Launched: YouTube's Conventions Program , CitizenTube.

Through unprecedented partnerships with both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, we just debuted a video contest that will send one talented winner from each side of the aisle onto their candidate's campaign trail, and ultimately into their party's national convention in Denver or Minneapolis-St. Paul.

The call to action is simple: submit a video explaining why you're a Democrat or Republican in 2008 - the five most compelling and creative videos selected by each Convention will be voted on by the YouTube community who will determine the final winner.

DOD to start using Web 2.0, Politico.

Robert Carey, chief information officer of the Department of the Navy, said that the ability to put information out in a public place and use many brains to make a fast decision is made easier with Web 2.0 — the trend toward more information sharing and networking.

"Our collaboration, our bringing multiple brains to task on a product is really powerful. Do we do that? Not as well as we could. Are we heading there? The answer is yes," Carey said.

Phil Bond, president and CEO of the Information Technology American Association, said the young Americans now being recruited by the military have grown up using these networking tools. And when those same young men and women are up against a foe, they will want to use any resource available at their fingertips, Bond said.

The Daily Show’s Double-Shot of Internet Politics, e.politics.

And not even the Daily Show to keep us distracted — those lucky bastards took two full weeks off around the 4th of July holiday. Never fear: escape is close at hand, since the Daily Show site now hosts full episodes. And you have a good excuse to go, since the June 24th show featured a double-shot of online politics. The excitement starts around minute 8:40 with a look at John McCain’s online game Pork Invaders, and quickly moves on to some online gaming options the candidates haven’t taken, namely Fetus Pong and The Obama Universal Heath Care game, Yes We Cannon (see Jon running up the score below).

FCC seeks to punish Comcast in Internet probe, Reuters.

Comcast has "arbitrarily" blocked Internet access, regardless of the level of traffic, and failed to disclose to consumers that it was doing so, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin told the news service.

Comcast has denied it blocks individual traffic and said the use of network management is essential to avoid congestion and impairment of online video applications like Veoh or voice-over-Internet Protocol services like Vonage.

Martin will circulate an order recommending enforcement action against the company on Friday among his fellow commissioners, who will vote on the measure at an open meeting on Aug. 1, the news agency said.

Pelosi: New Bipartisan House Rules Won't Quash Free Speech Online, Wired.

All the online outrage eventually elicited the following response from the 68-year-old Pelosi on Thursday, who used the opportunity to show-off her Web 2.0 street cred by boasting that she herself is an fluent user of social media.

In a letter to House Minority Leader John Boehner, a congressman from Ohio, Pelosi noted that she has a blog, and accounts on Digg, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube. (Boehner has his own Twitter account,)

Mr. Capuano’s initial recommendations are an effort to establish standards that permit Members to publish web videos on external web sites, a broadening of the rules that currently prohibit posting videos on external sites.

High Cost of Driving Ignites Online Classes Boom, NY Times.

The vast majority of the nation’s 15 million college students — at least 79 percent — live off campus, and with gas prices above $4 a gallon, many are seeking to cut commuting costs by studying online. Colleges from Massachusetts and Florida to Texas to Oregon have reported significant online enrollment increases for summer sessions, with student numbers in some cases 50 percent or 100 percent higher than last year. Although some four-year institutions with large online programs — like the University of Massachusetts and Villanova — have experienced these increases, the greatest surges have been registered at two-year community colleges, where most students are commuters, many support families and few can absorb large new expenditures for fuel.