In Britain, free speech is not the sacred right it purports to be in USA. We accept that it must be restricted where it would impinge on other rights, such as the right to privacy and to live peacefully. Thus our defamation laws are stronger than America's, our press is (I believe) more restricted, and it is illegal to incite hatred, violence or civil commotion. With this in mind, the authorities already have all the powers they need to identify and prosecute people who incited the recent riots. Indeed, several police authorities have already warned that they plan to arrest people who posted messages on Twitter and Facebook.

What is more concerning is whether they should compel messages that were sent in a supposedly closed medium to specific recipients to be opened up to police scrutiny. To tap a telephone or to bug a building requires authorisation from a high authority, and one would expect no less when it comes to messages sent via Blackberry groups.

However, I don't see this as an erosion of our right of free speech, but protection of our more important right to live in peace.