The 463: Inside Tech Policy

Tom Galvin: Now is the time for the tech industry to step up and speak with one voice

From the current edition of PR Week (subscription required)...

To many, Washington is presently viewed as a land of hope and despair. Failed industries have come hat in hand to beg policymakers to bail them out. And tone-deaf executives have been hauled before Congress to be scolded like schoolchildren for their misbehavior. Through it all, there is a sector of our economy that has remained above the fray – tech.

This may not be a great year for Silicon Valley, but it's a golden opportunity for the tech industry to make its case in Washington. Bailout free, the sector has what desperate policy-makers are now looking for: solutions.

Healthcare reform? Electronic health records are part of the solution. Energy and the environment? Smart grids and technologies make us more energy efficient. It wasn't a coincidence that when President Obama had his first meeting with CEOs, it was with the leaders of the tech industry. In a sea of black hats (Wall Street, automakers, banks, and insurance companies), the tech sector still wears white.

This hasn't always been the case. During the Bush years, the tech industry was viewed much like the A/V club in the eyes of the football team – they didn't get them and therefore largely ignored them. They weren't special. Now they are again. Granted, it's not quite to the level of the good old days of the late 1990s, when the Internet was new and the possibilities seemed limitless (remember “Dow 36,000”?).

But at a time when Americans are questioning the country's ability to remain the global economic leader, they can always fall back to the fact that when it comes to technology, the US still has the lion's share of compelling stories.

Now, the question becomes, what does the tech industry do with this newfound status in Washington? The challenge is, and has always been, that the industry does not speak with one voice. It's more like a kindergarten class with 22 5-year-olds.

Now the industry has to prove it's growing up. It has to present a united and compelling vision of what the economy should look like. It must be able to deliver the hard truth: that this recession is like a bad storm that has naturally pruned the weakest branches of our economy. That those old jobs aren't – and shouldn't be – coming back, and that we must invest in the jobs our current 12-year-olds will be doing in 10 years, not what our fathers and mothers
did a decade ago.

That's not an easy message to deliver, but it's one a well-respected industry must put forth. If tech wants that place at the table, it has to step up to the plate.

Tom Galvin is a partner at 463 Communications, a DC-based senior-level comms consultancy. He previously served as VP of corporate communications and government relations at VeriSign.

Zogby463 Launches. Polling Data Unleashed

Yesterday, 463 Communications and Zogby International officially joined forces in a joint venture aptly called Zogby463. Here's the deal from the official press release and here is what Andrew Noyes at the National Journal Tech Daily Dose had to say about the launch...

463 Communications, the Washington PR firm that represents Cisco Systems, VeriSign, the Consumer Electronics Association and other technology clients has formally joined with polling firm Zogby International to form Zogby463 -- an initiative that will track public opinions on a variety of topics pertaining to technology and the economy. The companies have been collaborating since 2005 on a range of strategic communications and opinion research projects for clients including the Tech CEO Council, Symantec, Skype, Dell, and IBM. "At the heart of every successful strategy is insightful data," 463 CEO Tom Galvin said. The joint venture will offer what Galvin called "evidence-based communications" that guide strategy decisions and drive and define policy debates.

To launch their partnership, 463 and Zogby hosted a Monday luncheon with remarks about U.S. innovation by former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie, longtime tech lobbyist Chris Caine, and Democratic campaign veteran turned Silicon Valley entrepreneur Donnie Fowler. Caine, who recently started his own consulting firm after working for IBM, warned there is a "deep under-appreciation" in the United States about how extensively and rapidly the world is changing. "I don't think we've focused enough in the executive branch and legislative branch in being the most welcoming environment" for a new generation of global citizens, he said. Fowler noted the majority of venture capitalist money still comes from the United States and this country continues to offer the best universities and graduate programs in the world.

We thought that the release of polling data was only appropriate with this launch. Here's what some in the media have picked up on...

From the Wall Street Journal...

Nearly one in three adults believe that if the Internet shut down for three days, it would have a “dramatic impact” on their lives, according to a new high-technology opinion poll of 3,030 adults. The poll, from Zogby International and 463 Communications, also found that 50% of adults think that America should “focus on high-tech and jobs in the service industry” rather than traditional jobs in manufacturing.

PC World...

About seven in 10 U.S. residents believe the next great technology entrepreneur will come from somewhere else, according to a new poll.

Asked where the next Bill Gates will come from, 29 percent of respondents in a new Zogby International poll said the U.S., while 28 percent said India, 15 percent said China and 11 percent said Japan. But the poll, released Monday, also found 67 percent of U.S. residents saying they believe the economic, educational and societal conditions still exist in the U.S. for another entrepreneur like the Microsoft founder to emerge...

...The respondents of the Zogby poll, however, seemed to question U.S. lawmakers' understanding of technology. Asked whether the average 10-year-old or a member of Congress knew more about the Internet, 83 percent went with the 10-year-old, and only 9 percent sided with the lawmakers....

...The Zogby poll asked U.S. residents to predict when the U.S. would come out of the current recession. Thirty-two percent said the U.S. would be the first major economy out of the recession, while 43 percent said the U.S. could come out of it at the same time as the rest of the world does, and 14 percent said the U.S. would come out after other major economies.

Broadband Census...

