Although listening to committee debates may seem something only attractive to government geeks and insomniacs, Gene Rose, the public affairs directors for the National Conference of State Legislators, said that the Internet streams of the meetings have been surprisingly well utilized.

"It's pretty popular because a lot of people can't make it to the Capitol," Rose said. The states already doing it "are getting enough use to justify the cost, and once it's up, there is very minimal costs to maintain it."

In many ways, the use of the Internet mirrors the initial forays into the use of public-access television to televise government proceedings, Rose said. Initially, there was a fair amount of concern about the increased access and open government laws when the proceedings were televised, but as it expanded, lawmakers became more comfortable.

The same can be said for Internet broadcasts when they were in their infancy, Rose said, "but as more states adopt this technology, there seems to be less concern."

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