"Applying traditional First Amendment protections to the exploding universe of online journalism, a state appeals court on Friday rejected Apple Computer's bid to unearth the identities of individuals who leaked inside information on a new company product to bloggers," reports the Mercury News.
"In a 69-page ruling, the San Jose-based 6th District Court of Appeal broke new ground by concluding that bloggers and Web masters enjoy the same protections against divulging confidential sources as established media organizations. Civil liberties groups and journalism organizations have argued that online journalists need to protect the confidentiality of sources just as much as traditional media, such as the New York Times and CNN."
There's another interesting point near the end of the story:
The 6th District also ruled that a 20-year-old federal law designed to protect the privacy of electronic communications prohibits Apple from going through Internet service providers to obtain the bloggers' sources.
