MacNN is reporting a huge win for bloggers and online journalists in their fight against Apple.

Earlier this month, a Santa Clara County Court ordered Apple to pay the legal fees associated with the defense of subpoenas issued to online journalists (and other related entities) in response to online reports about a confidential audio/video product — code-named “Asteroid” — under development at the Cupertino-based company. The “Asteroid” product was never released, but Apple claimed the news reports violated California state trade secret law and that the journalists were not entitled to First Amendment protections

As a result of the final decision, the court ordered that Apple pay 2.2 times all the actual legal costs and fees incurred by the journalists. A sum that amounted to almost $700,000.

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