Mostly helpful I would say, since I engage in self-censorship. (I'm sure our dear Trekkie monster does too, by choosing among porn and overly indecent stuff yes?) Other than that, I understand how the internet is harmful since it promotes piracy (okay, I admit, I've watched stuff online previously they were TV shows which didn't air here and I don't do it anymore!) and things like.. well, Trekkie Monster's porn of course! Haha. The internet's really helpful though, it allows us to exchange stuff over email, check market conditions (woe betide the financial industry), get information in a snap (did you read about the child brides in Afghanistan?) and communicate with friends instantly, like over MSN or even find old ones using Facebook! Not only that, academics get to use it for reading articles online (think PubMed, JSTOR) and even to check for plagiarism. Hmm, what else? It not only helps in education, it helps in job-hunting too! Especially hunting for jobs overseas. The world would've been undoubtedly less global without the internet, imagine applying manually to each and every single company! Why, the postage alone would cost a bomb! Imagine the paper and trees saved by viewing things online, the resources and efficiency of recruitment websites! Harmful? Yes, of course! People can start cults online, even spread their own private lives all over the place, and con others over things like auction sites and ebay. But hey, these things shouldn't be blamed on the internet, they can happen all the time. Of course children can also now access porn (like Trekkie) but that doesn't mean the internet's harming them, it's a lack of parental controls on the computer they use that's harming them. Other reasons it's harmful? Oh, I don't know, now terrorists can disseminate information more easily. But hey, pros and cons right? If there was ever a wonderful invention by the US government, this is it.