A whole host of the biggest names in Open Source (the screenshot on the right is just some of them!) have banded together to form an advocacy group they're calling Open Source America.

From their announcement press release:

Open Source for America is a coalition of industry leaders, non-government groups and academic/research institutions organized to serve as a centralized advocate, to encourage broader U.S. Federal Government support of and participation in free and open source software. Membership in Open Source for America is open to any individual or entity signing the campaign's mission pledge.

The group has a list of four freedoms in their founding principles (labeled 0-3, naturally):

• The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
• The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
• The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).
• The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements (and modified versions in general) to the public, so that the whole community benefits (freedom 3). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

If you'd like to join the OSA, visit their website.

During the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor, brand new Senator Al Franken (D-MN) used his questioning time to show that he will immediately be one of the most important allies we have in the Senate on Network Neutrality. It's worth noting that he used what is essentially his first act as a United States Senator to address this issue, suggesting that this will be front and center on his agenda in the coming months.

 Franken gets directly to the heart of the matter of network neutrality. Here's just a snippet of what he said, but I'd urge you to listen to the entire 8-minute clip from the hearing below:

"You know that Brand X de-regulated internet access services, allowing service providers to act as gatekeepers to the Internet even though the Internet was originally government funded and built on the notion of common carriage and openness. In fact, we've already seen examples of these companies blocking access to the web and discriminating on certain uses of the Internet. This trend threatens to undermine the greatest engine of free speech and commerce since the printing press.....

...Internet connections use public resources: the public airwaves, the public rights of way. Doesn't the American public have a compelling first amendment interest in ensuring...that the Internet stays open and accessible. In other words, that the Internet stays the Internet."

(SYN/ACK PAC is a political action committee for SysAdmins, Tinkerers, CodeMonkeys, Makers, Technologists, Warranty Voiders, and Geeks of all types. Visit our signup page for more information.)