Apple vs. Gizmodo

Journalists are governed by the same laws as everybody else. Their notes and unpublished photos, however, are not; under federal and state privacy laws, they cannot be seized with a search warrant. Instead, investigators have to use a subpoena that can be challenged in advance in court. There is an exception when the journalist is accused of committing a crime, but if the issue here really is theft, Chen is not the target. It's his source. And both the federal and state laws were designed to deter prosecutors from seizing a reporter's notes in order to make a case against a source. The goal is to protect the flow of valuable information from anonymous tipsters and whistle-blowers to the public, who rely on journalists' ability to conceal their identities. What Chen did may not recall the exploits of Woodward and Bernstein, but it's still journalism.

Apple is undoubtedly steamed at Gizmodo, and if the company believes that the blog violated its trade secrets, it can pursue that claim in the civil courts. Otherwise, its focus should be keeping its prototypes closer to home.