Last night I wrote a letter to my Congresswoman, Nancy Pelosi, regarding my concerns over the newly introduced PRO IP act. This is one of those moments where I felt the issue was so important I wanted to make sure the awareness spread beyond the typical scope of my readership. As a result, I picked a handful of fairly influential friends of mine, and asked them to read my letter, and if they agreed with it, to blog about it. First, I’d like to thank all of the following individuals for their support:

• 1to10reviews
• Alexander Grundner
• Ben Drawbaugh
• Bijan Sabet
• Brian Solis
• David Cohn
• Doug Felteau
• JD Lasica
• Michael Gartenberg
• Robert Scoble
• Ryan Block
• Sean Alexander

As a result of their postings (and mine), it’s on TechMeme, and at least the following blogs also covered the topic (I say “at least” because TechMeme doesn’t pick up everybody, and I know it):

• AllThingsD
• Cruel to be kind
• IPDemocracy
• Vince aut Morire
• WebProNews
• Under the wire (where a good debate in the comments is currently occurring)

I have quite a few other colleagues who I believe will cover the topic. I hope they do. It’s important, and more important than things like Kindle, Beacon, and a new MacBook Pro. Unfortunately, I think most of the people I talk to seem pretty dismayed about what our government will do with this law. Two of the IM conversations I had on the topic resulted in clearly voiced opinions that we aren’t going to get any better anytime soon. One person almost didn’t blog on it for feeling “what’s the point?”

I hope a lot of people take action on this topic. I hope they are writing their elected officers and having their voices heard. I hope a lot of things. But I fear the worst. I fear this country’s true thought leaders have “checked out” of the political process. Voting turnout, blah blah blah.

I chose to get off the sidelines for this one. I have low expectations, but at least I can feel good that I did something about it, and applied my skills to shoot for the best outcome possible. If I hope for no other thing it’s that my act inspires others to attempt to effect change around them. Maybe we can all make a difference.