from CNet’s “House panel approves legal shield for bloggers“, August 1, 2007. 

Professional bloggers (one who makes his/her living writing blogs) may soon have the same protections as journalists - protecting them from revealing their sources.

On August 1st, a house panel verbally voted to expand the Free Flow of Information Act to include professional bloggers and independent writers.

It is unclear as to when this bill will head for the House floor for a vote or when the Senate will focus on a similar bill.  So for today, bloggers are most independent writers have no right to protect their sources.

The Free Flow of Information Act

  • The practice of journalism is the “gathering, preparing, collecting, photographing, recording, writing, editing, reporting or publishing of news or information that concerns local, national or international events or other matters of public interest for dissemination to the public.”
  • In the approved version, people eligible for the privilege could be forced to reveal their sources when it’s necessary to prevent an “act of terrorism” against the United States or its allies, when it’s clear that crimes have been committed, when “significant specified harm” to national security could occur, or when trade secrets, nonpublic personal information or health records are compromised in violation of existing laws.
  • The revised bill attempts to exclude the “casual blogger” from reaping those benefits by stipulating the protections apply only to those who derive “financial gain or livelihood” from the journalistic activity