Court rules Apple does not have to publicly disclose profits

The Apple/Samsung battle that has been raging in the courts for the last few years have been a tech journalists dream, of sorts. That's because a lot of previously private information about the two companies became publicly available through evidence and other court filings.

However, the exact profits of each company were always redacted in court papers made publicly available. That why earlier this year Reuters and the First Amendment Coalition filed motions to have said financial information revealed publicly. The organizations argued that such information regarding the judicial process were in the public good.

However, now a three-judge panel has ruled that, in this particular case, the public's right for judicial transparency would not be affected by knowing the company's specific financials, report Reuters. The Federal U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the following when announcing their ruling:

"We recognize the importance of protecting the public's interest in judicial proceedings and of facilitating its understanding of those proceedings. That interest, however, does not extend to mere curiosity about the parties' confidential information where that information is not central to a decision on the merits."

The ruling by the Federal U.S. Circuit Court overturned a previous ruling by a lower court.
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via TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog http://www.tuaw.com/2013/08/26/court-rules-apple-does-not-have-to-publicly-disclose-profits/