The story goes something like this: a guy walks into a bar and loses a prototype of Apple’s newest 4G iPhone, slated for release in June, and Gizmodo pays $5K for the device and publishes a huge story about it. What follows next is a police raid of Gizmodo editor Jason Chen’s house, which, on the surface, appears to have violated journalistic shield laws in California. Although, there are some questions on whether these laws extend to journalists who purchase stolen or missing property. And, it also raises a serious question for bloggers in general. Are bloggers considered journalists, under the law, and thus protected by shield laws?

Stewart recently weighed in on the story, ripping Apple over the debacle. My favorite quote from him was when he said, “If you want to break down someone’s door, why don’t you start with AT&T, for G-d sakes? They make your amazing phone unusable as a phone!” I think he may be on to something here (snark)…