Nearly six in 10 respondents believe internet video sites like YouTube required some form of regulation, but the group split almost evenly on whether that system should be more like the Federal Communications Commission’s regulation of broadcast television, or the self-imposed rating system devised by the Motion Picture Association of America. Just over 30 percent said they believed any regulation of internet video would be unconstitutional.

Broken down along party lines, 34 percent of Republicans oppose any kind of regulation, while 36 percent of Democrats prefer the voluntary ratings used by the film industry. Self-identified independents are even more strongly against regulation, with 41 percent opposing any ratings at all. But independents supporting content ratings are fairly evenly divided, with 29% favoring the movie system and 25% favoring the television system.

There is lots more interesting data to come...

Aneesh Chopra, The Preview

Want a sneak peek into how the new federal CTO Aneesh Chopra is approaching his job? You won't do much better than read Saul Hansell's piece from today that covers his very recent sit down with Chopra.

That said, it's understood that Chopra remains working on his official platform and priorities and that he will soon lay them out to the public and business leaders. Patience. The man has only been on the job for a couple of weeks.

When the official roll-out does happen, as Hansell notes, expect there to be plenty of talk of metrics and measurements mixed in with vision...

When I asked about his goals for the job, Mr. Chopra walked over to his desk and grabbed one page of what appeared from a distance to be a PowerPoint deck, which he described as “my theory of the case document.” It listed Mr. Chopra’s four objectives, as presented recently to Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff. They were:

   * Economic growth through innovation

   * Addressing presidential priorities through innovation platforms

   * Building the next-generation digital infrastructure

* Fostering a culture of open and innovative government...

... Mr. Chopra, a former management consultant, talked often about ways to quantify and evaluate various government efforts. And at the end of our talk, he proposed two metrics by which his own work could be measured:

First: “Can we achieve the president’s goals better, faster, cheaper through technology?” And second: “How many new billion-dollar businesses can we create by unlocking government data or government policy?”

Recession Has Hit Bottom, Kids, Move Along...

Interesting result from some very quick tinkering with the Facebook Lexicon application that measures use of terms in wall postings. You can see here that I measured "hired" (in orange) vs. "laid off" (in blue)...

We previously played with Lexicon back in December and had fun trending words like drunk, baby, hockey, and Wii. In that same note we mentioned that Facebook is working on an even more powerful Lexicon, but, in the meantime, I'm not sure why more people don't use version 1.0. Ben Bernanke, take note.

Oh, and follow me on Twitter.  More fascinating (and other) Lexicon uses to come...

Where in the World is 463?

While posts will continue to (often sporadically) flow here, the busy writer of this fine Web log has increasingly turned to The Twitter to provide tech policy thoughts and bon mots while running from meeting to meeting.

But, even better than hearing from this old war horse, Twitter's simplicity has (finally!) gotten much of the rest of the 463 crew off their collective rear ends and out there opionating. Nearly all of us are contributing to the brand new official 463 Twitter feed. And a few of us also have our own personal feed to allow us to mix business, pleasure and the banal.

Here is a quick guide to 463 on the Twitterverse...

House organ: @463Comms

Me: @seangarrettnow

Hani Durzy: @hdurzy

Katie Hallen: @katiehallen

David McGuire: @punkrampant (no idea)

DC Tech Titans

Congrats to the 100 "Tech Titans" named by Washingtonian Magazine.

How were they picked? Garrett Graff writes:

To get a clearer picture of what the region’s tech community looks like, we interviewed entrepreneurs, dealmakers and investors, political and government officials, and corporate and community leaders to compile a list of Washington’s 100 top tech leaders. We focused our search on two factors: (1) success, defined as a proven track record in the tech world, and (2) influence, being listened and look to by others for leadership and vision. We weeded out players who are simply loud as opposed to influential, so some names familiar in the media may not appear here.  

Special mention goes to honored 463 clients:

Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, Consumer Electronics Association. The longtime head of the top trade association for the $173-billion-a-year consumer-electronics market, Shapiro plays a key role in policy and in promoting advances such as HDTV.

Leslie Harris, president and CEO, Center for Democracy & Technology. CDT finds itself at the nexus of emerging issues around privacy, government spying, and Internet technology, so it’s lucky for civil libertarians that Harris knows the new administration’s movers and shakers well.

The list also and appropriately includes Obama appointees and nominees Vivek Kundra (CIO), Julius Genachowski (FCC), Aneesh Chopra (CTO) and Christine Varney (DOJ).

There Was (and There Will Be) Blood

I generally could care less about boxing. But, the Manny Pacquiao/Rickey Hatton Saturday night fight sufficiently climbed up the hype ladder so high that by the time it started, I had a twinge of an urge to watch it. Trouble is, the fight was only on pay-per-view and weighed in at a hefty $54 charge. Even if I wanted to pay for it, it was clear from Twitter commentary that some cable providers were having trouble keeping up with demand and there was a risk of a lag in the fight's delivery

So, without many assumptions, I turned to the Internets out of curiosity to see if I could find a live stream of the fight. Mostly, what I found was a lot a turns into dark alleys of "CLICK THIS" messages that promised a live fight but likely delivered anything but. I'm sure there are plenty of people saying that all they wanted was to watch a live fight but they only came back from cyberland with a crappy virus.

But, right before I quit looking, I did a Twitter search and saw a tweet from someone who seemed like they might provide a legitimate link (you can be a lot braver when using a Mac). And, boom. Seconds later there was a live feed of the fight as the second round began being broadcast from a user of Justin.tv. (photo above). I was able to watch all of the 45 seconds that remained in the fight that ended with a vicious Pac-Man KO.

