Obama: 101 Days In Tech Policy
President Obama reached his 100 day milestone yesterday to mixed emotions and reviews across the media spectrum. But what did this milestone mean for technology policy?
The brightest spot could be Mr. Obama’s appointment of Melissa Hathaway to perform a 60-day review of federal cybersecurity procedures. Early reports of her charge have been encouraging. The report, however, remains unavailable to the public. Ultimately, the new administration must provide improved network security for our national infrastructure and bureaucracies while keeping government as far removed as possible from privately held networks and markets. The private sector must take the lead in experimenting with more robust data security and authentication technologies.
Obama’s approach toward intellectual property is one source of concern. Numerous Obama appointees, like the Copyright Czar, hail from large content companies. While there is nothing wrong with appointing individuals with a background in representing major intellectual property owners, the lack of alternative viewpoints in the Obama administration is troubling. Lately, there has been a worrisome trend toward the criminalization of certain online activities and applications, such as peer-to-peer file sharing. Non-commercial copyright infringement is wrong and should be legally actionable, but it should not be a criminal offense-especially not one that involves possible jail time. And file sharing applications, despite facilitating copyright infringement, also have many valid uses and do not deserve to be demonized. Going forward, Obama should consider a range of viewpoints and explore methods of allowing the free market to experiment with new licensing techniques and methods of delivering content that improve the consumer experience and deter content theft without necessitating bigger government.
Mr. Obama’s stimulus package includes roughly $7 billion in funds for the promotion of new broadband networks in unserved and underserved areas. For firms to be eligible for these funds, they must comply with ambiguous FCC rules concerning network neutrality. Neutral network management may be appropriate and ideal in many circumstances, but not all networks should be neutral in all situations. Not all network traffic is created equal, and some network operators may not wish to be all things to all people. President Obama should strip openness mandates from the broadband stimulus package and wait to hand out broadband stimulus funds until the National Broadband Strategy is completed early next year.
Concern exists with the appointment of Cass Sunstein as well. Sunstein has supported the idea of a mandatory “electronic sidewalk” for the Internet, stating that, “A system of limitless individual choices, with respect to communications, is not necessarily in the interest of citizenship and self-government,” Sunstein wrote. “Democratic efforts to reduce the resulting problems ought not be rejected in freedom’s name.” It has been called “The Fairness Doctrine for the Internet,” by Adam Thiere of The Progress & Freedom Foundation. The new administration should be advised to keep a tight leash on Sunstein and his Orwellian views of the 1st and 2nd Amendment.
Finally, steps taken toward allowing government officials to use cellular site data without a warrant raise serious Constitutional concerns. Justice Department lawyers do not consider the use of this data as a “search and seizure,” and they ignore the serious privacy implications of government agents tracking individuals’ locations via their mobile phone signals. Only with either a court order or the consent of end users should government be able to intercept cellular site data for law enforcement purposes. President Obama should order the Department of Justice to end warrantless interception of cellular site data on the grounds that infringes on Fourth Amendment protections.
-nick
