The real drama playing out with today’s release of The Social Network is not Mark Zuckerberg’s past, but what will happen in the future to those of us who are entrusting Facebook with our personal information.

Back in October 2009 my friend and co-founder of ReLegalize Indiana started a Facebook Page to get things going for our effort to legalize medical cannabis and industrial hemp in Indiana. This was before I got involved in organizing the effort with Bill, and it was this Facebook page that prompted me to get involved in the first place.

In a striking reversal of past trends, Republican Scott Brown holds a commanding advantage over Democrat Martha Coakley in the area of social network campaigning.

Social network activism for civil liberties has made great progress so far. Some simple steps from organizations and bloggers can take things to the next level.

Its been a pretty active week for the music business, especially in the online space where several moves were made this week by the likes of Google, MySpace, Facebook and even YouTube is pairing up with U2 for a special event.

This Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee plans to vote on a couple of amendments by Russ Feingold proposing significant reforms to the PATRIOT Act and the FISA wiretapping statutes. These votes are the best chance yet to influence the PATRIOT Act reauthorization in the Senate. We’re kicking off a last-minute Twitter- and Faceboo- based activism campaign to pressure key politicians and try to get some media coverage on the issue. Please get involved!

• On Twitter, thank Arlen Specter for his vote last week — and come back Tuesday night and make another tweet about the Patriot Act
• On Facebook, sign up for Tuesday’s Action to fix the Patriot Act and invite your friends
• Help get the word out by sharing this link with your friends (via Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, or carrier pigeon).

Notes, belatedly, from a “birds of a feather” session at Computers, Freedom, and Privacy 2009.

Identified strategies include building a broad, diverse coalition; focusing on cost, dignity, and human rights issues as well as privacy and constitution; use anti-corporate activism against the companies supplying equipment and profiting from surveillance; involve the technical community and domain experts; and more.

Get FISA right is delighted to announce that our new video/cable TV ad, Congratulations, President Obama. Please get FISA right, premiers January 20, Inauguration Day, in Washington DC on MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, and the Comedy Channel.

If you’d like to congratulate President Obama, please leave a message in a comment on the Get FISA Right blog — or on Facebook or on YouTube, if you prefer. If you want, you can also share your views with him and the new administration about FISA, the PATRIOT Act, and civil liberties.

The second round of voting in change.org’s Ideas for Change in America competition kicked off today. Please vote for Get FISA Right, repeal the PATRIOT Act, and restore our civil liberties — and help promote it!

My idea Get FISA Right, repeal the PATRIOT Act, and restore our civil liberties finished #2 in the Criminal Justice category of change.org/MySpace’s Ideas for Change in America competition, and so has advanced to the second round. w00t, w00t! Please help. Happy new year and congratulations to all … now get to work.