Open source in the political fray

I must admit that the net neutrality debate has begun to surprise me.

Those seeking guarantees of network neutrality via Savetheinternet.com are right on the facts, and right on the technology. Cisco already sells boxes that would let Bell or cable ISPs throttle service from any server, or guarantee delivery.

At the Freedom2Connect conference I saw leading technical experts despair of a legislative solution, while regulators like Michael Powell admitted they should best depend on the goodwill of the duopolly.

Yet the fight goes on, and the momentum seems to be on the side of network neutrality. A full House committee vote on network neutrality language was much closer than the sub-committee vote had been. With cable outfits fighting the underlying bill, there is every chance it will fail of passage, either in the House or the Senate.

What is most remarkable to me is that most of the energy on this fight has come from the political left. Some conservative bloggers, like Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit, are on board with network neutrality, but the ground troops all seem to be liberals here.

Not Democrats, liberals. The Democratic Party has taken no position on this issue, so far as I know. Instead sites like DailyKos, Eschaton, MyDD (one example here) and (most interesting) Moveon.org have been loudest and longest on this, and their readers have responded by peppering relevant Congressional offices.

I would love to see examples from FreeRepublic, RedState or Lucianne of bloggers flogging their friends to keep access to their sites free and open. If you have seen them, send along some examples.

Otherwise, talk among yourselves -- while you still can.