Stanford Law Professor Larry Lessig Explores A Bid for Congress

Submitted by MacRonin on February 20, 2008 - 11:32am

Stanford Law Professor Larry Lessig Explores A Bid for Congress - Via Threat Level:

Stanford Law School Professor and former Wired magazine columnist Larry Lessig said Tuesday that he's considering a bid to take over the late Rep. Tom Lantos' D-Calif.'s  congressional seat.

He's given himself a March 1 deadline to make the decision.

In a video released on the web late Tuesday, he formally launched what he calls the "Change Congress Movement," and he put out feelers for support for his candidacy.

The professor's goal is to tackle a problem that's dogged politics since perhaps the beginning of time: the corrupting influence of money.

In the video he called on members of congress to form a coalition whose participants would take three pledges that he says would change the system: Take no money from political action committees; ban earmarks and agree to public financing of campaigns.

Long-time congressman Lantos died early February after announcing that he wouldn't seek re-election.  His district spans a section of southern San Francisco and San Mateo county.

Lessig's career and public profile have traced a similar meteoric curve as the rise of the web and the internet in popular culture.

The law professor gained rock-star-like fame over the past decade as an iconic resistance fighter against the entertainment industry's heavy-handed legalistic foot-dragging into the internet-age.

One of his most enduring achievements and contributions to the 21st-century world of culture so far has been the creation and direction of Creative Commons, an Internet-licensing project that makes clear the terms on which creative works can be re-used.

In 2004, Creative Commons and Wired collaborated to produce a CD of CC-licensed music.

But seeking new challenges, Lessig announced last year that he was switching his focus to the even bigger picture issue of corruption and the influence of money in US politics.

Supporters have established a Draft Lessig Facebook group, MySpace page, web site and ActBlue online fundraising account in the past week.

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