Apple sued in December and was awarded a court order that
allowed the company to issue subpoenas in order to identify the
"John Does" who allegedly leaked information about upcoming Apple
products to AppleInsider.com and PowerPage.org.
According to the EFF, after initially threatening to subpoena
reporters directly, Apple instead sent subpoenas to Nfox.com, the
e-mail provider for PowerPage publisher Jason O'Grady. By forcing
Nfox to hand over O'Grady's e-mail, Apple hopes to find out who
told the journalist about an upcoming product codenamed
"Asteroid."
The civil liberties group, which, along with two local law
firms, is acting for the three journalists involved, has asked the
California Superior Court for a protective order, arguing that
on-line journalists are protected by the same reporter's privilege
laws that shield print journalists from having to reveal the names
of anonymous sources.
"Rather than confronting the issue of reporter's privilege
head-on, Apple is going to this journalist's ISP for his e-mails,"
said EFF Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl. "If the court lets Apple get
away with this, and exposes the confidences gained by these
reporters, potential confidential sources will be deterred from
providing information to the media, and the public will lose a
vital outlet for independent news, analysis, and commentary."
Apple has made no comment as yet.
