In a court case that pitted Apple Computer Inc., against-‘PowerPage’, an Apple news blog; The California Sate Court of Appeals in San Jose, ruled in favor the blogger. Ruling that the First Amendment ‘freedom of the press’ rights and the California Shield Law that protects journalists from revealing their sources, applies regardless of the size of the news organization-in this case, one person, a computer, and a blog. Apple was attempting find out who leaked info. to the blogger. See full article: OC Register 5/31/06: Article: Opinion – Press freedoms correctly extended to bloggers
Reaction: One wonders–Has ‘Pandora’s Box’ been opened for bloggers or is this all good? The old adage probably applies-“with greater freedom comes greater responsibilities”. It may not bode well that the California Newspaper Publishers Association supports the judgment. Their counsel, Tom Newton, stated that bloggers “ought to be guarded by the same laws” as newspapers. One wonders what the full weight of ‘news’ case law will bring to the blogdom? First Amendment rights for Bloggers sounds good, but what about all the other laws that regulate the news industry? California is the ‘capital’ of litigation, you better believe that lawyers are already on it!