I was reading an interesting opinion piece on whether bloggers should be considered journalists for the purpose of not only 1st amendment, but shield laws. I have to admit I don't know much about the shield laws, and haven't formed a strong opinion on this matter yet. Obviously I feel bloggers should be able to speak their mind and give their opinion under the 1st amendment rights. But at what point can or should a line be drawn to separate them from professional journalists? On one hand, any citizen could report on noteworthy information. On the other hand, what stops an intellectual property thief from just stealing private information, publishing, and then claiming journalistic protections? There is a degree of responsibility when a journalistic business can go out of business due to reporting bad info. There is no accountability or authentication taking place on the part of bloggers. Its a tough call!
In other news, the Supreme Court has been busy this week grilling MGM and others in the Grokster case. I feel the ruling should swiftly follow the betamax precedent but you never know what can happen.
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