For those of you who don't know Justin.tv, the company describes itself as...

"the largest online community for people to broadcast, watch and interact around live video. With more than 41 million unique visitors per month and 428,000 channels broadcasting live video."

In March TechCruch wrote about Justin.tv's -- especially overseas -- growth...

"Live video on the Web is starting to take off, judging by the massive jump in traffic that Justin.tv is witnessing. According to comScore, the live video site’s global audience saw a massive jump from 9.3 million unique visitors in January to 15 million in February, which is about the same number of people who went to Veoh and nearly twice as many as visited Hulu.com. Of course, Hulu is only available in the U.S., where it is fourth most popular video site, and its videos are watched on other sites as well. "

With these growth trends in mind, let's get back to the main purpose here as illustrated by the Technically Incorrect column at CNET...

If you thought Justin.tv was just some bloke walking around with a camera on his head, then you have less faith in Web 2.0 than you should.

That's because the site's ingenuity (or, depending on your perspective, ingenuousness or even disingenuousness) has got it a red card from the U.K.'s Premier League and its TV partners.

It seems that Justin.tv, in all its innocence, has been broadcasting live Premier League soccer matches, the rights to which happen to be owned by the Premier League and channels such as Fox and Setanta.

Indeed, there are numerous reports of sports leagues and PPV providers going after unauthorized live streaming services online.

It seems that, thus far, it's been the classic whack-a-mole game of issuing takedown notices to services. With Justin.tv being US-based, it's been an early YouTube situation all over again (minus that Viacom part).

[Side Q for copyright lawyers: Doesn't Justin.tv advertising on this content -- as the "therapy" ad seen deliciously above demonstrates -- complicate matters for a supposed "third party" delivery network? Grokster anyone?]

Regardless, many of this services and tools are based in places like China or run over P2P networks. Here is a helpful round-up of many of the players.

The current state of play reminds you of the lousy experience of illegally downloading music before the OG Napster came around and in the years shortly after the company went legit. That is, those who really want the content will jump through the hoops and be happy with an experience no where near what they could get for buying the content through proper routes. However, most are more than happy to enjoy convenience and quality over chasing down vanishing and/or sputtering streams.

Still, a Napster-like app could quickly capitalize on an obvious and growing interest to see TV content that is either impossible or too expensive to get at home.

Would we then be at the precipice of another battle between so-called inevitability and property rights? (One that includes all the requisite hyperbole and litigation?)

Or will Hulu, TV Everywhere, Comcast's Fancast, and moves to stream the Super Bowl, etc, render this shift irrelevant by providing a consumer experience on the Web and elsewhere that obviates a need and desire to watch a Premier League game while you are traveling or search Twitter for a PPV-like fight?

Um, This Is Kind of a Big Deal. That Other Thing? Not So Much.

Sure, it was a lot to pack into a single speech.

Yesterday, President Obama covered everything from the Swine Flu to math tests in a speech to the National Academy of Sciences about his administration's innovation policy. But, there was some very specific significant news that came out of it.

Hint: This wasn't it...

"Google’s CEO Gets an Official Seat at President Obama’s Table" (Mashable)

or this:

"Google’s Schmidt and Microsoft’s Mundie Appointed As Obama Tech Advisors" (TechCrunch)

Or many of the similar stories about the PCAST appointments.

Give up?

It was this, from the Financial Times:

Barack Obama on Monday promised to double public funding of scientific research to exceed the level Washington spent during the “space race” unleashed by Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy 50 years ago.

The US president’s pledge, made in a speech at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, included a promise to take ideology out of public research following what many scientists saw as the politicisation of science under George W. Bush – particularly in the field of climate change.

Under Mr Obama’s pledge, the US would increase to 3 per cent the proportion of gross domestic product it spends on scientific research and development – roughly the same level as under Kennedy.

Information Week further explains:

Obama in his budget has proposed doubling the budgets for the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy's Office of Science, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

He also introduced a new arm of the Department of Energy, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy, designed to replicate the research success of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

In addition, he said he planned to triple the number of NSF graduate research fellowships.

TechNet applauded the news.

Good for the FT and Information Week, but unfortunate that the Schmidt PCAST appointment, in particular, stepped on what should have been the headline of most of the coverage yesterday. Instead, we got analysis of Google's relationship with the Obama administration and paragraphs like this:

The role doesn't give Schmidt any decision making powers on the federal level. But it does place him in a seat of influence, potentially on issues that impact Google like network neutrality, privacy and copyright.

Actually, yes, no and no. Because, if this were the case, this fellow PCAST member would soon be deep in shaping the future of Internet policy...

Barbara Schaal is Professor of Biology at Washington University in St Louis. She is a renowned plant geneticist who has used molecular genetics to understand the evolution and ecology of plants, ranging from the US Midwest to the tropics.

The usually smart All Things D blog chimes in with:   "(The Schmidt appointment) is one more indication–and the biggest one yet–that Google has become firmly part of the Washington establishment."

Not really and absolutely not.

You see, PCAST is a well-respected body that has been employed by most presidents in the last fifty years or so. But, it is, to its core, a top-notch blue-ribbon panel made up of academics, researchers and select industry folk. Check out what the PCAST team in the Bush White House developed here. And, here is a link to the Clinton PCAST page.

