let me be clear that i was being a bit ironic with the sushi comment...i, too, left the playa thinking in new ways. that gifting isn't about bartering at all was one of my biggest takeways. i was astounded and impressed by the generosity and creativity of the place and its participants.
The argument is not that WikiLeaks should stop what they are doing because of this collateral damage, but that we should recognize what the most likely immediate impact will be to this revelation: less information sharing. A leak of some sort would not have been prevented with less transparency between governmental bodies, but now State can say that if their classified data was kept internal this particular info would not have been released. If staff from one department leak information from another department it only reinforces distrust between agencies and slows down the progress towards openness within government.
Thanks for the comments. Like most people here, I do not believe that eToro users will have any power to influence the market one way or the other (as I wrote). More, I am troubled by a social gaming approach to something that has actually real-life consequences. A speculation market of sufficient scale could cause major currency fluctuations. The Zynga comparison was made by their primary investor, which is why I cite it. Shall we open a gaming market as well to predict foreclosures and then reap the benefits?
Hollywood Stock Exchange is extremely effective with play money but that is because the people playing on the site are all part of the same industry and there are actual ego issues and incentives to make it to the top of the leaderboard.