Cook County Circuit Judge Michael Panter ruled that bloggers do not receive the same benefits that journalists get with the Illinois Reporter’s Shield Law. The law was designed to protect reporters from having to divulge all of their sources all of the time.
The TechnoBuffalo website tried to use the Illinois Reporter’s Shield Law in its defense when it refused to reveal its source last August. The website displayed an image of Motorola’s Droid bionic smartphone’s manual prior to the public release of the publication. TechnoBuffalo, a popular California-based website which provides its Internet visitors with technological information, would only say that the information was provided by an anonymous tipster.
However, the Chicagoland printing firm that printed the manual, Johns-Byrne, demands to know who leaked the manual to the web site.
The judge determined that TechnoBuffalo is more of a blog than an information source for news, and therefore the web site does not have the same privileges that are given to a reporter who works for a television station, newspaper, or magazine. In his decision against TechnoBuffalo, he said that this case involves a leaked image obtained from a tipster, and a tipster is not an example of a good investigative source which the Illinois Reporter's Shield Law was designed to protect.
TechnoBuffalo is appealing the judge's decision.
Each state is responsible for creating its own laws regarding the protection of journalists and reporters as well as their rights.
Source: ABC-News
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