Saying that this is the cherry on top of Google becoming part of the "Washington establishment" is paramount to saying that the "Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University now has the same access to the Obamas as the first puppy." (Daniel Schrag, the Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology in said department is also a member)

Even with an exponential increase in prioritization from the Obama Administration, PCAST will remain a helpful body that focuses on big picture research issues and ensuring that the country remains competitive by providing balance of innovation incentives and tools for learning. But, it will not be deciding the future of net neutrality.

History's Lessons Forgotten (Again)

I've rewritten this post a few times. I've settled on being as dispassionate as possible and letting the content from others speak for itself (for better or much worse). I want to avoid my own rhetoric from going off the deep end. The folks that will be quoted below handle that nicely themselves.

As is apparent here, we followed the Aneesh Chopra national CTO appointment closely. The coverage and the commentary was universally highly positive on the choice. However, there were a few minor exceptions. Some felt that a true "technologist" should have been appointed and others gave the standard issue libertarian spiel about the ironies of a government employee preaching efficiency and innovation. Fine. I totally disagree on both points and there is plenty of content out there that backs me up, but, sure, points taken.

Much more troubling was the blatant (and almost proud) racism in the reaction to the appointment by a vocal minority of story commenters.

Somehow, the fact that Chopra has an Indian heritage means that he somehow is not a "real" American, is only going hire Indians, and is part of an international conspiracy of Indians to take over the business world. All this from an all-American guy who is a massive Pittsburgh Steeler fan.

Let's state the seemingly obvious upfront: Indians are just the latest in the series of many immigrant groups to the United States made scapegoats for the natural disruptive churn that is our chosen capitalistic economy. At various times, the Irish, Italians, Polish, Jews, Chinese, Japanese, Germans, Mexicans and so on have felt the wrath for attempting to fulfill the promise of the American Dream by entering our cherished melting pot. But, what makes America America is that all have persevered and become an essential part of the fabric of our nation.

It feels strange to recite such basic elements of our country's heritage and promise, but, apparently, this is a lesson that needs to be re-learned by every generation.

Consider the comments to the Chopra appointment. (And, before you get there, it should be noted that many of the commentators cross-commented on the different stories and/or seemingly posted under different user names. I don't want to give the perception that there are more of these folks than there actually are)...

From a ZDNet story:

"Let's get off the "politically correct" bandwagon already -- there are plenty of good 'ole American boys (& girls), who are law-abiding and could do this job equally well as these imports. AMERICA FIRST."

Digg had insightful comments like this:

"Why hire an H1-B? Aren't any Americans available?"

ReadWriteWeb had these keepers:

"Before yu know it, we will all be forced to praise Allah! LOL"

"Can he PLEASE change his name to Apu, thank-you and come again!"

Wall Street Journal commentary includes:

"Aneesh will bring his 40 cousins to fill postions under him, they will bring their families from India to fill positions under them, who will bring the 40 people living in their apartment to fill positions under them and so on and so on. They will hire only Indians. They will be very good at making change and filling slushie cups, but you don’t have to be good to work in a government job."

"The invasion of the upper-caste Indians continues, and all Americans will soon be drinking out of clay cups."

"Can’t Obama find a suitable non-desi American. This is like a slap in the face for unemployed Information Technology and Engineering Americans. First their jobs were taken by Guest Workers and then outsourced to India. Now even the newly elected President does not believe in American engineers and programmers."

And, Tim O'Reilly' great post is followed by comments that include:

Tim O'Reilly: I hope someday your job is outsourced to India. Now this CTO will send all the jobs to India so what is good about that? You collaborator.

Articles like this make me want to vomit. What, everybody in I.T. has to be Hindu or of Indian decent? Americans invented the software industry, but suddenly we're an inferior race that needs to be purged out of I.T.?

That last comment came courtesy of "Kevin Flanagan" with a helpful link back to "his" blog. Here is an except of recent content there:

While the insurgency only advocates rhetorical violence and psychological cyber-warfare, here is some good news, out of all bad comes good -- four more Americans may get jobs in the I.T. industry. And there are four slots open to get a MS in I.T. from EIU...

"Four Indian students killed as drunk US cop crashes car..."

Sometimes innocents get hurt. But the alternatives are worse. So, for those of you Desis and collaborators pissed off at my cold, reckless, and tasteless disregard for the death of four Indian college students, I have one thing to say.

Shit happens.

It is called "collateral damage" in combat.

Like, what can be more tasteless than making an American I.T. professional train his semi-literate replacement? Killing a Dalit, perhaps? It happens every day. Often. And Hindus think of Americans like Dalits. They want us drinking out of Clay Cups. And if we bring up caste, they say it is none of our business. Fuck them.

I can't add anything to that.

And, P.S., I will delete any un-constructive comments.

What People Are Saying About the Aneesh Chopra Appointment

It's been less than six hours since the appointment of Aneesh Chopra as the first national CTO was officially made, but, already, the opinions on it are flying.

Bottom line: While some in Silicon Valley are lamenting that one of their own wasn't chosen, anyone who knows Aneesh is thrilled. Both sides are represented in this Slashdot conversation titled: "Obama Appoints Non-Tech Guy As CTO".

By far, the best summation of Chopra's potential comes from uber-geek Tim O'Reilly. I've excerpted his top-eight list of reasons on why the appointment was an excellent one, but please go to the source for all the fire power behind each point...

