March 7, 2009 16:28

US judge approves the use of Twitter in court

Landmark ruling for US legal system

A judge in the USA has approved the use of social networking site Twitter in court in a landmark ruling for the US legal system.

District judge Thomas Marten ruled that journalist Ron Sylvester was allowed to use Twitter while reporting on a racketeering trial in Wichita, Kansas earlier this week (beginning March 2), reports The Associated Press

Although prosecutors showed concern about the use of the site during the trial, Marten reminded them that jurors were always asked to avoid media coverage of cases in any form.

The ruling comes after hefty media coverage of the case of the founders of the music file-sharing site The Pirate Bay, who have been accused of copyright infringement in Stockholm, Sweden.

Peter Sunde Kolmsioppi, one of the accused, continually Tweeted throughout the trial from his Twitter page, Twitter.com/brokep.