Big time. In the 00's I was part of an effort to merely get the State government to consider OSS. The lobby was powerful and effective. Despite broad biparti

Big time. In the 00's I was part of an effort to merely get the State government to consider OSS. The lobby was powerful and effective. Despite broad bipartisan support (we did a great job educating legislators on open software and open data and how that resonates with the work of the public) our house speaker blocked it solid. Had there been a vote, it would have passed. Tons of people lobbied that speaker for literally months. Fax, phone calls, visits to her office, the works. 4 guys in expensive, black suits, and some number of zeroes to the right of a donation got it done. For what it's worth, the same group was successful in part of removing that speaker from office. The damage had been done. It was hard to even bring the matter up in committee going forward.