kapsar

Hey Mike, I love reading your stuff keep it up.

Based on all the various things that you cover, a lot of it, and I know you've mentioned it, seems to come down to corruption in one form or another. How do you think it best to attack all these different problems with that common source? Net neutrality, business monopolies, NSA, copyright, etc.. all come down to the fact that we aren't really in full control over what our elected leaders are doing. Based on your writing and engagement with other thinkers/doers what are some tools and tactics you think we should do that might make our collective actions more effective?

I've been following Mayday.us and Lessig's switch to focusing on corruption, so I definitely agree that there is no easy solution or answer to this problem.

Do you think that more PACs like Lessig's Reddit's Test PAC are a part of the solution (even though they likely will be tapping the same folks for money), more candidates that are fluent in these topics, and/or better funding for non-partisans groups that can analyze and inform both the public and the politicians?

What ability do states have to manage broadband if we can't get the FCC on board with Net Neutrality? For example, could Oregon say that within the state boundaries all data must be treated equally - essentially within the Portland area there are only a few options so could the state regulate that as they would regulate the number of broad band companies?

Could we also set aside money to enable private public partnerships to enable broadband that would necessarily be net neutral? Would this enable another entity to the competitive landscape that could capture enough customers that would drive the incentive to be net neutral for providers like Comcast?

I'm only asking these questions because I'm really skeptical of the FCC and our current system. Are there alternatives that we could enact that would end up forcing the market towards net neutrality?

Thanks you guys. Mr. Wyden I love the work you do and happy to be a new Oregonian - are there opportunities for me to help work on this in Portland/Oregon? Alexis - keep up your good work, I met you at Powell's in Portland and you've inspired me to begin work on an internet based company/product. This is a really important issue to me and I'm glad we have voices of reason pushing for change.