If you are USian and have ever received first class mail from your senator or congress person with their signature printed in the upper right corner of the envelope, you’ve seen the “franking privilege” in action. “Frank” comes from the Latin “francus,” which means “free.” When someone speaks “frankly” they speak “freely.” In the 17th century the Continental Congress addressed the issue of free postage for its members, and except for an occasional regulatory hiccup, not much has changed since then.
Now there is an emerging bipartisan sense that congressional use of new media should be brought under the umbrella of Congress’s Franking Commission. Representative Nancy Pelosi has weighed in and it looks like the current wink-wink, nod-nod anything goes on the intertubes attitude in Congress will soon be reined in by a scaffold of regulation.
I hope the regulatory framework that emerges will be an open standard that accommodates the rapidly changing nature of new social media. The Sunlight Foundation’s “Let Our Congress Tweet” initiative helps focus public attention on the little known and poorly understood work of the Franking Commission.
[tags]frankly my dear, free postage, free lunch, free james brown, sunlight foundation, change congress[/tags]
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