Apple has reportedly fired five retail workers for downloading unauthorised copies of Mac OS X 10.5 from the internet. Many more employees have been accused of the same transgression and face a similar sanction, it has been claimed.

According to a Think Secret report citing an email it received from one of the allegedly sacked workers, the five were said to have lost their jobs for violating Apple's non-disclosure agreement - a breach the site's correspondent readily admitted to, both to Apple and to Think Secret.

The ex-Apple emailer alleged "dozens" more staff were under investigation for the same violation.

In December 2004, Apple sued three software developers for allegedly posting pre-release copies of Mac OS X 10.4 on the BitTorrent file-sharing network. It later settled all three cases out of court.

Apple distributed pre-release copies of Mac OS X 10.5 - aka Leopard - at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) earlier this month. It wasn't long before the code had been posted on the internet and downloaded by eager Mac fans to see what they can expect from the new operating system when it ships in the Spring of 2007. ®