A quick compare and contrast. In the US a hack called Judith Miller is busy doing a martyrdom thing and refusing to reveal her sources for her story. She may possibly go to jail for contempt of court but it looks unlikely that she will actually have her personal property taken by the government to be searched for the name(s). And if she does it will only be after a protracted legal battle
has quietly brushed aside 50 years of international case law in a landmark judgment on press freedom, ruling that Brussels does not have to comply with European human rights codes.
In a judgment with profound implications for civil liberties, Euro-judges backed efforts by the European Commission to obtain the computers, address books, telephone records and 1,000 pages of notes seized by Belgian police - on EU instructions - from Hans-Martin Tillack, the former Brussels correspondent of Germany's Stern magazine.
Herr Tillack was busy shining a light into the dusty fraud-filled corridors of the EU and that apparently is such a serious offense that it overrides his Human Rights as enshrined in EU treaties and the future EU constitution.
Which leads one to two latin phrases: Quis custodet ipsos custodes? and Consillium Europaeum Quam Celerime Delenda Est and a question: "hey Bush haters where exactly is the police state?"