In a news article filed by Associated Press (AP) at Yahoo, Chicago Tribune, and in a press release released by Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Justice Conrad, California 6th District Court of Appeal put the stoppers on Apple Computer's bid to identify sources in a court case. The AP article indicated that this 6th District Court of Appeals ruling may also extend to bloggers.
In his ruling, Justice Conrad wrote, "In no relevant respect do they appear to differ from a reporter or editor for a traditional business-oriented periodical who solicits or otherwise comes into possession of confidential internal information about a company." Source YahooAccording to EFF, the court ruled in favor of EFF's petition on behalf of three online journalists Friday, May 26th, 2006:
..... holding that the online journalists have the same right to protect the confidentiality of their sources as offline reporters do. "Today's decision is a victory for the rights of journalists, whether online or offline, and for the public at large," said EFF Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl, who argued the case before the appeals court last month. "The court has upheld the strong protections for the free flow of information to the press, and from the press to the public." Source: Electronic Frontier FoundationFor more information please go to the following links
Yahoo:
Apple loses court bid to identify source By MAY WONG, AP
Electronic Frontier Foundation:
EFF Stands Up for Online Journalists' Rights in Apple v. Does
Full Decision in Apple v. Does
Frequently Asked Questions about this case
Apple v. Does
A California state appeals decision in the case [PDF]
Technorati Tags: Legal ... Court ... Press ... Journalist ... Protecting News Sources ... Blogger ... Media ... Information ... Public ... Opinion
2 comments:
EFF has yet to contact me about my blog, but as a former editor of a weekly, writer for a daily, and Civil Rights lawyer, I can tell you what you see here will pique your interest into the frontiers of online journalism.
Especially as it pertains to cameras in the Courtroom.
http://christopher-king.blogspot.com/2006/05/california-appeals-court-backs.html
Thanks for the soundtrack. Band of Gold. I'm 41 so old enough to remember. Do you change it or how does that work? Nice.
This is great. You are a citizen journalist who writes for my online newspaper, "The Knickerbocker News"
If you need to write something that needs protection, just write it over there. :)
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