related websites, where the answers could be found. Users who successfully completed the heists were rewarded a US$2 discount on the bundle for each heist completed, as well as free licensed copies of various Mac OS X software applications that were not included in the final bundle. This inaugural promotion sold more than 16,000 copies in one week.
The final bundle sold for US$49 and was available to any Mac user, regardless of participation in the heists leading up to the sale. It contained Delicious Library, FotoMagico, ShapeShifter, DEVONthink, Disco, Rapidweaver, iClip, Newsfire, TextMate, and the choice of one Pangea Software game (Bugdom 2, Enigmo 2, Nanosaur 2, Pangea Arcade). Newsfire was added to the bundle after the sale of approximately 4,000 bundles, and TextMate was added after approximately 5,600 bundles were sold. The other applications were available from the beginning of the sale. After the two later applications were unlocked, they became available for no extra charge to the initial purchasers of the bundle.
Following MacHeist I, a portion of the proceeds (US$200,000) were donated to charities. This amount was divided between the following charities: United Way International, Direct Relief, AIDS Research Alliance, Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation, Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, Hunger Project and Save the Children.
MacHeist II
MacHeist II began in Nov. 2007 with the creation of a character named Malcor, a computer hacker with a grudge against "Apple fanbois." As a marketing stunt, the owners of a number of small Apple-related blogs were contacted by Philip Ryu and asked to participate in the lead-up to MacHeist II, by making their sites appear to have been hacked by Malcor. However, over the course of the stunt, many people in various communities became concerned they would be targeted or vulnerable.
On November 16, 2007, glennwolsey.com was defaced for 24hrs with the image of a rotting apple. The site was hosted by Media Temple and ran on the WordPress blogging engine. Both Media Temple and the site designer were apparently unaware of the stunt, but it later became clear that it was a stunt and Glenn Wolsey had defaced the site himself. A few days later, the macapper.com site was defaced and the site owner, Miles Evans, wrote that the hack was due to a WordPress vulnerability. Evans later apologised for this, as many other WordPress users had been worried by this apparent vulnerability that did not really exist. Finally, applematters.com and iphonematters.com were defaced. In this case, however, their hosting company (EngineHosting) immediately took the site down and began an investigation. When they discovered the prank, they notified both their clients and the public that it wasn't a hack and neither their commercial product (Expression Engine) nor their hosting service were vulnerable.
Over the course of these apparent hackings, the parties involved had remained silent and allowed the situation to escalate within both the Apple and Wordpress developer communities, who had grown very concerned by the vulnerabilities and the targeting of apple-related websites.
Over the following 24hrs, explanations and apologies were posted by the owners of macapper.com, macheist.com, glennwolsey.com and applematters.com over their involvement in the stunt and letting it get out-of-hand.
The final MacHeist II bundle contained 14 applications: 1Password, CoverSutra, Cha-Ching, iStopMotion, Tiki Magic Mini Golf, Wingnuts 2, Awaken, TaskPaper, Speed Download 4, AppZapper, CSSEdit, Snapz Pro X, Pixelmator with VectorDesigner unlocked after $300,000 had been raised. There was an offer for people who refer a friend to receive LaunchBar and NoteBook. In all, $500,000 was raised toward the various charities.