It's expected to be at least a month before a New Jersey judge decides whether to dismiss a lawsuit against a blogger.Freehold-based Too Much Media, which sells software to porn Web sites, is suing Shellee Hale.(pictured) The company wants the judge to order the Washington state resident to reveal her sources in postings she made last year claiming customer information was compromised.
Hale's lawyer argues she's protected by shield laws for journalists.
The judge heard arguments on the issue Thursday.
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This case has far reaching issues attached to it and could place one helluva roadblock in the path of bloggers and blogs. I am none too sure of the 'journalist' defense however - at least in the traditional sense of the word. If her sources were/are legitimate then naming them would be a non-issue as a blogger - as a journalist maybe not such a non-issue. If they are pulled from the ether, then Libel it is, blogger or journalist.
As said, traditionally a blogger is not a journalist but with the changing mode of communication in the internet era that may not be the case any longer. This blog 'reports' and 'editorializes' and according to more than a few readers, 'is where they get their news', so - a journalist - maybe, maybe not. But the 'protections' afforded journalists are afforded bloggers just as the 'liabilities' of journalists are that of bloggers as well - you can not have the Ying without the Yang.
1 comment:
This case is interesting to us bloggers as some states have passed shield laws that explicitly give the same protection to bloggers.
You said: "If her sources were/are legitimate then naming them would be a non-issue as a blogger"
If she had promised the source that she would hold the source's identity in confidence in order to learn what the source knew, do you think it would still be a non-issue as a blogger to consider breaking a promise?
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