The House reform proposal to extend the exemption of Internet communications from those pesky campaign finance laws got the cold shoulder from Democrats Wednesday, according to an 11/2 CNET story. More than three-quarters of congressional Dems opposed the Online Freedom of Speech Act which needed a 2/3 majority to pass in order to accelerate the process. Final tally: 225 to 182. However, the bill could be up for vote again under normal procedures requiring a majority only.

Left-leaning groups, The Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, Democracy 21, Public Citizen and US PIRG sent a letter of gratitude to House Dems, particularly Representatives Christopher Shays (R-CT) and Marty Meehan (D-MA) for "leading the House battle for campaign finance laws that protect citizens against corruption in government."

Using voter data and segmentation, Colorado-based liberal activist group, ProgressNow, has initiated a letter writing campaign utilizing -- get this -- analog pens, pencils and paper. In one of many examples of the Web and technology driving offline political action and engagement, the organization is petitioning members to set up letter writing house parties on October 19th in anticipation of state tax and bond referenda C and D.

I got a note today from Bobby Clark, deputy director of ProgressNow.org; he told me that the group is "working the phones and emails right now getting other groups to forward to their lists." In a previous discussion I had with Clark, he told me that ProgressNow is allowing members to download names and addresses of Colorado voters they've selected as the best to target from voter files they received from the Secretary of State there. The voter file information they're making available doesn't include voter histories nor party affiliation.

PersonalDemocracy blog regular and RedState pundit, Mike Krempasky, will speak before Congress today in support of the Online Freedom of Speech Act. An Online Media Daily story reports that he'll testify before the U.S. Congress Committee on House Administration.

On RedState.org, Krempasky has published his planned speech. Here are a few excerpts:

"[The Internet] has created exactly the sort of political 'utopia' that the so-called ‘campaign reformers’ ought to be praising. It’s an environment in which Big Money has no significant advantage over small speakers – a level playing field on which creativity and passion trump volume and muscle. But instead, thanks to the consequences of a lawsuit and the vagaries of the FEC rule-making process, this thriving and popular medium faces the prospect of destruction.

1 comment | Read more ...

An op-ed in my local paper yesterday essentially condemned legendary NYC punk venue, CBGB, supporting its owner's eviction, all because of "a criminal-sized number of e-mails."

Evidently, the editorial staff at The Jersey Journal (I get the Jersey City edition) is pissed off by the "ill-advised effort to generate support for CBGB" by club supporters who have "spammed editorial address for months." CBs, which has recently been served an eviction notice and has been putting on related benefit concerts, is in danger of being turned into additional housing for the nonprofit homeless advocacy group that takes up the rest of its building. As a result of the over-zealous email campaign, the editorial came out against the club as it struggles to remain in its home on the Bowery. And, it seems as though if it weren't for the email onslaught, the Journal editors wouldn't be so resentful towards CBs. As noted in the editorial, "Their effort was so obnoxious that in this opinion it is better to house the homeless than to reward this sophomoric mentality." Ouch.

Municipal wi-fi was one of the many subjects of discussion at last night's Public Advocate debate in NYC. Public Advocate candidate and PDF founder, Andrew Rasiej, has made a city wide wireless Internet network the focal point of his campaign, pushing for it throughout the city as a means of making "New York stronger and better."

The lively, and at times, tense, debate was hosted by local TV station NY1 and sponsored by the city’s Campaign Finance Board (Read and watch NY1 coverage). The moderator wondered whether or not the Public Advocate is charged with playing a role in such a project, how the city would pay for his proposed $80 million program, and whether muni wi-fi is a beneficial expenditure of city funds when plenty of residents don't even have computers. Rasiej answered somewhat vaguely, stating that NYC is missing out on the tech revolution, and New Yorkers deserve to be able to connect more readily to their government through wi-fi.

