does technology help protesters or the government more?

An interesting debate is going on between Clay Shirkey, whose book "Here Comes Everybody" I used in my research on Anonymous, and Evgeny Morozov, a writer who often covers Internet issues. I'll list the urls of the debate in order, I hope:

Morozov critiques Shirkey's sunny view of technology:
http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2009/11/how-dictators-watch-us-on-the-web/

Shirkey responds:
http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2009/12/the-net-advantage/

Morozov responds:
http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2010/01/why-the-internet-is-failing-irans-activists/

I'm on Shirkey's side here, but it's an excellent point to add that the government can just as easily use new technology as any protest that forms.