Apple Wins Against Bloggers

linuxwrangler writes "Saying that no one has the right to publish information that could have been provided only by someone breaking the law, judge James Kleinberg ruled that online reporters for Apple Insider and PowerPage must reveal their sources. No word yet on an appeal."

Comments

Yeah, its great

[Sanity]

I must say I feel much more secure about freedom of speech now that only those deemed to be speaking in the public interest are permitted to disclose information that a corporation doesn't want them to disclose.

No doubt that still others will make claims that the very idea of "trade secrets" is wrong, and that the UTSA is unconstitutional. This, of course, completely ignores the basic ideas of property, including intellectual property, and good-faith agreements to not reveal your employer's secrets, not to mention fundamental ideas of ethics, and further ignores the idea that free speech is not, and never has been, absolute, in that it has ramifications.

Yeah, but this isn't about those that violated an NDA, it is about those who revealed information that they obtained from someone who violated an NDA. What property right justifies the application of restrictions imposed by an agreement on someone that never signed that agreement?

This is a good day for the fundamental idea of rights being couple with responsibility, and the fundamental concept that actions have consequences.

This is a terrible day for anyone that thinks freedom of speech should trump corporate interests.

The Moral of the Story...

[catdevnull]

Don't betray your company's trust and NDAs. If they pay you they have the right to request that you obey the rules. It's fair. Don't like it? Quit and program for RMS.

However, this ruling does put "journalism" on the spot, now doesn't it? Now that the former mighty flood gates of information have been undermined by the little faucets all over the net, news and media sources are rethinking their game. Those of you mourning this day thinking, "alas, that unsinkable bastion of journalistic integrity known as source anonymity" should forget about this and be more worried that Comedy Central's Daily Show rules the roost. Dan Rather was the last Samurai. Welcome to corporate media: cue the hot chicks and violence. I'm thinking the "The Running Man" is probably coming soon. Down with The Man, man.

Man...what the hell is that smoke coming from that party next door doing to me...those brownies were good, too...I'm hungry, dude....

Re:A refreshing victory for common sense

[Ohreally_factor]

WTF are you talking about,

how this ruling is presuming guilt until innocence is proven, rather than the other way around

No one has accused either of the two sites in question of guilt.

Are you saying that there might not be any guilty party at all? That this information just magically appeared to the journalist, or that given the vast amount of speculation, it's only a coincidence that one of the rumors was proved correct? Do you dispute that someone broke their NDA and revealed trade secrets?

I'm sorry if I'm harsh, but you seem to neither understand the facts of the case, nor the applicable law. It's possible that you're not an idiot, and I'm just not getting your point. If that's the case, I apologize.