A quick grab into the twitter ether and you will find @bobbyllew (Robert Llewellyn aka Kryton from Red Dwarf) @StephenFry, @JohnCleese, @JackDee, @JeremyClarkson and @wossy (aka Jonathan Ross) to name a few.

As the Guardian report, @wossy has been busying himself with twitter while on his “break” from the BBC. He’s been asking his twitter followers what record he should play on his first radio show back, tweeting about smoking cigars and buying Simon Cowell a bra from Victoria’s secret.

But recently he’s turned to investigative journalism in his latest endeavour to bust boredom by calling up his celebrity buddies to find out if they are actually who they say they are on twitter. First target was @JackDee when Ross tweeted:

“i dont think @jack dee is real jack. he’s not very computery. I’ll call him tomorrow an d ask if you like.”

A few hours later came the tweet:

“Just got off the phone with Jack dee,. Current jack Dee on twitter is NOT bloke off the telly. But I think he will start an account“

At this, the twitosphere called for him to unmask @Jeremy_Clarkson, and so came the tweet:

“Just called Clarkson but his phone is switched off. Lucky b****rd is probably working.”

a few hours later he twittered:

“It’s not Clarkson. He responded with the very straightforward “Not on Twitter”. Unlike me he has more important things to do !!”

But then his unmasking seemed to jump up and bite him as his twitter followers began to question his authenticity, causing Ross to tweet:

“Hi It is me but proving it is dull. Feel free not to f ollow ! J “

All this impersonating brings back the ago old internet problem of domain name squatting. If brands don’t act quickly and claim their twitter name, as twitter rises in popularity, they could be victims of twitter impersonation too.

UPDATE: Jonathan Ross has now proven he is the real deal with this piece of infallible evidence. Thanks to @giagia for providing link.

If you’re not up to speed on this story, we’re talking about William Gillis, a unhappy iPhone customer who has filed a lawsuit over claims by Apple in their ad’s that the iPhone 3G was “twice as fast for half the price”.

Wired report that Apple have come back with a rebuttal that essentially claims that,

1. They’re not lying, and
2. You’re not supposed to believe what you see in ads anyway. And if you do, you’re not a “reasonable person”.

As worded by Apple:

“Plaintiff’s claims, and those of the purported class, are barred by the fact that the alleged deceptive statements were such that no reasonable person in Plaintiff’s position could have reasonably relied on or misunderstood Apple’s statements as claims of fact,”

Despite Apple’s claims that their ad’s are works of fiction, Gillis’ lawyer claims their case has “teeth and legs to it” and they’re fighting it to the end.

Apples response to the lawsuit is slightly contradictory to what the ASA ruled about the adverts here in the UK. They have recently decided that Apple’s claims about the speed of the iPhone in ad’s are likely to mislead and so the ad’s were pulled.

These reports come just after the Simpsons release an episode with a very tongue in cheek take on (m)Apple. Is Apple losing a hold on its holy, do-no-wrong image?