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May 27, 2006

legal

Apple loses appeal to Does

Posted May. 27, ’06, 8:36 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Legal

Judge Conrad RushingLast month, the Apple v. Does case was heard by the State of California Court of Appeals. Apple had won the first round of the case, but the Electronic Freedom Foundation had appealed the decision, which had declared that the bloggers in question were not protected by California’s Shield Law, which protects reporters from revealing their sources.

Yesterday, the appeals court handed down its ruling:

The judge in the State of California Court of Appeal 6th Appellate District agreed with lawyers for PowerPage and AppleInsider who argued that the confidentiality of sources for the online journalists were protected by the First Amendment.
Of arguments that suggested the information revealed by the websites was not to the public good, Judge Conrad Rushing (above right) said:
“we can think of no workable test or principle that would distinguish ‘legitimate’ from ‘illegitimate’ news. Any attempt by courts to draw such a distinction would imperil a fundamental purpose of the First Amendment, which is to identify the best, most important, and most valuable ideas not by any sociological or economic formula, rule of law, or process of government, but through the rough and tumble competition of the memetic marketplace.”
Apple has not yet commented on the decision.


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