(iverson's) currentbuzz: Data-Driven Investigation the Ties Congresspeople to RIAA Contributions.

If you paid attention at all in civics class, or if you are an immigrant (look at the proposed immigration reform and what it requires immigrants know about the way our political system works) you know that your congressperson is elected by individual voters with the expectation that he or she will act in their constituents' best interest.

If that congressperson is getting lots of money from corporations or organizations such as the RIAA,an industry-backed lobbying group for the record industry, shouldn't they be asked to whom they answer? The consumerist.com thinks so, and got together one of those data-driven things -- a list of congressfolk who took RIAA money. They link to the contact info for these elected officials. Next step, link it to a database of legislation that the RIAA has an interest in, right? See how the votes fall out.

This is technology and crowdsourcing we can use. Read about Adrian "Journalism is Broken" Holovaty and the project he got recently got funded for with this kind of work in the public interest.

aren't these representatives supposed to work for you? Sure. That's why we've compiled a list of 50 congresspeople who took campaign contributions from the RIAA in the last election cycle. We've linked their contact information so that you, as their constituents, can inform them that they're taking money from the "Worst Company in America," and that's going to cost them your vote.

Source: consumerist.com