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How Tech-Savvy Will the Next President Be?
CorinneI writes "We've got our candidates. We know their positions on the major issues of the day — healthcare, the Iraq war, the economy, yada, yada, yada. But Senators McCain and Obama will also have to be concerned with tech issues. Where do they stand on Net neutrality, patent protection, piracy, broadband, privacy, and H1B visas? Do their campaign positions match up with their voting records and public statements? Here's how they stack up on the big five tech issues of the day."
In my eyes, the most important issue is the preservation of the 2nd ammendment.
Yep, I never spell check.
More incorrect spellings can be found he
I don't even think it's on their radar, and the sad part is that it is becoming a huge issue, especially with the stupid hacking war between various countries, and the amount of control corporations want over software and data. The candidates are a lot older and have to know about a lot more things, and they try to take in the greater picture. How can they deal with the minutia of details that involve this fledgling of a political and human rights issue? How can they know about the implications? Even a lot of people that are deep in the tech industry don't even care about a lot of things, mostly because they work for corporations that are trying to steer the industry towards gobbling up all rights so they can secure revenue streams.
Twinstiq, game news
Yes, it does matter, and no, its not like 'barrel mod's...'; I have relatives that don't have high speed internet. And there is no plans to provide it in there area. There is no competition, and to make matters worse, state (and fed) rules prohibit competition, much less new growth.
To be closer to your analogy, one might say "Look at my new Desert Eagle", and McCain would say: "naw, I'm going to the beach today."
Well, Obamas people went directly to Lawrence Lessig for discussing tech policies. I think that says a lot.
McCain has already laid bare his position. You don't get any. However, the subject of Obama's name will rule the day. Please help make civil liberties the issue it needs to be. It is a given that McCain is a big loser in that department and they will steadily lose out to his special interests he so vehemently denies. Obama's choices for VP and a cabinet will indicate how serious he is. There is only one choice if you care at all about your rights, even though the choice might not amount to anything. But it is clear that McCain is not interested in the subject. It will be to his detriment any time it ever comes up.
What?
Which is a pretty hypocritical attitude, considering that one way or the other, taxpayers and shareholders (ie. other people) have paid for your broadband.
I seem to pay a bill each month... If it's being subsidized, I didn't ask for that. Tell me where to vote so that it's not subsidized, and I'll do it. If that makes it too expensive, then it's too expensive.
Well Obama is good friends with Lawrence Lessig.
On the other hand, I think McCain grew up with Alan Turing's Dad so...
I mean, is there really any doubt on which one is more "tech savvy"? If their ages don't make it completely obvious, look at Obama's website, his government transparency (available online), and his simple familiarity with the issues.
A 47 year old recent Constitutional law professor (universities tend to have a couple uses for the inter-tubes) whose campaign uses the Internet as its central tool vs a 72 year old guy who has been in the Legislature since 640K was enough for anyone?
Well, apparently Obama knows enough not to use a Bubble Sort:
;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4RRi_ntQc8
Now, if he could just get some decent web developers.
http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/31/2341201&from=rss
Sanity is a sandbox. I prefer the swings.
The issues listed are so far down the list they should not be a factor. The Federal Governments job is to provide security for the country, not dabble in things that should be left to the states to decide. To much power has been given to the Federal Government. Why should the Feds have anything to do with anyone having access to broadband?
I think we are getting very close to the time when the government as it has become will need to be reset. Right now we have a two party system where we get pretty much the same no matter who is in power. They treat the population as a huge wallet that they extract money from. Then that money is paid to the lobbies and others that paid to get the officials elected. Sure there is some it spent to placate the masses, but bread and circuses only last so long.
The problem is we have no one to blame but ourselves. We created a system that has systematically evolved politicians into the sub-species that they have become. They are able to spew sound bites without ever doing anything concrete and are able to promise everyone exactly what they want to hear. At this point we are unable to elect someone that has the actual skills that are needed to lead this country the way it should be led. Once in power they will tax and spend just like they always have no matter who is in power.
Personally I think our only hope at the moment is to keep any single party from getting both congress and the White House at the same time. At least when they are held by different parties it prevents massive sweeping changes from being enacted. If a single party does control everything then it will be a sign that things are going to get really bad. There will be no stopping them from doing whatever they hell they want.
Regardless get ready for $10.00 a gallon gasoline and rampant inflation over the next four years. And I suspect we will start to see massive famines across the world and possibly in this country. And the endless debate that the other party caused all this.
Do you really think that John McCain even reads email on a screen? Or isn't he just one of thousands of decrepit old guys who have their emails printed out for someone to read to them.
Which of McCain or Obama is more likely to say "newfangled"?
