Sunday, July 16, 2006

Apple Computer Inc. Apple isn't quite this friendly toward independent journalists.

On July 12, Declan McCullagh reported in News.com that Apple Computer has acknowledged in a court filing that it will not take to the California Supreme Court its high-profile fight to subpoena two bloggers for records and e-mail that might indicate who at Apple leaked confidential information about an upcoming product.

On May 26, a California appeals court rejected Apple's attempt to subpoena records and archived e-mail from the publishers of O'Grady's Power Page and AppleInsider. The three-judge panel also rejected Apple's claim that the bloggers were not journalists, and confirmed that California's shield law protects independent journalists, include those who publish via weblogs.

Nice to see that this influential decision in favor of independent reporting will continue as a strong precedent.

I really can't fathom Apple's condescending, dictatorial attitude toward bloggers. For a tech company, that's utterly counterproductive. If anything, the company behind iLife, iTunes, and the iPod should embrace weblogs and nurture constructive conversations with bloggers and other online opinion leaders.

If anything topples Apple in the long run, it probably will be their own bad attitude toward the public conversation. Apple is actively undermining much of the market goodwill it's worked hard to cultivate.

NOAA, George E. Marsh Album A dust storm approaches Stratford, Texas, 1935.

This strategy is rather like plowing under the High Plains in the early 20th century. Hey Apple: Remember a little thing called the Dust Bowl? Don't forget where your market is rooted these days.

Hmmmm... Maybe that's why Apple decided to let this case drop.

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