ONLINE JOURNOS have the same legal protection as print journalists to protect sources, an appeals court ruled in California yesterday.
Apple had successfully argued in a lower court that the publishers of Power Page and Apple Insider be forced to reveal their sources, a move backed by the Intel Corporation.
But the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which fought the case for three online journalists, said the appeal decision meant they have the same protection as print journalists.
The three journalists had seen information which Apple maintained they shouldn’t have seen. Apple wanted them to spill the beans about their sources.
But the judges, in their ruling, decided there is notest to decide what news is legitimate and what illegitimate, and ruling for Apple would subvert the US First Amendment.
Apples subpoena to an email service provider could not be enforced either as that would violate federal law the Stored Communications Act.
That, said EFF lawyer Kevin Bankston, is “a profound electronic privacy victory for everyone who uses email”. Everyone in the US, that is.
News source: THEINQUIRER
