The British discovery also came at just the right time - the us had threatened to sever intelligence links over the release of Lockerbie bomber al Megrahi.

The right to discovery has been used by aggressive lawyers not just to find pieces of information, but to exhaust and impoverish adversaries through endless motions for more.

And second, of course, is the notion of a worldwide web of information, a system that brings every bit of news and data and discovery right to your door.