The day after journalists around the world published investigations into documents leaked from a Panamanian law firm, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a trade secrets bill that may give future whistleblowers added reason to shield their concerns from news media.
The Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016, a bipartisan bill lauded for potentially saving the U.S. economy billions of dollars a year by allowing companies to defend their trade secrets in federal court, offers new federal protection from liability for quiet whistleblowers — but not if they deliver the information to the media.
