Apple has banned the sale of any books from publisher John Wiley and Sons at its stores because the computer bookmeisters had the temerity to publish an unauthorized biography of Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO.

An excerpt from the NYT story:

It is not clear whether Mr. Jobs or anyone else at Apple has read the book - "iCon: Steve Jobs, The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business," by Jeffrey S. Young and William L. Simon, which will go on sale next month.

The very ambiguity of the title - Icon, or I Con? - is the first clue that the work may not be hagiography. But in the publisher's view, the specifics are probably beside the point.

"It was clear they didn't want us to publish the book," Susan Spilka, a spokeswoman at Wiley, said.

In recent months, Apple showed its penchant for secrecy by suing a Harvard student who operates a Web site for Apple enthusiasts, accusing him of trying to induce Apple employees to divulge company trade secrets. It also filed lawsuits to stop leaks of company information on several Web sites that traffic in Apple news.

The action against Wiley seems meant to shield Mr. Jobs's personal privacy, not the company.

But as far as advance publicity goes, Mr. Jobs and Apple could not have done a better job in generating buzz for the book in Silicon Valley and elsewhere.