(speaking only for myself and no one else)... You make a good point Chris.. Regardless of any politician or bureaucrat's motive for taking an action, many (most?) are ill prepared to speak or even ponder the topic of "the Internet" (and the fancy series of tubes.. ) [much less make laws about it] I was in a local city council meeting recently while one of the council members was chiding a very polite Time Warner Cable "Gov't affairs" spokesperson on something the council person had obviously no clue about.. I was embarrassed for him and proud the TWC rep was able to remain professional.. Making our expertise available to politcos that want to learn sure seems like a good idea, but I suspect we have to be very careful not to run afoul of our employers rules and desires on such topics.

I believe that this is exactly the kind of thing that the US ISOC Chapters should be (and are to varying degrees) involved in -- providing legitimate technical information and expert analysis of local, state and federal policies which impact the Internet, to those making the policies. The global ISOC already does this for ICANN and other international organizations, it seems fitting that the chapters do more of this here inside the USA.

I encourage everyone with even a fleeting interest in tech-policy to seek out their local ISOC chapter (http://www.isoc.org/isoc/chapters/list.php?region=worldwide&status=A) and let them know that you care. I can tell you as the founding chair of the Colorado chapter that my largest hurdle today is getting active members to participate - I have funding, etc, just no help... (I invite everyone to contact me directly with suggestions and ideas in this vein - I have some vehicles in place to start making this happen quickly with a bit of help)

</soapbox> ~Chris