Bloggers Win Case Over Apple
Apple has lost its case to find the identities of its employees who leaked information about a new Apple product to bloggers who then released it online. A District Court of Appeal in San Jose has now made a landmark case in overthrowing Apple’s case.
This whole story began about 2 years ago. At the time, employees inside Apple had given three websites who covered Apple news information and drawings about Apple’s new product codenamed “Asteroid”. The “Asteroid” was to be a digital music device that was being built by Apple.
Apple made the case that the accused bloggers needed to reveal who they received the information from and the accused bloggers also needed to be punished for their actions. They also accused the leakers of the information to be thieves and claimed that the story about “Asteroid” wasn’t newsworthy.
However, many groups have sided with the bloggers. They claim that the bloggers are protected under the First Amendment (freedom of the press) and that bloggers should have the same status as journalists because a change in media doesn’t mean a change in journalism. Many bloggers take the time to research and write articles that are similar to the work journalists do.
Apple thought that the First Amendment argument really didn’t wash and focused on the fact that the information about Asteroid was stolen. A year ago, a Santa Clara court sided with Apple, however, this time all 3 judges sided with the bloggers in Appeals Court.
This ruling is large for bloggers. It means that bloggers don’t need to disclose their sources to anyone and are able to write about controversial information. It doesn’t matter if the people write in a newspaper or a blog.
As a blogger myself, I absolutely agree with the ruling. I don’t think that any bloggers sources need to be released even if the material they receive is controversial or “stolen”. Leaks occur many times and are reported to newspapers. The newspaper doesn’t need to give the source of the leak. It is up to the company who has a leak to investigate and fire those responsible.
[via MercuryNews]
