Can Rove blame Plame?

After reading a "legal memo" on the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, Joshua Marshall offered some intriguing observations on Plame-gate. Marshall:


The essential argument is that the law, the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, does more than simply prohibit a governmental official with access to classified information from divulging the identities of covert operatives. The interpretation of the law contained in the memo holds that a government insider, with access to classified information, such as Rove is also prohibited from confirming or further disseminating the identity of a covert agent even after someone else has leaked it.


Marshall obviously hopes that this argument can be used to nail Karl Rove, who has admitted to discussing Plame in a derogatory fashion after the appearance of the Robert Novak column which set off the initial firestorm. But a disturbing thought has occurred to me: Doesn't the law also apply to Valerie Plame and her husband? Were they forbidden to confirm her status as a CIA operative, even after the toothpaste had (so to speak) exited the tube? If so, at what point does the law stop applying to them?