Voting Candidates On Technology Issues
This may be the single most important US Presidential election in our lifetime. While there are other very pressing and more important issues to help you make a decision in choosing a candidate; I think it is important to look at where each candidate stands in terms of technology, which most of the readers in this site is passionate about. It would be better if we could have their views on open source more specifically, unfortunately no such information exists to the best of my knowledge.
- Ban Internet Taxes: “We must make a farsighted, robust, and fervent commitment to innovation and new technologies to sustain our global competitiveness, meet our national security challenges.“
- Answering a question on whether he would “police the Internet culturally, such as for predators & pornography”. His answer: “Absolutely not, but I also want to point out this Internet child pornography is a terrible evil. It’s got to be addressed. And everybody knows the way you stop it is go after the money.“
- Answering a question on whether he “Uses Internet to read news & to get donations”. His Answer was: “Not nearly as well as I should. My wife Cindy is a whiz. And when I want to find out what’s on CNN, or The NY Times, or other communist periodicals, I always go to it. But the phenomenal thing about the Internet [is that] we’ve gotten like $7 million in contributions over the Internet. It’s been marvelous. $7 million, because they want reform, they want the government back.“
- Should we spend government funds to address the “digital divide?” His answer: “No, I wouldn’t do it directly, but there’s lots of ways that you can encourage corporations who, in their own self-interest, would want to provide — would receive tax benefits, would receive credit, and many other ways for being involved in the schools and upgrading the quality of the equipment that they have, the quality of the students, and thereby providing a much-needed, well-trained work force.“
- Introduced bill for “No government control over computer encryption” in 1999:
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Legalize development, sale, and use of encryption.
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Prohibits government from requiring an encryption key (solution) or other computer access.
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Prohibits the government from adopting any standard that establishes an encryption standard for use by businesses other than for federal computer systems.
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Prohibits restricting the export of encryption products.
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Encourage investment in innovation
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Develop a skilled work force
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Champion open and fair trade
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Reform intellectual property protection
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Keep the Internet and entrepreneurs free of unnecessary regulation
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Ensure a fully connected citizenry
- On research funding in technology, “We can’t just focus on preserving existing industries. We have to be in the business of encouraging new ones–and that means science, research and technology. For two centuries, America led the world in innovation. But this Administration’s hostility to science has taken a toll. At a time when technology is shaping our future, we devote a smaller and smaller share of our national resources to Research and Development. I’ll double federal funding for basic research, and make the R&D tax credit permanent.“
- Talking on Broadband in heart of inner cities and rural towns, “Let us be the generation that reshapes our economy to compete in the digital age. Let’s set high standards for our schools and give them the resources they need to succeed. Let’s recruit a new army of teachers, and give them better pay and more support in exchange for more accountability. Let’s make college more affordable, and let’s invest in scientific research, and let’s lay down broadband lines through the heart of inner cities and rural towns all across America.“
- Obama co-sponsored ensuring net neutrality: No corporate-tiered Internet (Jan 9, 2007).
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Broadband service providers shall not interfere with the ability of any person to use a broadband service to access or offer any lawful content via the Internet;
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Only prioritize content or services based on the type of content or services and the level of service purchased by the user, without charge for such prioritization.
- Obama sponsored website for competitive federal awards: A bill to strengthen transparency and accountability in Federal spending. Key elements of the bill includes:
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Recipient performance transparency.
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A unique award identifier that identifies each individual award vehicle.
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The date that the financial award was made.
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The agency and department as well as subagencies and suboffices that have authorized the Federal award.
- On creating “Google for government“, he said, “I worked with Tom Coburn, one of the most conservative Republicans, who John already mentioned, to set up what we call Google for Government, which says that we are going to list every dollar of federal spending to make sure that the taxpayer can take a look and see who, in fact, is promoting some of these spending projects that John’s been railing about.“
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Ensure an open Internet.
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Create a transparent and connected democracy.
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Encourage a modern communications infrastructure.
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Prepare all of our children for a 21st century economy.
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Improve America’s competitiveness.
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Employ science and technology to solve our nation’s most pressing problems.
If you were to vote today purely based on their policy and views on technology, who would you vote?
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The thing is that both don’t offer conflicting views, but rather compliment each other.
Anyways McCain doesn’t know how to send and E-mail, so why are we having this discussion? :P J/K Another great post Pavs!
I don’t want PGP-Biden in control of anything ‘net’ related.
This is a lose-lose election for America.
+1 Obama : Net Neutrality.
-1 McCain: Widely publicized inability to adequately operate computers.
he cannot operate computers - ie type - due to his war injuries dumbass
McCain is the bush administration continued.
FISA and the Pro-IP bill were both signed by Bush.
Obama betrayed us and voted for FISA, and he picked BIDEN for VEEP!!!!
BIDEN!!!! The guy who drafted the 1995 version of the Patriot Act, and is SO deep in big contents pockets there is no hope.
In short… if this is your core issue, you need to look for a third party candidate.
