Descubra as diferenças

O inquérito ao caso do "envelope 9" iliba os procuradores do Ministério Público, responsabiliza a Portugal Telecom (PT) mas só os jornalistas do diário “24 Horas” poderão ser pronunciados, revela hoje o semanário “Expresso”.

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Ou seja, segundo o inquérito da PGR, só os jornalistas do “24 Horas” que denunciaram, a 13 de Janeiro, o conteúdo do “envelope 9”, poderão ser responsabilizados por acesso indevido a dados pessoais.

Jornal de Notícias.

The government has the legal authority to prosecute journalists for publishing classified information, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales said yesterday.

"There are some statutes on the book which, if you read the language carefully, would seem to indicate that that is a possibility," Mr. Gonzales said on the ABC News program "This Week."

"That's a policy judgment by the Congress in passing that kind of legislation," he continued. "We have an obligation to enforce those laws. We have an obligation to ensure that our national security is protected."

Asked whether he was open to the possibility that The New York Times should be prosecuted for its disclosures in December concerning a National Security Agency surveillance program, Mr. Gonzales said his department was trying to determine "the appropriate course of action in that particular case."

"I'm not going to talk about it specifically," he said. "We have an obligation to enforce the law and to prosecute those who engage in criminal activity."

Though he did not name the statutes that might allow such prosecutions, Mr. Gonzales was apparently referring to espionage laws that in some circumstances forbid the possession and publication of information concerning the national defense, government codes and "communications intelligence activities."

Those laws are the basis of a pending case against two lobbyists, but they have never been used to prosecute journalists.

New York Times, via Slashdot.

Regista-se mais uma vez também o facto de o discurso licencioso andar a fazer das suas:

Some legal scholars say that even if the plain language of the laws could be read to reach journalists, the laws were never intended to apply to the press. In any event, these scholars say, b.

Mr. Gonzales said that the administration promoted and respected the right of the press that is protected under the First Amendment.

"But it can't be the case that that right trumps over the right that Americans would like to see, the ability of the federal government to go after criminal activity," he said. "And so those two principles have to be accommodated."