Unless we have the open debate so the public can understand the issues involved in hacktivism, then all hackers will be subjected to the same bullshit we have had in the UK over the past year. The only reason Jack Straw, the Home Secretary, was able to get the Terrorism and RIP legislation through Parliament was because nobody knew about the issues. Consequently they just believed the bullshit he peddled them about the risks to the public from people bent on 'disrupting electronic networks'. Hacktivism can be seen as the latest manifestation of a long history of opposition to capitalism and its disorienting effects. But the origins and motives of hacking are still controversial.
Some hackers are apolitical, stereotypical computer nerds.
So while governments discuss how to possibly adopt e-government policies, and how to run cybergovernments with real cyberelections, net hacktivists are getting organized and show people how to protest online, if that's what they want to do.