As someone who is addicted to the internet, I can tell you that the OP is completely wrong. I have been addicted to video games/tv/the internet since the time I was a small child. It doesn't always affect my job performance or my "off line" life. But sometimes it really affects it a lot. I have a lot of stress right now and, instead of hitting the bottle or doing drugs, I have been wasting time on the internet.

And I'm not saying I'm an addict because of the recent news. The firt time I told a therapist that I was addicted to the internet was 2.5 years ago. She laughed it off and said that "people don't get addicted to the internet." She, like the OP, was wrong.

I am now going to take active steps to overcome my addiction. But it makes my job, working at a computer all day, very difficult when the compulsion to come online is so very strong.