In long… Big Content just got a billion dollars of taxpayer money for an agency to fight against Fair Use with Pro-IP law, and they are getting a dedicated lobbyist in as VEEP with a President who was already convinced to “compromise” on our privacy with FISA.
Time to buy an easily hidden computer that is NEVER online.
While keeping the internet tax free is a huge plus for John Mccain, I don’t think it outweighs his political leanings toward de-regulation, and thus allowing a corporate controlled internet. I’m certain that Obama’s desire for increased efficiency through government control will come with more taxation and legislation, but it seems like the lesser of the two evils in this case.
Internets,
It’s true. It’s hard for him to type. And it has been for thirty years. And assistive technologies exist–speech interfaces, alternate keyboards, etc.
He could have dedicated his research to making sure that America’s handicapped have increased access to technology, selfishly, and still made a huge difference.
Instead, he (and his supporters) just accept that he can’t use technology, and so they let the world pass him by.
Isn’t “Fail” becoming a popular catch-phrase? That’s what I would use to describe this article. Why? Because it falls victim to the corporate illusion that our presidential options are limited to two choices. Why do you continue the legacy of failure (in that our system of government is essentially failing the people, in part thanks to people like you who propagate futile myths about political reality).
Had any of the following been mentioned, my tone would be entirely more joyous:
- Cynthia McKinney
- Chuck Baldwin
- Bob Bar
- Ralph Nader
Sorry, but I’m disillusioned and those are the only choices I perceive. The media-forced “choice” between Obama and McCain is laughable and each and every American should feel ashamed that such a ludicrous choice has been forced upon them.
Listen folks, if you want CHANGE, you’re going to have to get off your high horse and start fixing things for yourself. How foolish it is to think that some man you’ve never met with good public speaking skills is going to put your interest before his own.
I hope that you enjoy the FEMA camps. It’ll be lovely. Cumbaya….
Check out the GeekPAC Voter Information Site. It contains the voting track records of Senate and the House on tech related issues. http://deki.geek-pac.org
It’s impossible for me to separate their stands on technology from all of their OTHER positions, ideologies, etc., so my vote [for McCain] was based on that. There is simply NO WAY I can support an anti-American, unqualified, racist, terrorist-fraternizing, unvetted candidate like Barry Soetoro (AKA Barack Hussein Obama).
Oh, did I mention that I WAS a lifelong Democrat?
- Answering a question on whether he “Uses Internet to read news & to get donations”. His Answer was: “Not nearly as well as I should. My wife Cindy is a whiz. And when I want to find out what’s on CNN, or The NY Times, or other communist periodicals, I always go to it. But the phenomenal thing about the Internet [is that] we’ve gotten like $7 million in contributions over the Internet. It’s been marvelous. $7 million, because they want reform, they want the government back.“
I hope to got “communist periodicals” is a typo. lmao
“There is simply NO WAY I can support an anti-American, unqualified, racist, terrorist-fraternizing, unvetted candidate like Barry Soetoro (AKA Barack Hussein Obama).
Oh, did I mention that I WAS a lifelong Democrat?”
Either you are lying about being a lifelong Democrat or you are a racist. I am a Republican, and Obama stands for everything the Democrats have always stood for. So, you are very, very confused or you just won’t vote for a black guy.
The other stuff you said it stupid beyond words. Anti-American, no. Unqualified, no (The only qualifications are to be a non-naturalized citizen and over the age of 35). Terrorist-fraternizing, laughable (Do you know what every person you have ever met has done their whole life? Do you not believe that a man can go from doing bad things, serve his time, and turn his life around? Ayers is now a college professor and spends his free time working for charities that support the education of children. I seriously doubt you have done as much with your life.) Unvetted, you have to be kidding, he’s been in polotics for 12 years and running for president for 2 years not to mention two books about himself; there is nothing else we can know about the man.
But I digress, why duke it out with someone who made his mind up, not on the issues, but on the fluff the media serves up to distract us. Me, personally, will be voting for Obama because many of the issues in this article and, perhaps more so, out of disappointment over what the Republican party has become.
You know what, you’re right. The fact that he can’t use a computer because of his war injuries completely excuses the decisions he will make against freedom of usage of said technological devices in the future.
My point is, he *can’t* adequately use a computer and therefore doesn’t have a true clue as to their potentials and abilities.
But yeah, I’m an idiot.
@DDayDawg, you’re too funny–and predictable!–for words. Go look at my web site’s political merchandise page; be sure to scroll down past the newer stuff so you can see all the ANTI-Bush, ANTI-Republican gear that was its mainstay since its inception. Lifelong Democrat? You bet I was. Until the farce perpetrated by Dean, Pelosi, Brazile, et al, this year.
And if you’re so uneducated and uninformed to think that Obama ISN’T anti-American, or that he doesn’t have terrorist ties…what can I say?
The media have done their level best to PROTECT Obama from being seen for what he really is. People like me have taken the time to investigate his past on our own and THAT’S how we formed our opinion about him.
And your STUPID “you’re racist!” argument? What part of HE’S NOT QUALIFIED TO BE PRESIDENT do you not understand?