1. Chopra has been focused for the past three years on the specific technology challenges of government.

2. The role of the CTO is to provide visionary leadership, to help a company (or in this case, a government) explore the transformative potential of new technology.

3. Chopra demonstrates a deep understanding of the idea that the government is an enabler, not the ultimate solution provider.

4. Chopra understands that government technologists need to act more like their counterparts in Silicon Valley.

5. Chopra is a practical innovator.

6. Chopra has a real focus on measurement, and on figuring out what really works.

7. Chopra has specific expertise in Health Care IT.

8. Chopra is incredibly charismatic.

Amy Shatz of the WSJ says this about the reaction:

Silicon Valley execs and tech bloggers sounded genuinely excited about Obama’s choice Saturday morning and tech industry lobbying groups TechNet and the Business Software Alliance quickly released statements of support, as did several tech heavyweights

More specifically, here is what said heavyweights said...

Craig Barrett, Chairman, Intel Corporation:

“Aneesh Chopra is one of technology’s leading lights and we are lucky to have him as our nation’s Chief Technology Officer. Aneesh demonstrated outstanding leadership as Virginia’s Secretary of Technology and believes to his core that innovation and technology are the backbone of our economy. We applaud President Barack Obama for this choice of a proven, results-driven and experienced executive that will harness the power of innovation and cutting-edge discovery to help to make government work better for all of our citizens.”

Vinod Khosla, Founder of Khosla Ventures:

“President Obama has made a stellar choice in the appointment of Aneesh Chopra as America’s CTO. This man is a ‘do-er,’ plain and simple. He is a visionary leader and executive who can bring people together around a vision to get the job done.Aneesh is a passionate advocate of how technology and innovation can positively impact the lives of millions of our citizens through improved education, health-care, helping better protect our environment and so much more.”

Mitch Kapor, founder of Lotus Development Corporation and founding Chair, Mozilla Foundation:   

“President Obama has made an outstanding choice in naming Aneesh Chopra as the nation's first CTO. I got to know Aneesh during the 2008 Presidential campaign and transition, where I worked with him and experienced first-hand his great drive, broad skills and inspirational approach to to how technology can be used to spur innovation, help create good jobs, grow the economy, and improve the delivery of services by the government to its citizens. Aneesh's experience as Virginia's Secretary of Technology and that state's CTO has provided highly relevant preparation for this new role, and I am confident he will be a major asset to the Administration.”

Scott McNealy, founder and Chairman of Sun Microsystems and Chairman of Sun Federal, Inc.:

“Aneesh Chopra is the type of results-focused and open-minded technology leader that our country needs. Aneesh has the abilities and experience to harness innovation for the greater public good, whether that is to reduce health care costs or increase access to government services through open source, make our country's systems more secure, foster job creation, or better prepare our future workforce. We have the utmost confidence that Aneesh will succeed in driving more efficiency and innovation into the government and get the most for the U.S. tax payer's investments.”

John Doerr, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and TecNet Co-founder:

“If you want innovation, change and high performance – in any organization – the CTO role is crucial. Aneesh is an inspired appointment. His smarts and experience in technology, health care and investing will serve us well.”

Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association:

“Chopra is an excellent selection as he served proficiently in Virginia as Secretary of Technology and also has a strong background in the private sector advising the health care industry on technology management issues. He will bring to the position real world technology and public policy experience. The creation of the CTO position – and the excellent appointment of Aneesh Chopra – demonstrate the high priority the Obama administration places on the technology industry. CEA views this position as critical as it allows one individual responsibility across government agencies on key technology issues. It also ensures our industry a strong voice at the Cabinet level as issues of intellectual property, immigration, trade and taxes are discussed.”

Jim Hawley, TechNet Acting CEO:

“Aneesh is a true visionary who keenly understands the power of innovation to create jobs, help our environment, improve health care delivery and better educate our kids. His work and track record in Virginia will serve as the model for this newly created office of Chief Technology Officer. In Virginia, his office set the standard of how technology and cutting-edge discovery can improve the lives of our citizens and this will serve as a model of how IT can help make government work better for all of us. We look forward to working with him to ensure that America remains the epicenter of global innovation."

Leslie Harris, CEO of the Center for Democracy and Technology:

“I know Aneesh to be an amazingly dynamic and results-oriented innovation leader. His leadership as Virginia’s Secretary of Technology was outstanding and this background and experience will serve him well in the new Administration. He knows that technology helps drive our economic recovery and is critically important to improving government service for all of our people. CDT looks forward to working with him."

Aneesh Chopra: National CTO

Now that the puppy has been picked, it's OUR turn to get some love from the Obama Administration. At last, the geek parlor game of guessing the national CTO has ended.

And, no, the new, much anticipated national CTO is not going to be an emissary from Silicon Valley like Eric Schmidt (though, saying that Obama "spurned the Valley" is going too far). The role is going to be Aneesh Chopra -- a guy who has been, effectively and to much praise, been doing close to the same job at the state level for the Commonwealth of Virginia. In his weekly radio address Saturday morning, President Obama said:

Aneesh Chopra, who is currently the Secretary of Technology for Governor Kaine of Virginia, has agreed to serve as America’s Chief Technology Officer. In this role, Aneesh will promote technological innovation to help achieve our most urgent priorities – from creating jobs and reducing health care costs to keeping our nation secure.

