Lessig

I've been following your blog since I was (fortunately) forced to read one of your books ("Free Culture") for an University exam. I appreciate what you’re doing to change things, and I hope one day politicians will stop protecting the interests of the rich minority and understand that their decisions have consequences also on the “ordinary” majority.
As I’m Italian, I’m reading your posts from an European point of view, and I can only give an outer opinion. I heard the word “lobby” for the first time in an American movie, and since then, I never happened to hear it connected to other realities, so I’ve always supposed that lobbies are an American peculiarity. What you’ve written in your “Declaration for independence” sounds so obvious to me… I don’t want to say that you’re obvious, I’m only saying that the idea that Congressmen could be “directed” by lobbies, or at least “inclined” to vote for laws that would be wanted by those who paid (and will pay) for their election campaign, IS obvious. And of course, the same could be said about the election of judges. That’s an American weirdness too… and also a dangerous one, if you think about it. As law is a matter of balancing different interests, which interest would prevail if the one who decides it is moved by personal concern? That’s rhetoric.
In Italy we use public funds to support political campaigns. As you may well know, my country has a huge public debt, but it’s ridiculous to think that it’s all due to that use of public money, as the wastes must be searched in other expenses. That doesn’t give us a better political class than yours, but at least corruption is not legalised, as it seems to be in the US system.
The point is that in your system democracy is already compromised during the election campaigns, while in ours it will happen only after the elections!

@ Google DC talks "The future of the internet"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAsb4gtEpaw

you mention (quoting Richard Clarke) a potential I-Patriot act that "Vint Cerf is not gonna like very much..."
where can we find more detailed (maybe official?) info about this?
thx

http://www.nbledlight.com

thanks for post

I agree with you,hope you everything goes well!