6 Responses

1. Mossism » Bad News For Bloggers!

   March 12th, 2005 at 11:39 pm

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   [...] s For Bloggers! March 13th, 2005 Got this from the WordPress Dashboard: Blogging Pro: Bad News, Blogger From Technology Blog on BusinessWeek Online: A [...]

2. Alderete

   March 13th, 2005 at 12:22 am

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   You might look a little deeper into this story, like John Gruber has. I’m sure that bloggers want to be considered “real” like journalists, but when you read the ruling, the judge made it clear that his decision didn’t need to determine whether bloggers were journalists or not, it didn’t matter, because the laws covering trade secrets don’t provide special protections to journalists, “real” or otherwise.

   The Mac rumor sites knowingly publish trade secrets, and that’s against the law.

3. Jack

   March 13th, 2005 at 4:04 am

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   Bloggers shouldn’t have the same rights as journalists. Journalists eanr those rights by subscribing to a code of practice that means that they (or their parent company) are liable for any false information.
   Bloggers are not. Thankfully, otherwise most of them would be getting sued.

4. Morvak

   March 13th, 2005 at 8:25 am

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   I’m constantly amazed how our governments are more concerned with squashing free expression than doing anything to help Darfur, Iraq, homeless, AIDS crisis etc.

   I say don’t let anyone dissuade you, keep writing no matter what it is, free speech, freedom of expression and freedom will never be denied.

   I’m constantly amazed how our governments are more concerned with squashing free expression than doing anything to help Darfur, Iraq, homeless, AIDS crisis etc.

   I say don’t let anyone dissuade you, keep writing no matter what it is, free speech, freedom of expression and freedom will never be denied.

5. melon

   March 13th, 2005 at 10:44 am

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   To Jack: I disagree over your assertion. Journalists don’t officially subscribe to anything; there is no official “code of practice.” And if someone publishes outright libel, a journalist and a blogger will be treated exactly the same in a court of law. A journalist, like it or not, is not a professionally-earned title (i.e., “Doctor” or “Lawyer”), but, rather, anyone who reports the news could be considered one. But, like anything “democratized,” more bloggers than journalists will be inherently bad news reporters.

   As for what Alderete said, that sounds about right. Trade secrets aren’t necessarily included under free speech protections for journalists or non-journalists alike. Maybe that’s where our lawmakers need to focus on, but I expect nothing of the sort from the pro-business Bush Administration.

6. Patrick

   March 13th, 2005 at 10:45 am

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   I think we need to separate the concept of “free speech” and “freedom of expression”, which obviously we should all subscribe to, and someone leaking trade secrets, and not confuse the two.

   Squashing freedom of expression is something that tyrants - whether fundamentalist religionists or repressive governments like China - engage in to essentially exercise power and control over others. This must be fought against wherever it is found.

   Divulging company competitive product trade secrets to, I suspect, gain notoriety for your website is another thing. I would not support this.

   However, on the other hand, if the “secrets” a company was trying to withhold were secrets of wrongdoing by the company, then any person would be morally bound to speak out. And the medium of blogging is one of the best ways for the average person to reach a global audience.

   The phenomenon of blogging as a platform for people to publish to the world is still in its infancy and, as usual, the law-makers are behind the rapid advances in technology. What we are seeing already though is bloggers being called to account for the content they publish. Just as you cannot publish in a newspaper information which is obviously inflammatory and/or untrue, so to you should not be able to publish the same inflammatory and/or untrue content in a blog website. In fact, because of the global nature of the Internet and the global reach of a blog website, it could be said that it is even more important for bloggers, compared to the traditional media, to be shown to be aiming for high standards.