So now one of Gizmodo’s editors has gotten a search warrant executed and his house raided. It appears as well that Gawker Media is going to push back claiming immunity under California’s shield law that protects sources for reporters.
I have a sneaking suspicion that dog ain’t gonna hunt. Mainly because the law says “no warrant shall issue for…the source of any information.” A full description of the notional iPhone 4, with specs and stats, would certainly constitute information. Even pictures could be so construed. But that ain’t what’s doin’. What’s doin’ is that Gawker Media, through its employee, took possession of actual property in a manner that, under California law, probably rises to the level of stolen goods.
Now I’m sure there will come the usual parade of First Amendment absolutists who think all reporters should be protected from everything for all time, to which my usual response is: you obviously have never seen NBC. But Jason Chen’s little exercise in balls-to-the-wall journalism is not going to get the same protection as, say, Daniel Ellsburg and the Pentagon Papers, and rightly so – because while details of the iPhone are certainly newsworthy, they do not rise to the level of a compelling public interest. Even so, with California’s shield law, he would probably be in a position to skate if they hadn’t paid $5000 – a felony-theft level of cash – for property that was not the seller’s to sell.
As it is, if I’m Gawker Media’s lawyer, I’m skipping over the righteous pontification and heading to the part where I hope the DA might be open to pleading down to something that doesn’t involve jail time.