I'd say it's more damaging to the US that they are going through so much (assumed) trouble to get Assange than the leaks on the internet.

Because, you know. Some of us don't even read WikiLeaks, but most of us read the newspaper, and when we read "international scandal", "problems for America diplomatically" and "Assange suddenly arrested for alleged rape", we tend to put one, one and one together and come up with three.

http://savewikileaks.net/2010/12/wikilekas-hideout-photo/

Interesting to know how well protected the servers are. Pretty awesome if you ask me

IDK all of this is awfully spectacular and doesn't look very "grassroots" to me at all. Not to talk out of school or insinuate a conspiracy or anything but that shit just seems REALLLLY fishy to me, especially considering that the hacker snitch-dude out turned in Manning seemed to think that wikileaks is a front for some kind of private organization

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenLeaks

What's that last bit, front to a private organization?

It's pretty clear that Assange is a bit of prick based on what Domscheit-Berg and some other used-to-be-wikileaks people have been saying. It's also becoming more and more about this heroic cyberage robin hood tale. The openleaks people are complaining about how all the resources were directed to the massive US leaks, Afganistan, Iraq and cables, putting everything else second, and now Assange is deliberately trying to make as many headlines as possible by releasing the cables bit by bit over several weeks.  But I'm not sure I can really honestly blame Assange for that. For being a tyrannical moron on a power trip maybe, but deliberately aiming for the headlines not so much. Staying true to grassroots activism sounds awesome but then pragmatism kicks in, and such a great strong character embodying the whole spirit of information rebellion or whatever is just going to bring a lot of good publicity and lot of popularity for the cause, which is simply a good thing by any standards. It might be flashy, but if you want to stir up something in the masses you're gonna need something like that.

http://humantrafficking.change.org/blog/view/wikileaks_reveals_us_tax_dollars_fund_child_sex_slavery_in_afghanistan

why doesn't julian assange publish all the cables at once, so governments can get to persecutin more people who need it?

left by mainstream american standards is still very much far on the right by any other standard.

lol

+ they try to maximize media coverage.

http://www.itnews.com.au/News/242051,un-mulls-internet-regulation-options.aspx

Naturally, once a leak comes out, especially one this large, there will be a push for tighter security. This seems more like a push to limit free speech on the internet, akin to what is happening in China right now. There are ways around things, of course - no computer security is impossible to beat after all, there are some talented hackers out there. Do we really need global regulation on the internet, especially from a practically defunct organisation like the UN?