News Outlets Beg for Ruling on Gmail Seals

SAN JOSE, Calif. (CN) - Although a massive class action over Gmail privacy has been settled, news outlets reminded a federal judge Friday that they're still waiting for a ruling on sealed filings in the case.

News agencies - including Courthouse News, Gannett, McClatchy and the New York Times - lobbied U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh earlier this year to deny requests by Google and the lead plaintiffs to file under seal, citing public interest in the case involving millions of Gmail users. The sprawling class action dubbed In re Google Inc. - Gmail Litigation claimed that the tech giant's new privacy policies violate federal computer fraud, eavesdropping and wiretap laws.

The parties settled in late May, after the 9th Circuit refused to certify the class. The agreement became final last week when the last minor litigant in the case turned 18.

But the intervening news outlets said in a filing Friday that Koh still needs to rule on requests from both sides to file under seal despite the settlement.

"Because the court has not yet ruled on the sealing motions, thousands of pages of attachments remain either heavily redacted or entirely sealed," attorney Thomas Burke, of the firm Davis Wright Tremaine, wrote for the news services. "The public continues to have a strong interest in seeing the entire factual basis for the court's class certification ruling in a case that affects the privacy of millions of Americans. Indeed, the fact that a settlement has been reached should not be an obstacle to ruling on the motion or allowing access to documents."

A final case management conference has been set for July 30 in Koh's courtroom.

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