Excerpt:
Few legislators have done more to promote and protect online speech, privacy rights and innovation than U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). Most notably, he authored Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a law that helps make user-generated content and online services possible by protecting hosts from liability. Senator Wyden is currently the lone senator blocking passage of the PROTECT IP Act, legislation that attempts to safeguard intellectual property at the expense of free speech, technological innovation and the very foundation of the Internet. Most recently, Senator Wyden introduced legislation to create a legal framework for when and how location information derived from cell phones and other electronic devices can be accessed and used by both government agents and private entities.
I was just thinking the same thing. I see his name show up on a lot of meaningful issues that deal with consumer protections. Not Franken-specific, but I have the same general vibe in the TMO/AT&T proceedings where people who used to think they could just grease a few palms and do whatever they wanted are being confronted by a different version of reality than they're used to.
I was thinking it really started with the Obama campaign, became real when the State Department asked Twitter to avoid maintenance during the Arab Spring, and recently has been reflected with Carrier IQ, SOPA, and the FCC privacy reviews of Google/Facebook.
