The age old axiom in Property Law is: Ownership is 9/10’s of the law.
No where is this more true than what is playing out between Twitter and TechCrunch over confidential documents that were obtained by the blog, TechCrunch, from someone who had hacked into Twitter’s server’s using a simple password of an administrative employee. In an updated to yesterday’s blog post, The New York Times reported today that there is a dispute as to whether Twitter has given TechCrunch permission to go ahead and publish the documents on its website. TechCrunch is saying that Twitter is ok with the publication (although not happy about it), and Twitter is saying, through its CEO, Evan Williams, that it is not his "understanding."
Now comes the ethical debate in a Web 2.0 Journalism world. If Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were 40 years younger, would they choose to publish documents that were obtained from someone else through nefarious means? As we move into the 21st Century, businesses need to realize that once corporate information is no longer within the confines of their control, what is disseminated to the public may also be beyond their control. Balancing the public’s right to know what goes within Twitter versus maintaining a competitive advantage is something that every company will face if they do not implement sound data governance practices.
To read the article in full, please click here: Twitter and TechCrunch Joust Over Stolen Documents