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Summary of the Candidates’ Tech Policies
January 29, 2008
Since so many people were interested in where the candidates stand on economic issues, I decided to put a summary up of other issues that I have researched. Today we take a look at where they stand on issues important to the tech community: things like net neutrality, net censorship, and copyright policy. We’ve lost a few candidates since the last time around - Duncan Hunter, Dennis Kucinich and Fred Thompson have all dropped out. Again, I’ll frame the question as an imagined answer by the candidate to the question,
“What do you feel are the most important issues facing the tech community, and what do you intend to do about them as President?” Answers below the jump…
Democrats
Hillary Clinton
“I am the mainstream candidate and thus have mainstream views. For the most part, I am in line with the views of the Internet community. I support tax cuts for more broadband access, support net neutrality legislation, and am against immunity for telecom providers who spied on the American public. However, I am lukewarm about the DMCA and the Real ID Act, saying that both simply that they should ‘be re-evaluated.’ This is about the point where I would cry to make you feel bad for me.”
John Edwards
“My dad worked in a mill, and if it was some sort of Internet mill, he would be for net neutrality so hard-working people like him could send their hand-crafted electrons out. The lifeblood of Internet mills are copyrights, so I am for strong copyright protections which will provide plenty of jobs for my lawyer friends. Although I extended the moratorium on Internet taxes, for the most part I favor more government intervention on the Internet. That is what my dad would have wanted.’
Mike Gravel
“You may think that just because I’m 77, I’m not down with Internet crowd. However, I understand all these Internets, whippersnapper, from supporting Net Neutrality to fighting censorship. Did you know that I risked my job as a Senator by secretly inserting 4,100 pages of how the government tricked the US into getting into a war with Vietnam into a Congressional Record of the Buildings and Grounds Subcommittee? Told you I was hardcore.”
Barack Obama
“I’ve gone above and beyond any candidate in embracing the Internet’s values. I want to appoint the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer, initiate patent and copyright reform, strengthen privacy protections, and wholeheartedly endorse Net Neutrality. I put together my tech policy with the help of Lawrence Lessig (founder of Creative Commons and board member of the EFF), for goodness’ sake, so you know I’m all about open source. I’ve even been endorsed by the writer of xkcd, the premier nerdy webcomic!”
Republicans
Rudy Giuliani
“I think we should police the Internet, but not tax it, because police could stop another 9/11 but taxes can’t. I think that for the most part, privacy concerns are overblown, because privacy can’t stop another 9/11. I’m against net neutrality, because we can’t be neutral in the fight against the terrorists.”
Mike Huckabee
“I’m for an Internet sales tax because it levels the playing field with Main Street retailers. I don’t say much about technology because Jesus didn’t have a website. However, I did once say that America needed ‘more bible; less blogs.’”
John McCain
“I support strong copyrights, maybe granting immunity to telecom companies who spied on Americans, and fully support the Real ID Act. All of these initiatives are to help protect America from al-Qaeda, who support their terrorism with copyright infringement. I also think that the government needs to do more to protect children, both from online predators and from al-Qaeda.”
Ron Paul
“The Internets love me because my answer to everything is that the government should stay the hell away. Does the Constitution talk about restricting the flow of information based on the source or taxing goods bought on the Internet? No? Well, then, it’s unconstitutional. Any tech problem you can name will be better off if the government gets its greedy, nosy eyes out of it!”
Mitt Romney
“I was a CEO, and understand the value of time so I’ll make this brief. I’ll also make this brief because I really don’t have much to say on tech topics. I think all computers should come with parental controls. I believe in strictly enforcing copyright. On the plus side, I want to encourage innovation the only way I know how - by lowering taxes.”
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