Interesting People mailing list archives
EFF: Court Crushes Online Journalists' Rights
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2005 18:09:11 -0500
------ Forwarded Message From: Donna Wentworth <donna () eff org> Reply-To: <press () eff org> Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2005 13:03:34 -0800 To: <presslist () eff org> Subject: [E-B] EFF: Court Crushes Online Journalists' Rights Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release For Immediate Release: Friday, March 11, 2005 Contact: Kurt Opsahl Staff Attorney Electronic Frontier Foundation kurt () eff org +1 415 436 9333 x106 Cindy Cohn Legal Director Electronic Frontier Foundation cindy () eff org +1 415 436-9333 x108 (office), +1 415 307-2148 (cell) Court Crushes Online Journalists' Rights EFF Asking California Apellate Court to Intervene Santa Clara - Today Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge James Kleinberg ruled that an online journalist's Internet service provider (ISP) can be required to reveal the identities of the reporter's confidential sources to attorneys from Apple Computer, Inc. The court rejected a request for an order to protect the confidentiality of the sources and other unpublished information. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), along with co-counsel Thomas Moore III and Richard Wiebe, is representing the journalist, and will be asking the California Appellate Court to intervene. "We're disappointed that the trial court ignored the Supreme Court's requirement that seeking a journalist's confidential sources be a 'last resort' in civil discovery," said EFF Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl. "Instead, the court asserts a wholesale exception to the journalist's privilege when the information is alleged to be a trade secret." "This is a broad-brush ruling that threatens journalists of all stripes," said EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn. This landmark case was the first in which a court heard arguments that online reporters' confidential sources and unpublished materials are protected by both the reporter's shield in the California constitution and the reporter's privilege under the federal First Amendment. But the court did not restrict its ruling to online journalists, instead deciding that all journalists could be required to reveal confidential sources when a claim of trade secret is raised. Apple is suing several unnamed individuals, called "Does," who allegedly leaked information about an upcoming product code-named "Asteroid." Apple has subpoenaed Nfox, the ISP for PowerPage.com publisher Jason O'Grady, demanding that the ISP turn over the communications and unpublished materials O'Grady obtained while he was gathering information for his articles about "Asteroid." Apple has also been granted permission to issue subpoenas directly to EFF clients PowerPage and AppleInsider for similar information, but these have not yet been issued and were not ruled on today. Court ruling: http://www.eff.org/Censorship/Apple_v_Does/20050311_apple_decision.pdf Case summary: http://www.eff.org/Censorship/Apple_v_Does/case_summary.pdf More about Apple v. Does: http://www.eff.org/Censorship/Apple_v_Does/ For this release: http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2005_03.php#003423 About EFF The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil liberties organization working to protect rights in the digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and challenges industry and government to support free expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported organization and maintains one of the most linked-to websites in the world at http://www.eff.org/ -end- -- Donna Wentworth Web Writer/Activist Electronic Frontier Foundation <http://www.eff.org> _______________________________________________ presslist mailing list https://pigeon.eff.org/mailman/listinfo/presslist ------ End of Forwarded Message ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as lists-ip () insecure org To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
Current thread:
- EFF: Court Crushes Online Journalists' Rights David Farber (Mar 11)