photographer rights

so is america like airstrip one or?

I dunno but I think we can all agree that it's pretty crazy that

The legal justification for arresting the "shooter" rests on existing wiretapping or eavesdropping laws, with statutes against obstructing law enforcement sometimes cited.

when, uhm

wiretapping |ˈwīrˌtapi ng |
noun
the practice of connecting a listening device to a telephone line to secretly monitor a conversation.

good reading, and related:

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/06/the_war_on_phot.html

What are our rights vis-a-vis shooting IN public, shooting "private" concerns from public spaces, NOT setting down a tripod and causing "obstruction" etc.

I was stopped by a cop in San Pedro Harbor as I "shouldn't be filming anything commercial" and I was shooting some ships coming in and some dockworkers through a crosswire fence. But where I was standing was public property. I gave my name and showed my Green Card but it later occurred to me that I didn't have to do this. Are there any good resources or guides to the current photographer's rights US-wide and in various states?

Ah - useful:

http://www.cob.org/documents/mayor/eob/legal-rights-of-photographers.pdf

Not at all incidentally, especially not to me, watch your ass in Illinois:

http://www.pixiq.com/article/illinois-wiretapping-law-reaching-a-boiling-point

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-15236758