January 2005
Blogging Reaches US Court
What is a blog? A blog is a weblog, a kind of online diary. Blogs are a new way of putting information on the Web, and into the public domain. According to some estimates, there are now some 4 million bloggers worldwide and blogging is growing faster than the rate at which the Internet was growing during its peak.
So it is not before time that we have started to see a spate of cases launched in the courts, both in the UK and US, that relate to the blog and/or the art of blogging.
Most recently, Apple Inc sued John Does for passing confidential information to bloggers and has issued Subpoenas to the bloggers to find out the identities of the John Does.
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) said last week that it would defend Bloggers' rights to protect anonymous sources and so it would seem we have a case on our hands.
In reference to the bloggers, Kurt Opsahl an EFF attorney said, "In this case, they're very clearly journalists. They run a news and information site in which they obtain information and then write up stories about current or upcoming products and the various rumours and speculation that surrounds them."
Briffa Comment:
Blogging, at least currently, is subject to the same laws as any other type of online publishing and caution should be taken when putting material into the public domain. Clients should therefore have a system in place to ensure relevant laws are not infringed, including those on trade marks, copyright, defamation and confidential information. It will be interesting to see if the courts give blogs and blogging any special status.