The New Yorker, Anonymity, and Confidential Sources

What if the reporters' confidential sources were unknown even to the reporter?  Might this solve the problems that the Court struggled with more than 40 years ago in Branzburg v. Hayes?

The New Yorker has introduced a technological attempt to insulate the source and the reporter.  As The New Yorker explains its new concept, called "Strongbox" :

as it’s set up, even we won’t be able to figure out where files sent to us come from. If anyone asks us, we won’t be able to tell them.

A fuller explanation in the article by Kevin Poulson begins: "Aaron Swartz was not yet a legend when, almost two years ago, I asked him to build an open-source, anonymous in-box.

Of course, the government's technological abilities have also progressed since the grand jury inquiry of Branzburg.

RR