Bloggers take heed: The BBC is reporting on a California judge’s ruling that bloggers do not enjoy the same legal protections as journalists.

“The preliminary ruling could be far-reaching for bloggers who disclose information about companies in the future,” the report says. In particular, this ruling hits the site Think Secret, et. al, which published insider information early this year regarding Apple computer products before market. (The products, I believe, were the iPod Shuffle and the Mac Mini.) The Web sites had Electronic Frontier Foundation lawyers representing them, who argued that “online reporters’ confidential sources and unpublished material are protected by both the reporter’s shield in the California constitution and the reporter’s privilege under the federal First Amendment.”

They lost - at least in this preliminary hearing.

I’m no lawyer, but I imagine this doesn’t bode well - case law-wise - for amateurs writing for the Web. It doesn’t even bode well for professionals, like myself, who write as amateurs in their spare time.

Still, I’m pleased to see the beginnings of legal precedent for blogging.

(Disclaimer: I’m a huge fan of Apple products and, obviously, a blogger. )

Human endeavor should bear the hallmarks of humility. It’s okay to laugh at ourselves.

And no one plays the straight-faced man like Rob Corddry.