Last week a California appeals court bolstered the legal status of bloggers and other online journalists, saying they are entitled to the same protections as mainstream journalists. The court rejected Apple Computer's bid to identify the sources of leaked product information that appeared on two Web sites.
Two years ago, Apple went to court seeking to identify the culprits behind the leak of confidential information about an unreleased product to online media outlets. Apple argued that it was entitled to identify the sources, presumed in this case to be company employees, because the leak constituted a violation of trade secrets. A lower court last year ruled in Apple's favor.
Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair of Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, says the California court ruling will have far-reaching implications.
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