Tweeting during a Protest now Punishable by Law?

Elliot Madison, a 41 year old NYC social worker and self-described anarchist, had his home raided and was subsequently arrested by Pennsylvania state police for using electronic means to help coordinate protest during the Pittsburgh G-20 summit. What this means is that he tweeted the locations of police officers in order to help protesters evade them during the G20 summit in Pittsburgh. You can read the Huffington Post's story on the matter here.

Why is this important? First of all, I'd like to quote my cousin referencing the incident at the Obama speech a few weeks ago: "Damn, right wingers can show up to protests carrying loaded weapons, but an anarchist tweeting about police activity during the G-20, now that's an arrestable action!" My cousin also linked me to a website he follows that explores this matter further. Click here for an alternate perspective. I'm more specifically concerned with two factors:

1) The Internet is supposed to be this new communication arena free of regulation. However, with police monitoring new social networks such Twitter, Facebook, or even texts, is the foundation of the Internet about to change? What does this mean for the future of communication? I'm of the idea that in order to prevent crime we must do what is necessary to keep people safe. However, what Madison was doing is not a crime. The constitution clearly states that our first amendment rights include "freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

2) To me this rings of hypocrisy. When a similar situation was occurring in Iran during the presidential elections not so long ago, the same type of criminalization of protest was condemned by most Americans. The American government even provided Irani dissidents with advanced satellite technology so that they could keep Twittering information that would help protesters avoid retaliation from the Basij forces and sending info outside of Iran so that the rest of the world would be aware of what was happening as it happened. If the Iranian people had that right, why don't these people also have that right?

What concerns me is this disconnect. If the US is so eager to become a moral leader in global affairs, it has to practice what it preaches. This is not the way to do that.