Aneesh ... will work closely with our Chief Information Officer, Vivek Kundra, who is responsible for setting technology policy across the government, and using technology to improve security, ensure transparency, and lower costs. The goal is to give all Americans a voice in their government and ensure that they know exactly how we’re spending their money – and can hold us accountable for the results.

Chopra had been recommended for the job by two Virginia congressmen who said:

Chopra's public and private experience in the technology field made him the right candidate. They also noted his focus on healthcare IT "is ideal for a position that will have responsibilities dealing both with stimulus spending on healthcare and environmental programs."

And, really, if Health IT can't be raised the forefront with Chopra in the White House, it never will.

The 36-year-old Chopra has also been very active in finding innovative ways to use technology to benefit education -- as MacWorld reported this week.

I highly recommend watching a good portion of the video below. It's from this year's Congressional Internet Caucus conference in January. One relevant aside on it is that a Congressman was supposed to be speaking the same morning but was unable to make it because of a family issue. This gave Chopra much more time than he had expected. You'll see that he used it wisely in his very interesting talk on open government, health IT and broadband...

Some speech highlights:

3:50: Open government
11:10: Discovering/searching for govt data
16:00: Open stem education
19:50: A very cool "open textbook" program
22:30: "The iPhone is my life"
24:00: Health care IT
35.15: Broadband policy
44:00: Open education (Q&A)

Chopra may not be a Valley guy, but Silicon Valley is going to like him a lot. He's energetic, insightful and can speak the language (again, watch the video). He's no bureaucrat.

And, just because you didn't previously work for a chip company or an Internet start-up doesn't mean that you "are not a tech guy" as I just read on another blog. Chopra spent a bulk of his career seeing technology in action (for better or worse) in his work in the health care industry and knew that it could and should do better to bring change to the massive sector.

So far, Micah Sifry at TechPresident has the best wrap up on Chopra's relevant experience:

A few quick observations about this choice. First, it looks like very good news for the transparency movement, as well as those of us looking for an open-minded leader willing to experiment with new forms of collaborative governance. For example, back in early 2007, under Chopra's leadership, Virginia was one of the first states to move, with Google's help, to make its state websites more searchable and thus more accessible to ordinary citizens. The state has also been in the forefront of efforts to create robust web services tracking the giant government stimulus spending package enacted by Obama, and as fed-watcher Christopher Dorobek points out, Chopra is well aware of and supportive of citizen-led watchdog efforts like Jerry Brito's StimulusWatch.org.

Under Chopra (and it must be mentioned, his boss Governor Tim Kaine), the state also launched a highly interactive website that collected more than 9000 suggestions from residents on how the stimulus monies might be spent. "Relative to calls and letters, it's fairly safe to say this is probably a tenfold increase in civic participation by allowing people to click on a button, submit their ideas and engage with their governor," Chopra told a local paper back in March.

Finally, like his soon-to-again-be-colleague Vivek Kundra, Obama's Chief Information Officer, who also came out of Virginia before serving as DC's CTO, Chopra is willing to try new ways to innovate government processes, inspired by the open and lateral networking development culture of the internet. Governing Magazine calls him a "Venture Governmentalist," specifically citing "a small but intriguing experiment in Virginia that aims to bring the high-risk, high-reward ethic of venture investing to state government." Last year, Chopra invested $2 million in about a dozen small internal agency tech projects with potential to pay big returns in terms of productivity. "More important, and more unusual for the bureaucrats," says Governing, "he gives them permission to fail. You can't innovate, Chopra tells them, without taking a gamble every now and then." He adds, "We need to fundamentally change the culture of government in which change is measured in budget cycles to one in which change is measured in weeks or months." Who can argue with that?

UN Commissioned "Algotrithm Inspectors?"

All it takes is one "ham fisted" error these days to call out regulators -- and even the UN(!) -- to oversee how powerful Web companies do their business. Here's on British journalist on the well-reported #amazonfail issue. One hopes is using subtle hyperbole, but I can't be sure....

There's a lot of speculation about what actually happened, with some putting forward a view that this was a carefully planned move by US fundamentalists who were gaming Amazon to cause just this sort of public upset and one or two people claiming they were behind it all.

But I'm pretty sure that the error was in the algorithm, in the set of rules that Amazon's systems apply when selecting books to display, coupled perhaps with some unfortunate choices about how certain books should be tagged in the metadata Amazon holds.

This is not, however, a source of comfort. When a book is misfiled in my local Borders it may result in a few lost sales, but for the whole of Amazon to 'misplace' my book may mean nobody in the world buys it. If the filtering had affected people writing about how to keep sheep as domestic pets instead of gay fiction we might not have noticed the error.

The consequences of living by the algorithm do not just affect Amazon, they affect all of us as we increasingly rely on recommendation systems to suggest books to buy, friends to add on social networks, emails to take notice of and places to visit. We have put our faith in Google PageRank and 'Amazon recommends', and found them wanting, yet we do not have an alternative.

The only real solution is the one that fixes so many other problems. We need transparency for the algorithms just as we need transparency about MPs expenses, police behaviour, programme interfaces and how the deep packet inspection that will deliver targeted adverts to our web pages actually works.

