The U.S. Justice Department is reportedly considering whether to file espionage charges against the WikiLeaks Web site and its founder Julian Assange. The case has raised broad legal questions about how the government will protect the freedom of information and an open Internet, while also protecting privacy and national security.

It has been a big year for Internet freedom in the United States. In January, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made freedom of expression on the Web a top foreign policy concern.

"This freedom is no longer defined solely by whether citizens can go into the town square and criticize their government without fear of retribution," Clinton said. "Blogs, emails, social networks, and text messages have opened up new forums for exchanging ideas, and created new targets for censorship."