Two British gossip papers - News of the World and The Sun - have been implicated in a scandal of gigantic proportions involving the paying of private detectives to tap into the phones of thousands of celebrities and public figures. A few of the big names that are said to have been a victims of the papers' illegal activities include Elle Macpherson, Gwyneth Paltrow, George Michael, and the now-deceased Jade Goody. Both papers are owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., who also owns Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, and other publications in the U.S.

News of the World is said to have gone to great lengths to conceal their activities, paying off three victims and ensuring that the evidence in each of the cases was sealed. They are said to have paid out more than 1 million pounds ($1.6 million), to settle. Thirty-one journalists are also accused of hiring a private investigator who also regularly conducted searches of police databases and paid off employees of various companies and groups for information, in addition to the illegal wiretapping.

The Daily Mail, which is not owned by Murdoch, is also under scrutiny. They are said to have hired the same investigator to do obtain information illegally for them as well.

Murdoch denies knowing anything about the illegal activity his papers are said to have been engaged in. But not everyone is convinced, due to the sheer number of cases involved.

In another interesting twist, Andrew Coulson, the current communications chief of David Camera, leader of the UK's opposition Conservative Party, is also being dragged into the scandal. He was the former deputy editor and then editor of the News of the World. Prior to his stint at NOTW, he also worked for The Sun. Coulson retired from NOTW in 2007 after a reporter, Clive Goodman, was jailed along with private investigator Glenn Mulcaire for intercepting phone messages left for members of Prince Charles' staff and Gordon Taylor, CEO of the Professional Footballers Association.

John Whittingdale, the chairman of the House of Commons Media Committee, said Friday that he will re-open an inquiry into the case. And Liberal Democrat lawmaker Chris Huhne said in Parliament today, “If there were more than 1,000 phone taps, it beggars belief that this was just one journalist and that senior executives didn’t know.”

Numerous celebrities and public figures in the UK are now said to be meeting with their lawyers and are considering taking legal action against NOTW. Many of the alleged victims, however, have not yet even been informed by the police of the crimes committed against them.

Considering that Goodman got four months in prison for tapping the royal phone lines, a crime of this scope and scale could manifest into a massive series of trials with some pretty severe consequences for those found to be involved.