Of course we then have to trust the companies, agencies and government departments involved to implement the systems in accordance with the published specifications, and it's unlikely that Amazon or any other e-commerce service will willingly publish its source code for inspection. Perhaps the UN should commission internationally recognised 'algorithm inspectors' just as it has 'weapons inspectors'.

Three Dot Lounge

Random thoughts and bon mots...

According to a DailyKos poll, New Yorkers and San Franciscans are more popular to Southerners than the French. But not by a lot.... Wired writes about how the National Federation of American Hungarians -- which has spent the last few decades working for the "liberation of communist and oppressed countries" suddenly took opposing patent reform as a cause.... There is something very strange about the whole "#amazonfail" issue that makes me wonder if we've heard the last of it... Stacey Higgobotham at GigaOm contends that European Commission actions against the company Phorm are, "in the case of privacy on the web, ...a welcome interference in the business of targeted advertising."...

Man stabbed at Dodger Stadium. Why not change the Dodger colors to Silver and Black and get over with it?... Without getting into a debate about metered broadband, consider the value proposition of buying an old-school disc (or Blu-ray) versus downloading a movie if it is implemented at your house. GigOm did (Higgobotham again).... The person who works to solve Google's immigration "problems.".... Lots us said about Twitter and even more is said on the service. But, little is said by it. Here's a sit-down with the two founders.

Obama Administration to Sell Internet to China for $350 Billion

By Tom Galvin

The White House today announced it has reached an accord with China to sell the Internet and its critical infrastructure to China for $350 billion. By 2010, the Internet’s root servers and .com and .net will be transferred to China, said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

Under the agreement, responsibility for oversight of ICANN, the technical coordinating body set up by the Commerce Department in 1998, will be transferred to the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information. ICANN, which is based in Marina Del Ray, California, will relocate to Beijing in 2010 as well.

“This was a complicated negotiation but we feel comfortable that it will result in a win-win,” said Gibbs. “The United States gets an immediate windfall that will help us address our near-term budget shortfall, and going forward we are confident China will act as a responsible steward of the Internet.”

A Chinese MII official declined to comment on the negotiations, but referred reporters to a MII website that detailed the “harmonious changes that will be made to world Internet.” Among the changes proposed were the elimination of pornographic sites such as “PornoTube” and "TMZ", the website for "The Economist" and any reference to Rick Astley or "rickrolling."

Immediate reaction from the technology industry was cautious, but few were willing to comment on the record for fear of antagonizing the Chinese. “I, for one, welcome them,” said one technology CEO.

EU official Lenora Postameure said that while there was widespread resentment of U.S. control over the Internet, EU countries would be comfortable with China. “China has a better understanding of the role of business with Information and Communications Technologies, and will ensure that all multi-lateral stakeholders in government rightfully drive its future together,” said Postameure.

A Chinese official did hint at a deal with CNN personality Lou Dobbs to be a spokesperson for the new Internet order. This would seem to run contrary to his strong American protectionist stance taken nightly on his television show. However, a Dobbs' confidant who preferred not to be quoted said, "Who would you rather be a fake populist for? Three hundred million people? Or, 1.3 billion people who run the freakin' Internet?"

Former Sen. Ted Stevens has been appointed to serve as the liaison between the U.S. and Chinese government to facilitate the transfer of the Internet infrastructure. For more information on this story, go to remembertodayisapril1st.org.

With additional reporting by Sean Garrett

CEA CEO on Progressives and Free Trade

In a well-timed Huffington Post piece, Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, wonders when "progressives in this country gave up on free trade."

He writes:

When it comes to boosting living standards in places like Colombia and Panama, we hear hardly a peep from progressives. These stalled trade deals would improve economic and humanitarian conditions in those countries while helping U.S. companies, including many consumer electronics and technology companies, access new markets. The last 15 years are proof of that.

I understand that at a time of economic pain, nations tend to look inward, but that is why it's so important for President Obama, as he heads to the G-20 Summit on April 2, to rise above insular, regressive politics and truly work to protect and expand global trade. His choice is either to embrace the world of trade or to build on the barriers Congress has begun to create.

CEA is a 463 client.

It's Blogtastic -- Comcast Launches a Company Blog

In addition to explaining what the colors in the on-screen viewing guide mean*; why the "Twilight" VOD release is a big deal; and, the reason the site exists in the first place, the blog has a distinct home for the cable company's plentiful policy issues.

Comcast's Senior Vice President, External Affairs and Public Policy Counsel Joe Waz made quick use of the blog today by setting the record straight on news coverage that suggested that the company has specifically bought into the RIAA's three-strike plan with ISPs. Waz declares that Comcast has "no plans to test or implement a so-called 'three strikes and you’re out' policy."

Also posting to the blog, is Sena Fitzmaurice -- Comcast's Senior Director for Corporate Communications and Government Affairs. Fitzmaurice has posted on Julius Genachowski's nomination as FCC chair and a NCTA white paper on broadband in unserved areas. We will watch for the always professional, but selectively sharped-tongued policy communications lead to step up the rhetoric as the blog matures out of its infancy.

* Regular TV programming = Blue

   Sports = Green

   Movies = Purple

   Kids = Light Blue

Four Years Later

Four years ago, I took this photo at a TechNet event in DC....

Yep, that lonely, staffer-free figure to the left was then-Senator Obama giving his vision on innovation and education just months after he was first elected to Congress.

