Is Julian Assange damaging the Internet?

Of course, a certain level of regulation is vital to security, the maintenance of order and social cohesion. Regulation can protect us from the unscrupulous use of the web to invade what little privacy we have left, or turn our screen-fitted gadgets into invasive advertising billboards.

The actions of WikiLeaks have already suggested that the internet might naturally be an enemy of the state and therefore something governments must tightly controlled wherever possible.

What's more, as a power broker in the internet world, Mr Assange's unstable personal behaviour of late potentially makes the internet seem a more ramshackle, Wild West entity than it really is - and one that either now or in the near future may be in need of government control.

Of course, Julian Assange is not directly responsible for the way some governments are try to curb internet freedoms. But he certainly isn't helping the netizens' cause.