A California appeals court has ruled that bloggers who disseminate news are entitled to the protection of the state's shield law, which was designed to cover journalists.
In a ruling issued late last week (see full text in PDF format), the court held that Apple Computer Inc. could not subpoena information to find out how the blogger, Jason O'Grady of O'Grady's Power Page, received material about the company. The company said O'Grady was posting trade secrets that were stolen from the company.
The court ruled that the shield law "is intended to protect the gathering and dissemination of news, and that is what petitioners did here."
