Apple Blog Fight

[MacSA]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4435809.stm

"The news organisations have now filed a court brief which says they should be allowed to protect their sources.

If not, they said, it could make journalists wary of publishing stories which are in the public interest.

Sources who give journalists details of corruption or wrongdoing are traditionally protected by law, if the story is in the public's interest.

"Recent corporate scandals involving WorldCom, Enron and the tobacco industry all undoubtedly involved the reporting of information that the companies involved would have preferred to remain unknown to the public," said the brief. "

How can they compare this to Enron and the tobacco industry? What a joke.

[Plymouthbreezer]

So, Think Secret got away without any punishment from all this...?

[840quadra]

In their court submission, the media organisations said that Apple should "exhaust all alternative sources" before making the net service providers turn over e-mail records.

This is starting to turn into a real live episode of “Law And Order”.

[za9ra22]

The media would do well to remember that this case is really not about the rights of journalists or any so-called 'public interest' but a simple matter of theft.

Regardless of whether one believes Apple is acting wisely in pursing individuals for the leakage of its product plans, the fact is that whoever released internal information in effect stole Apple's property, and the action Apple is taking is little more than seeking to discover who the thief is. Journalism doesn't come into it, and it's only been cast in those terms by the defence because they have no other argument to make. Would any media outlet claim a duty or right to protect the name of a person who burgled a home and stole a bag-full of the owner's property?

As to 'public interest', the fact that the public have an interest in what Apple is going to make next, does not make what Apple are going make a matter of public interest.

Ultimately, if Apple does not have the right to protect it's property, in the form of product plans and development, then stealing will have been recognized as a lawful activity.