Monday, February 28, 2005
FW: Online Journalists to Get Their Day in Court
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From: presslist-bounces+jbracken=macfound.org@eff.org on behalf of EFF Press
Sent: Wed 2/23/2005 2:08 PM
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Subject: EFF: Online Journalists to Get Their Day in Court
Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Contact:
Kevin Bankston
Attorney, Equal Justice Works / Bruce J. Ennis Fellow
Electronic Frontier Foundation
bankston@eff.org
+1 415 436-9333 x126
Online Journalists to Get Their Day in Court
Apple Agrees to Delay Subpoenas Until March 4 Hearing
San Jose - After negotiations with the Electronic Frontier
Foundation (EFF), Apple agreed on Friday to extend the
deadline on a subpoena it issued to an online journalist's
Internet service provider (ISP) until after a hearing that
will determine whether the subpoena is legal under the
First Amendment and California's reporter's shield law.
The subpoena seeks information about the journalist's
confidential sources and unpublished notes for an article
about a future Apple product.
On March 4, EFF will meet Apple's attorneys in Santa Clara
County Superior Court to argue that the subpoena and others
like it are unlawful because online journalists are
protected by the same "reporter's privilege" laws that
shield print journalists from having to reveal their
confidential sources and unpublished notes. EFF will ask
that the court issue a protective order making it official
that journalists for AppleInsider and PowerPage do not have
to respond to subpoenas seeking confidential news sources.
Apple is currently suing several "John Does" for allegedly
leaking trade secrets about a product code-named "Asteroid"
to the online journalists. After initially threatening to
subpoena reporters directly, Apple sent subpoenas to
Nfox.com, the email provider for PowerPage publisher Jason
O'Grady. By forcing Nfox to hand over O'Grady's email,
Apple hopes to find the person who told the journalist
about "Asteroid."
At the March 4 hearing EFF will argue that the reporter's
privilege extends to information stored by third parties
such as a reporter's email provider. It will urge the
court to reject Apple's attempt do an "end run" around the
reporters privilege by subpoenaing the journalist's ISP
rather than the journalist himself.
"The reporter's privilege against disclosing confidential
sources protects web publishers like AppleInsider and
PowerPage just as it protects newspapers and TV networks,"
said EFF Attorney and Equal Justice Works/Bruce J. Ennis
Fellow Kevin Bankston. "If the reporter's privilege is to
continue to protect the free flow of information in the
digital age, it must apply to reporters' confidential
communications even when they are held by third-party
Internet service providers."
Apple v. Does:
http://www.eff.org/Censorship/Apple_v_Does/
For this release:
http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2005_02.php#003359
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-
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