To which of these two people, the guy who remembers silent movies in theaters firsthand, or the guy who went to Columbia University while the kermit terminal app was being developed there, is going to recognize technology opportunities and pitfalls? And which is the guy who's letting an AT&T lobbyist run his campaign, because he doesn't know (or care, really) the first thing about technology?
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make install -not war
Because of course, all people who take bribes report them on their Income taxes...
I don't know if McCain does or does not accept cash for votes, but I do know that if finding evidence of bribery were as easy as checking out income tax records, all the lobby groups in Washington would be out of business.
Rule of Slashdot #0: You and people like you are not representative of the larger population. - A.C.
Why isn't Bob Barr mentioned in the summary? I expect this from Fox (who did actually mention Barr last Saturday) but considering so many libertarian leaning comments by lots of slashdotters, I'm surprised and disappointed.
If all the newspapers said McCain was going to lose and a vote for him was wasted, would he have a chance of winning? The Libertarians are on the ballot in 49 states. Their views are as important as the Republicrats, if not more so.
Are the Greens even running a Presidential candidate this year? If so their candidate's stance on tech should be covered as well.
Saame on you.
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
"you wouldn't be defending Republicans who are the telecom industry's bought-and-paid-for toadies. "
And Jay Rockefeller, D (WV), is pushing telecom immunity because he truly believes the Telco's were the innocent victims here?
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
No, but his wife is certainly aware enough, as are his lobbyist "advisors" (whose other clients include Iran, by the way).
Oh, when John McCain's egg gets cracked, there's gonna be a huge mess. He can only hide behind the "I'm a hero because I crashed my plane in the jungle and then made videos for the Viet Cong" angle for so long. Sooner or later, some journalist is going to grow a set and actually do more than a cursory glance at McCain's history. Then, there's gonna be much wailing and gnashing of teeth among Republicans and corporate lobbyists.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Do you happen to have the At&T numbers for Obama donations? Without those those number are pretty much meaningless.
It can be pointed out that other communications companies such as Time Warner give much more to BO's campaign then At&T have given to McCains.
Neither candidate is free from big Comm clutches.
Of course that's just my opinion...... you could be wrong!
That would seem like a silly thing to do, about as silly as when US Congressional Rep Randy Cunningham wrote the fee schedule for bribes on a page from his office notepad, complete with his own letterhead.
"Sacrifice for the good of The State" - The State
Realize, though, that not every donation is an attempt to curry favor. I donated a few hundred to Obama, and I develop a website for an online travel company, but that doesn't mean Obama is in the pocket of Big Travel or Big Internet. Similarly, if 1000 gas station attendants donate $20 to McCain, that will be logged as $20,000 coming from the oil industry, but don't tell me those attendants are buying influence.
$7 million from the entertainment and computer industries sounds suspicious, but it's not like the RIAA just cut him a seven-figure check. Obama is an inspiring liberal (as opposed to Kerry in '04 and Gore in '00), and he has really strong support amongst Democrats with higher education. This translates to affluent Hollywood actors and Silicon Valley professionals donating and fund-raising on Obama's behalf.
I'm not saying Obama is going to turn a blind eye to his financial backers; nobody is ignorant of where their support is coming from. But when both candidates are refusing money from federal lobbyists (I know Obama is, pretty sure McCain is) and taking it in small amounts from individual contributors, this kind of tallying isn't damning.
Millions of people have donated to Barack's campaign, mostly in small denominations. How much more legit can hard-money donations from private individuals get? What, should only people who don't have employment be able to donate?
Because that's what the politicians want. It's what keeps them in power. We have a two party system in this country, and they have set themselves up to be diametrically opposed to each other on basically every major issue. There's no room for middle ground or alternatives, because that would open up the political system to third parties or independents, which would take away power from the established ruling parties.
As a result, you must either be for abortion rights, gun control, socialized medicine, gay rights, environmental protection, and non-interventionism, or be against all these things. Either way, you are out of necessity for more government regulation to promote your agenda, because if you don't pass a law on a given issue your opponents will. It's essentially a zero sum legislative proliferation game. If you would rather vote for a party that supports what you truly believe you are told you are throwing your vote away. So most people pick the issue that is most important to them, and ally themselves with the party they that agrees with them on that issue.
But the truth is it's not any better anywhere else, if you ask me. In some ways, the best political situation one can realistically expect is deadlock. Consensus can be a dangerous thing, because more often than not it represents an agreement that the population needs some new additional regulation or control for its own good (see, e.g., the USA PATRIOT Act or the Homeland Security Act, both of which enjoyed an broad bipartisan support).
The question is no longer whether new regulations are necessary, but rather which of two opposing viewpoints you hold as to what that regulation should be.
Has Obama voted for any draconian copyright restrictions? Just curious.
The only bad part your tax dollars (yen) may go to a candidate you do not support.