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O'Grady et al. v. Superior Court (Apple) Part III

O'Grady et al. v. Superior Court (Apple) Part III
06:14:2006

O'Grady et al


O'Grady et al. v. Superior Court (Apple)


 


Filed 5/26/06


 


 


CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION


IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA


SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT







JASON O'GRADY et al.,


Petitioners,


      v.


THE SUPERIOR COURT OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY,


Respondent;


APPLE COMPUTER, INC.,


  Real Party in Interest.


          H028579


        (Santa Clara County


          Super. Ct. No. CV032178)


Story continue from Part II ……..


III.  Ripeness


                      A. The Rule and Its Reasons


                      We next turn to the question whether the trial court properly refused to issue a protective order barring Apple from obtaining discovery directly from petitioners.  The trial court refused to rule on the propriety of such discovery, holding that since no discovery had yet been propounded to petitioners, any ruling would constitute an advisory opinion.  We consider the correctness of this ruling anew, without deference to the trial court's determination.  (Standard Alaska Production Co. v. Schaible (9th Cir. 1989) 874 F.2d 624, 625.)


                      A controversy is not deemed ripe for adjudication unless it arises from a genuine present clash of interests and the operative facts are sufficiently definite to permit a particularistic determination rather than a broad pronouncement rooted in abstractions. (See Pacific Legal Foundation v. California Coastal Com. (1982) 33 Cal.3d 158, 169.)  â€





Description In action alleging that persons unknown caused wrongful publication of plaintiff's secret plans on the Internet, trial court's denial of protective orders sought by publishers of news Web sites where information appeared and e-mail provider for site after they had been subpoenaed was error because (1) the subpoena to the e-mail service provider cannot be enforced consistent with the plain terms of the federal Stored Communications Act; (2) any subpoenas seeking unpublished information from publishers would be unenforceable through contempt proceedings in light of the California reporter's shield; and (3) discovery of publishers' sources is also barred by the conditional constitutional privilege against compulsory disclosure of confidential sources.
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