When Rupert Murdoch shut down News of the World, the best-selling British tabloid, many media outlets focused on what it meant in terms of media monopolies, government power and party politics.

But News of the World had not been just beginning to tap phones, nor is it the only news outlet to engage in the practice. Furthermore, their closure would not stop British media from eavesdropping.

But the biggest problem is that the general public actually isn't against phone tapping. They won't accept hacking into the phones of ordinary people, but they will accept tapping the phones of public figures.