Bloggers Protected by Shield Law

From the AP:

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- "A state appeals court on Friday rejected Apple Computer
Inc.'s bid to identify the sources of leaked product information that
appeared on Web sites, ruling that online reporters and bloggers are
entitled to the same protections as traditional journalists."

"In no relevant respect do they appear to differ from a reporter or editor
for a traditional business-oriented periodical who solicits or otherwise
comes into possession of confidential internal information about a company,"
Justice Conrad Rushing of the 6th District Court of Appeal wrote in a
unanimous 69-page ruling.

"We decline the implicit invitation to embroil ourselves in questions of
what constitutes 'legitimate journalism," he wrote. "The shield law is
intended to protect the gathering and dissemination of news, and that is
what petitioners did here."