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.
