WHEN Pam Spaulding heard from two contributors to her blog, Pam’s House Blend, that they couldn’t afford to attend the Democratic National Convention, she knew that historic times called for creative measures.

VoIP is famous for its ability to make phone calling cheaper, easier or more convenient. But in some cases, the technology can also make the impossible possible, letting people use phones in ways that they otherwise couldn't, no matter how much money they spent. Politics, where passionate citizens routinely attempt to overcome impossible odds, is a good testing ground for such capabilities. And the recent battle over FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) bill provided a perfect example of how VoIP can be a political-advocacy tool.

Dan Newman is tall and slender, with dark hair and a steady gaze. Imagine Ralph Nader or Harry Potter in his 30s. From a 700-square-foot office in Berkeley, California, with three colleagues and fourteen interns, he runs a nonprofit website that should give unscrupulous politicians pause. It's called MAPLight.org. The first three letters stand for "money and politics," and Newman is illuminating the connections.

Tread carefully, politicians -- concerned citizens are watching your every move on the web. Their tools? Custom data mashups that use public databases to draw correlations between every vote cast and every dollar spent in Washington.

Take this report about the widely debated and bitterly fought California SB217, which would have banned clear-cutting in ancient forests.

Generated by the nonpartisan MapLight.org website, the report clearly shows that the logging industry, which opposed the bill, gave nearly twice as much money to politicians as environmental groups did. The bill was defeated.