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April 30, 2007BELTWAY BLOGROLL
A 'Shield' For Washington Bloggers
Reprinted from Friday's PM Edition of Technology Daily
by Michael Martinez
Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire on Friday is expected to sign into a law a measure to shield journalists -- including bloggers in the news business -- from being forced by the government to disclose confidential sources.
The bill, H.B. 1336, would make Washington the 33rd state to enact such a "shield law." The District of Columbia offers similar protection.
Under the Washington proposal, people engaged in the "regular business of news-gathering" would be protected from being compelled to reveal confidential sources who wish to remain anonymous, regardless of what type of technology they use to distribute their content. Bloggers employed by news-gathering entities would be protected. Independent bloggers could be considered as entities several ways, such as becoming limited liability corporations.
Bruce Johnson, an attorney at the Seattle-based firm Davis Wright Tremaine, helped draft the bill. He said it would draw a fair line between bloggers who are operating as journalists and those who are purely "hobbyists."
He said the cost of business licenses in Washington should not preclude many bloggers from applying for them.
The Washington law also includes another technology-related wrinkle -- it would shield reporters from attempts to seek telephone or Internet records and other information for the purpose of identifying their sources. Johnson said the provision would be particularly useful in cases where parties try to use such techniques to sidestep the shield law.
Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said she hopes Washington's new law will help spur momentum in other states and on Capitol Hill. Shield legislation stalled during the 109th Congress but is expected to be revived this session.
Dalglish said she is not aware of any state shield laws that explicitly exclude bloggers -- even though many of them were authored before the blogging boom of recent years.
She noted that Alabama's statute is particularly unique. Sports Illustrated lost a defamation case in 2005 when a federal court ruled that the state's shield law does not protect magazine reporters.
Massachusetts, Missouri and Texas all are currently considering shield laws. Dalglish recently testified in support of the Texas proposal. "I haven't gotten any frantic e-mails about it yet," she said.
Few state-level shield laws have been tested by questions about whether they should apply to bloggers. Apple Computer sued last year to unmask the sources of bloggers who leaked information about an unreleased product. The company dropped the suit after a California appellate court ruled against Apple in May 2006.
Johnson said the legal landscape is still evolving, but the growing number of states with shield laws is making it harder for federal lawmakers to ignore the issue. "Each state law is an additional brick in a building that may turn into a federal shield law," he said.
Posted by Danny | 11:05 AM
