Can Wikileaks cause the end of the Internet as we know it?

We are watching an interestingly dangerous event unfold right before out eyes: The internet being used for cyber-terrorism and cyber-extortion. This is dangerous, very dangerous and it can potentially lead to a, perhaps justifiable, hammer coming down hard in the form of legislation, controls and regulation that none of us want.

Maybe this marks the end of an "innocent" era on the internet. I don't know. Whether you think that the people behind Wikileaks are ideologically right or wrong, it is hard to argue that this has the potential to cause a lot of damage to the internet community. The "free" part of the internet might very well be at stake at some levels.

Is this a time for internet power-players to join forces to, effectively, find a way to extinguish the wikileaks fire? I don't know.

What is true is that their continued actions are tantamount to messing with the bull. The problem is that we might all get the horns in various forms, not just them. It doesn't take much to shut down the internet, particularly if government bodies suddenly decide that there are national security risks at hand. Think about that for a moment when you decide to support or aid these morons in any way at all.

I don't know about you, but I have zero interest in the internet becoming highly controlled and regulated. That's one of the risks here.