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Computer giant Apple has won the first stage of its legal battle to force three online reporters, or bloggers, to reveal who gave them secret information about the company's new products.

The company launched the fight in December last year after details of a new product - codenamed "Asteroid" - appeared on a number of websites before they had been announced by Apple.

The three individuals had claimed they were covered by laws that grant journalists the constitutional right to protect their sources.

But a California judge ruled it was irrelevant whether they were journalists or not, saying they had effectively stolen trade secrets. Apple is now entitled to see the e-mail records from the three bloggers to uncover which employee has been leaking the information.

Californian laws protect journalists from prosecution if what they are writing about can be shown to be in the public interest. But Judge James Kleinberg said: "An interested public is not the same as the public interest".

Apple is notoriously secretive about its upcoming products.

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