May 30, 2006 | In Law, Technology | No Comments
A court ruling last week in California has established that bloggers and web reporters have the same rights to privacy and confidentiality of sources as any other journalists.
The case was brought forward by Apple Computer in 2004 after blogger, Jason O’Grady, published confidential information about an unreleased Apple product.
When O’Grady refused to tell Apple where he got the information, the company issued a subpoena against his email provider, in an effort to identify the source of the leak. The court has now overturned a previous ruling, however, and asserted that online journalists have the same rights as traditional news media when it comes to not spilling the beans about their sources.
“Today’s decision is a victory for the rights of journalists, whether online or offline, and for the public at large,” said Kurt Opsahl, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation who argued the appeal for this case. “The court has upheld the strong protections for the free flow of information to the press, and from the press to the public.”