I don’t think that after reading this article people will really have a good understanding of how their vote should be cast if they care about the future of technology.
For those of you who just want an easy answer, the right answer is to vote for Barack Obama.
If you ask me why Barack is the clear choice, I would ask that you look at two things.
1) Who the candidate takes money from.
and
2) Who the candidate would consult on technology policy issues.
1. Where does Barack Obama’s money come from:
Barack Obama’s campaign has been funded by 3.1 million Americans who have donated less than $100 on average. Barack Obama has no ties to the big telecom companies and has no telecom lobbyists aiding in the management of his campaign.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/20/us/politics/20donate.html?ref=us
1. Where does John McCain’s money come from:
John McCain has not only accepted large amounts of money from big telecom donors, a number of telecom lobbyists are actually working for his campaign:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/06/mccain-campaign-staffed-telecom-immunity-lobbyists
2. Who does Barack Obama consult on technology issues?
Barack Obama has been known to ask the advice of Lawrence Lessig who is “the man” when it comes to tech law if anyone is. Obama has also been outspoken about Net Neutrality and made technology a focus of his campaign.
http://www.lessig.org/blog/2007/11/4barack.html
2. Who does McCain consult on technology issues?
I really have no idea who John McCain consults. Probably his big telecom friends before a vote on telecom issues because who could know what’s better for the American people than the big telecom companies? I’ve heard he’s also looking for some advice on how to program the clock on his VCR.
I appreciate you trying to make this article balanced, but for people who really care about the government and technology, Obama is the clear choice. They all betrayed us on the FISA issue and that definitely dropped Obama a few notches in my book but he’s still many times better than McCain and his big telecom ties.
As someone mentioned, Biden has a terrible, terrible record on tech law and he definitely needs to be educated before he does any damage. Hopefully Obama can get Lessig to come over and show him what’s up.
I have no idea what to say about Palin. She’s into shooting wolves from helicopters so she’s definitely interested in finding new ways to use existing technologies.
Smart Ass,
You are of course entitled to your opinion and to vote for whoever you want. But opinion and fact are two separate things. Opinion changes from person to person and fact will always remain fact. It is not a FACT that Obama fraternized with terrorists (that he knew about at the time, because I’m assuming you are referring to Ayers and he has stated repeatedly that he knew nothing about Ayers past when serving on the board with him), and that isn’t helped by the fact that every remotely credible (?) source claiming to link Obama to a terrorist has been completely discredited, and at the very least none of them were ever proven. There is no way to know if he is a racist, just in the same way I can’t know if you are a racist because I can’t read your mind. And I have no idea why you would think he is Anti-American. His life story is enough to show me that he has lived through his own share of hardships and that he has achieved his own American dream in life. McCain was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and has been walking through life on easy street because of the legacy of his father and grandfather. If you think he knows more about the plight of the average American than Obama you haven’t even begun to look at the real backgrounds of these two VERY different people.
I am not going to force my opinion on you, or call you an idiot, or “predictable” (a word that I hear quite often from high school level deviants that think they are “nonconformists”), but you can’t just say that he’s Anti-American and then tell me I’m an idiot if I disagree. It’s completely absurd. Claiming to know what’s in another man’s head is like claiming to be God.
We can only look at what these candidates are offering and what they have done to have any idea of what they will do when they reach the highest office. But even looking at those things, you can never be certain. I prefer not to take life to seriously. I just vote and see what happens. If the global economy collapses and we all get blasted into the stone age, so be it.
One has only to read an old print media book “A World Between” by Norman
Spinrad written in the 70s to understand what the Internet is becoming and why older politicians are scared of it.
In the book, voters can watch the legislature at work, and register a feedback yes/no vote to their representative on the issues. The results can seen on a monitor. If for reasons unknown to voters, the rep goes against the will of the voters, then they have to explain when they return to their electorate. If the electorate disagrees with the rep, they have the right to replace them.
Anyone has the right to use media to promote their point of view or denigrate opposing ones using any platform including a multimedia presentation over the Internet.
The second most powerful person in government is the one governing the Media.
It’s called electronic democracy and enables a truly open Government. Roll on the digital super highway.
While we discuss where Obama’s candidacy, let us not overlook his advisors. He sought the advice Franklin Raines on several occasions, regarding housing and the economy. Raines is the former head of Fannie Mae. He appears to be the one person most directly responsible for the mortgage crisis due to his leadership of the organization between 1999 and 2004 (it went bankrupt on his watch). He is further accused of manipulating earnings statements in an attempt to earn unwarranted bonuses.
Add the influence of Jamie Goerlick and Penny Pritzker and you get a sphere of bad influence from the worst offenders of the mortgage meltdown. Let’s hope his technology advisors are a little more correct and a lot less motivated by greed.
You can’t separate the two based on this article. They’re pretty much the same.
Nice Linux Journal graphic! :) you can still buy one of the t-shirts with the “vote penguin” graphic (for now) at https://id210.chi.us.securedata.net/linuxjournalshop.com/merchantmanager/product_info.php?cPath=1&products_id=3