I find this finding by a San Jose judge to be quite puzzling. It seems bloggers are not held under the same law as journalists. I’m sure there will be an appeal of the decision – perhaps as bloggers we should pass around the hat to help fund it – this is not the type of precedent that would be in the best interests of bloggers.
‘In a case with implications for the freedom to blog, a San Jose judge tentatively ruled Thursday that Apple Computer can force three online publishers to surrender the names of confidential sources who disclosed information about the company’s upcoming products.
Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge James Kleinberg refused to extend to the Web sites a protection that shields journalists from revealing the names of unidentified sources or turning over unpublished material.’
Read more at Apple 1, bloggers 0
Found via Business Blog Consulting
Apple is on the right side of the law on this one. This case is not really about blogging or even the First Amendment. It’s about whether Apple personnel and vendors who have access to the company’s secret documentation can steal it and give it to others, regardless of who the recipients may be or what they do with the information. The article that you link to presents an incomplete picture, as Apple argued that the shield law does not prevent legal discovery for a variety of reasons, not just because the law doesn’t cover blogs.
EFF is a great organization but I’m really sorry that they are fighting this case. It could be argued that bloggers will lose if Apple loses. If the company can’t conduct normal business — which includes protecting its property — its business will suffer, we’ll have fewer great Apple tools, which many bloggers use — and taken to its natural end we would all have to go back to using Windows.