You mean bloggers have to, like, comply with the law? Dude.

That's the ruling from the Santa Clara County Superior Court in California, which ruled that the bloggers that disclosed Apple's trade secrets were not protected by a "shield law" designed for journalists.

This is a tough one. I am certainly sympathetic to the importance of trade secrets. If it's a trade secret, you can't screw around with it, period. It doesn't matter if you're not an Apple employee. The law uses the concept of "whoever." I don't see why someone should be allowed to publicize my trade secret just because they can write online about what they had for dinner the previous evening.

And this notion that the decision will stifle the free flow of information in a democracy... Please. Democracy has been alive and well for many more years than blogging. This inflated sense of self-importance is preposterous. And besides, more information doesn't mean better democracy when an increasing share of that information seems to be of dubious credibility.

On the other hand, companies like Apple will have to re-think how they keep secrets. Apple may have won this specific case, but trying to silence every writer out there is going to be like chasing the wind. Apparently, nondisclosure agreements are not enough. People and incentives will have to be re-organized so enough people are kept in the dark for long enough. Smaller teams? Disperse locations? A new science of organizing teams of engineers? Look for changes.

That said, the greatest rewards in the market tend to be won by those who offer the best products and services, not necessarily those who kept the best secrets. In other words, Apple could probably have eventually released whatever secret technology was at issue, and would have still done quite well.

Finally, it is no coincidence that this case involved a technology company, and not, say, Procter and Gamble or McDonald's. I don't want to blame the victim, but technology leaders need to get more serious if they want the law to protect them. It's fun to have the pool table in the employee lounge and no dress code, except that signals people to take everything less seriously. In the shadow of Google's rocky IPO process in which it flaunted its intention of breaking all tradition, are we more or less likely to conclude that Apple is a company where people take things seriously? OK, keep the pool table, but if you go public, it would be nice to acknowledge -- and educate the employees that will benefit from the process -- that the rules are there for a reason.

Overall, one thing is certain: innovation will continue. The rewards are too big, even with the risk of a secret getting out. Companies, judges, and even bloggers will adjust.