Monday-wk10

Here is some information from http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2005Mar/gee20050314029581.htm
do not know what we are doing today I hope we will work on our project some more.

Apple wins trade secrets lawsuit
Ruling forces online reporters to divulge sources

posted 10:27am EST Mon Mar 14 2005 - submitted by Brian Osborne
NEWS
In a decision that is expected to have a "chilling" effect on leaks about upcoming product releases, a California judge ruled that three online reporters must divulge their sources regarding a product code-named "Asteroid." The ruling comes as a result of a lawsuit filed by Apple against those responsible for publishing online what the company considers to be trade secrets.

According to an AppleInsider article (and one at PowerPage), Asteroid was rumored to be a device that would allow a user to connect external instruments or other audio devices to an Apple computer for use with the GarageBand 2.0 music studio application. It is Apple's belief that the websites' reporting on the Asteroid device violated California's Uniform Trade Secrets Act and non-disclosure agreements, while the three reporters who wrote the article contend that their actions are protected under the first amendment.

Apple also claimed that the authors of the articles were not journalists, but "merely people who disseminated product releases and other data, adding little analysis or journalistic context." The presiding judge, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge James Kleinberg, declined to say whether the three were journalists or not, but wrote that even if they were, "The journalist's privilege is not absolute. For example, journalists cannot refuse to disclose information when it relates to a crime."

The three reporters are being represented by an attorney from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The attorney, Kurt Opsahl, stated that the ruling will be appealed.