I think he brings up a point in his post which effectively nullifies his argument. Throughout the article, both explicitly and implicitly, he alludes to the fundamental nature of a strong free press in American society.
Occam's Razor; which is more likely? The American public has completely lost sight of the principle of a strong free press despite having held on to the ideal for 200 years. Or, that the American principle of a strong free press is still alive and kicking but the American ideal is not offended by this particular case.
I think, even for the most cynical among us, that the second seems more likely.
Why would that be? Well, there is the "distressing" issue of Gawker Media purchasing (known) stolen goods. There is also the general distaste that most Americans have for tabloid (yellow) journalism. Gawker Media is not very well respected by the American public. Combine this with the general attitude of Gizmodo (Look what we got! Na na na naa!) and the disgusting way that Gizmodo ousted the engineer involved in losing the prototype and we start to see a clearer picture of why getting the police involved doesn't offend too many people's free press sensibilities.
Consider, just for a moment, that Gruber had gotten pictures of an Apple product (legally) and posted those pictures on his blog. Do you think police would be breaking into his home?
Occam's Razor; which is more likely? The American public has completely lost sight of the principle of a strong free press despite having held on to the ideal for 200 years. Or, that the American principle of a strong free press is still alive and kicking but the American ideal is not offended by this particular case.
I think, even for the most cynical among us, that the second seems more likely.
Why would that be? Well, there is the "distressing" issue of Gawker Media purchasing (known) stolen goods. There is also the general distaste that most Americans have for tabloid (yellow) journalism. Gawker Media is not very well respected by the American public. Combine this with the general attitude of Gizmodo (Look what we got! Na na na naa!) and the disgusting way that Gizmodo ousted the engineer involved in losing the prototype and we start to see a clearer picture of why getting the police involved doesn't offend too many people's free press sensibilities.
Consider, just for a moment, that Gruber had gotten pictures of an Apple product (legally) and posted those pictures on his blog. Do you think police would be breaking into his home?