Court rejects Apple bid to bust blogs
It's not something we've covered too closely to date, but there's no doubt about how close to him it strikes: a California appeals court decided against Apple today in the company's bid to force bloggers to turn over sources who leaked information about the Apple product codenamed "Asteroid" way in 2004 (remember that?). This follows an earlier ruling where the trial judge sided with Apple, after which the EFF intervened and appealed the case. Apple had argued that the websites in question, PowerPage and Apple Insider, were not entitled to the same rights as traditional journalists -- and even if they were, they still didn't have the right to protect sources who leaked trade secrets. But the appeals court roundly rejected both notions as contrary to California's reporter's shield law and the state Constitution, effectively stating that it wasn't Apple's place to decide what constitutes "legitimate journalism," and that Apple could have investigated the leak of trade secrets themselves without drawing the websites into the mix. The case also has signficant implications for ISPs, who now know that they don't have to reveal the contents of private emails if they receive a civil subpeona. Apple apparently hasn't offered any comment on the decision yet.