Uh-oh: it looks like politicians aren't the only ones subject to the wrath of mass emailers. Apparently the head of CNN News Group, Jim Walton, fell victim to an avalanche of messages sent by supporters of pro-life Catholic organization, Fidelis. They, like tons of other conservatives it seems, were up in arms over a NARAL Pro-Choice America ad that implied Supreme Court nominee John Roberts supported violent anti-abortion extremists. NARAL pulled the ad (which I think most would find pretty ridiculous, no matter what side they're on) right around the same time if not before Fidelis got in on the action through their CNNBias.org site (you can watch the ad there). The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has the story, re-published (legally?) on MediaChannel.org so as to avoid that pesky registration.

The rumors about political Web consulting outfit, RightClick Strategies, have abounded for quite some time, and now Roll Call, and even the General Counsel’s Office is on the case. According to a story published today in the Capitol Hill must-read (sorry, ya gotta subscribe to read it in full), "sources said Rightclick Strategies made a presentation to the office of Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.) in which company representatives displayed Web site designs to staffers that supposedly had been done for other Democratic offices, including that of Rep. Bob Menendez (N.J.)." The thing is, Menendez spokesman Matt Miller says the firm never did any work for Menendez. Doh!

(Menendez is my congressman, by the way. A few years back there was a trash can that had been burned and melted beyond recognition sitting directly outside his Jersey City office for months....)

Back to the story: It looks as though RightClick's strategy may involve all sorts of shenanigans, if the Roll Call report is any indication. Evidently, the company also claimed it did work for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, as well as other Dems, when it turned out it hadn't. According to the article, "Larry Purpuro, founder of Rightclick Strategies...said that he couldn’t speak to the specific Obey presentation but he did say that 'our guys are up there ... they visit five to 15 offices a week. We have done hundreds of designs, designs for Members that did not engage us but that were conceptual designs.'"

There's less than a week left to bid on The General Services Administration's five-year search services job for the FirstGov site. Washington Technology reports that GSA aims to replace the current enterprise-based search service with new Web-based search services. This time, they're after a company that actually considers search technology its bread 'n' butter, as opposed to hiring some monster IT firm to subcontract the work.

Now, AT&T Government Markets of Washington hosts FirstGov and provides security services, and its subcontractor, Fast Search and Transfer Inc. of Foster City, CA. provides the search engine.

GSA will award the gig to three or more vendors for delivery, operation and development of search engine services for the federal government’s official portal. Launch of the revamped site is set for no later than Feb. 1, 2006; news and image search capabilities are planned for a couple months afterwards.

The European Parliament dissed software patents yesterday, voting against creating a single way of patenting software across the EU. Instead, according to a Seattle Times story, the lawmakers decided that patent protection should be determined on a nation-by-nation basis.

It was a landslide victory (648-14) for open source supporters who claim that patents stifle innovation and drown out the little guy. Tech firms like Nokia and Siemens AG that lobbied for the legislation said it would have given them incentives to invest in research and development.

One wonders whether open source advocates get any more benefit from the perpetuation of the EU's thick bureaucratic patent law stew than they would from having clear, concise laws that would apply to all software patented in all EU countries.

Any thoughts?

As for the success of the EU project in general, this is yet another pro-nationalist, anti-union defeat that only continues to divide the beleaguered institution's member states.

It comes as no surprise that blog-boosters like our very own contributing editor Michael Bassik rally around anything supporting the significance of blogs in political campaigns, local and otherwise -- but some technophiles reluctantly disagree. Take Chris Shipley of DemoLetter who writes in a commentary entitled Low-tech good for local politics that yard signs, bumper stickers, and good ol' fashioned over-the-backyard-fence discussions are still the real driving force behind local politics.

I know that's the case where I live in Jersey City. Our recent mayoral race featured a long list of city council hopefuls in my ward, only one with a website (and that could have easily passed for a starter site, circa '98). Sure, political junkies may visit local blogs, which may in turn influence local newspaper and TV coverage. (Heck, the newly revamped Jersey Journal features posts from popular local blogs and forums in its Saturday print edition.) But just whether or not blog chatter can really affect decisions and voter turnout is a different story.