That protection slops off on the computer industry as well, and California has many laws beneficial to them on the books.
The blogger told his story, implicated himself, and the shield law that allows reporters to protect sources just doesn't do the job here. There is no source!
I think all Apple wants are all the photos of the equipment. Eventually we will discover that the cops acted on behalf of the victim.
Your bias is showing. This was not some random “blogger”. Chen is an employed journalist, and his “office” was raided.
Granted, there are several laws that seem to be at play here, with each party claiming “their” laws trump other laws. Chen (and his employer Gawker, Inc) will get their day in court, which is where it belongs.
The law cited by Gawker’s COO is not a simple “shield” law in regards to sources. There is very specific language in the California statute regarding the confiscation of a journalist’s computers, phones, cameras, etc...
There are many interesting facets to this case, which makes it “one to watch”. It’s clear that we aren’t going to solve anything arguing about it on FR. As I said, they will get their day in court, and I’ll be very interested in the arguments of lawyers on both sides. It’s going to be a very messy case.