A lot of us are passionate about a variety of political issues, most of which have some concrete thing we can look at, experience or have a grounded fear of experiencing — civil/human rights, environmental issues, animal cruelty, health & health care.

I want to ask you to take action on an issue that is more abstract, but that will affect communities like those of us who only know each other "in the blogosphere" if we don’t take action.

Internet Neutrality.

A breathtaking diversity of organizations have asked Congress to protect the neutrality of the Internet as a place where anyone can publish and connect with others who share their interests or concerns.

This is because owners of high-speed networks (mostly cable and telephone companies) are actively exploring ways that they can charge more for certain kinds of content or access, or ensure that their customers have privleged access — think of "in network" cell phone calls.

Some of the smartest people I have ever had the honor of meeting are speaking out — and asking others to speak out — in favor of Internet neutrality legislation. (So have plenty of others, but I’m listing only the folks I have met personally.)

• Tim Berners-Lee: He invented html and is widely credited as being the guy who made the Internet "point and click" and, therefore, useable by ordinary people.
• Gigi Sohn: Founder and President of Public Knowledge, the folks who are trying to keep the idea of "fair use" and user control over media from becoming outdated and quaint. (And former co-president of GAYLAW.)
• Danny Weitzner:  Senior Scientist and Technology and Society Domain Leader at the World Wide Web Consortium, the body that sets the standards for how the Internet works. And Danny used to be a privacy & free speech lobbyist in Washington DC.
• Larry Lessig: Law Professor at Stanford and author of two cutting edge books on how the technology of the Internet and media have effected the law, and vice versa.
• Susan Crawford: Law Professor at Cardozo and extremely tech-savvy smart woman.