I'll let Frank Davies of the Mercury News take it from here:

More than 100 tech heavyweights from Silicon Valley and elsewhere trekked to Congress and the White House during a one-day lobbying blitz Wednesday, celebrating recent victories and excited that the Obama administration is on their wavelength.

The executives from TechNet, a bipartisan network of CEOs, made a pitch to government officials that innovative tech companies can play a leading role in an economic recovery and help transform energy, health care and education — major themes of President Barack Obama.

"It was wonderful to hear the administration supporting much of the tech agenda," said Chris Kelly, chief privacy officer at Facebook. "They're also looking to use online channels to build on what they're trying to do."

Looking back:

Much of the day was spent with tech leaders thanking members of the new administration for supporting parts of their agenda. Several members of TechNet recalled that four years ago, a little-known senator — Obama had just been won election in Illinois — spoke to the group about tech issues.

"None of us expect or want the government to lead the next technological revolution, but I believe that we can provide the spark that fuels America's innovation and competitiveness in the global economy," Obama told TechNet in 2005. He decried cuts in science funding and the lagging deployment of broadband.

And, while the expectations were almost equally high when TechNet first trekked back for their first meeting with the Bush White House as a group (a meeting that was delayed -- it was scheduled for September 12, 2001), the observation was made yesterday that it sure is nice that technology and science now hold a high level of respect in the White House. Many heads nodded knowingly.

Shhhhhh....

Dear Readers:

This space will be quiet until March 11 or thereabouts.

Thanks and don't go hiring a national CTO or something without me...

(photo by Lynn Fagerlie)

Google and Antitrust

Mike Masnick says it best today:

There have been some folks in the press who have repeatedly pointed out Google CEO Eric Schmidt's close relationship with President Obama to suggest that Google should be "protected" from government regulation. However, there's little to suggest that's necessarily the case. Plenty of folks who feel strongly anti-Google have close relationships with the administration as well. And, as Bloomberg notes, Obama's nominee for antitrust chief, Christine Varney, has recently described Google as a likely antitrust problem, noting the company "has acquired a monopoly in Internet online advertising." Of course, that's wrong on many levels (it doesn't have anything close to a monopoly in online ads), but this should at least serve as evidence that reports of Google's "control" over the administration isn't nearly as strong as some have been suggesting.

Congressional Internet Caucus State of the Net Videos and Audio

In a welcome Web 2.0 twist, our friends at the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee have posted video or audio content for every keynote and panel of their annual tech policy-pallooza. The whole lot is the organization's Facebook page.

Below is Skype President Josh Silverman and Congressman Bob Goodlatte talking next generation communications and policy in a keynote chat...

And this is a link to the audio from my quite enjoyable tech policy blogger panel (for me, at least). Hear me try to moderate John "CZ" Czwartacki, Verizon Policy Blog, Ajit Jaokar, Open Gardens Blog & Oxford University, Mike Masnick, TechDirt, and Julian Sanchez, Ars Technica.

Republican Nominees for the FCC

The TLF has the scoop on possible Republican names for the FCC vacancy.... Two former Bush administration officials (David Gross, ambassador for international communications and information policy; and Meredith Baker, former acting assistant secretary of commerce for telecommunications and information policy) were welcome additions to many tech policy related events and conferences in recent years. (I'm sure that they did other stuff, too).

Judd Gregg and Tech

John Thompson? Who said anything about John Thompson?

The Iconoclast, himself, takes us on a journey into Commerce Secretary nominee Judd Gregg's relatively limited tech policy past...

The Business Software Alliance said the senator "has the potential to be an outstanding Secretary of Commerce." The Information Technology Industry Council said: "He has been a strong proponent of opening overseas markets to U.S. exports, he backed a permanent R&D tax credit and has voted favorably on litigation reform."

Gregg has been a friend of the business community, receiving a cumulative score of 88 percent in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's most recent congressional scorecard. (By comparison, Obama received a 42 percent rating, and Vice President Joe Biden a mere 35 percent.) On CNET's 2008 scorecard that rated a broader range of votes including ones relating to gambling and wiretaps, Gregg received a 50 percent.

He has been a champion of eliminating any limits on H-1B "guest worker" visas, telling Microsoft's Bill Gates in 2007 that he "agreed 100 percent" that there should be no limits on them. Gregg acknowledged that his colleagues would not be inclined to support such a radical proposal; he introduced legislation last year raising the limit on H-1B "guest worker" visas from 65,000 to 115,000 and the advanced-degree exemption to 30,000 visas for the next three years.

Google's Communications Policy Guy

I just ran across this CircleID interview of Richard Whitt, Google's Washington Telecom and Media Counsel.  It is worth a read.

Currently, the DC Google fascination cycle is in the throes of wondering if the company is setting itself up for an Icarus-like fall for having the CEO stand too close to the President (repeatedly), or whether it is now an increasingly sober Beltway player who is engineering the game the way it was meant to be played (i.e, getting a think tank to play that ever so helpful "third-party" role).

Regardless of where you stand, you can't help but be impressed of what impact that Google has had on the communications landscape in such a relatively short amount of time. And, the policy side of this work falls under Whitt's purview. (The billions spent on the business side doesn't hurt either).

John Thompson?

If the Huffington Post writes about, it must be something that we already know.

And, indeed, we mentioned the John Thompson as Commerce Secretary rumor a couple of weeks ago. It's reached full-blast IMPENDING status now. (Although, please do know that while a decision may indeed be imminent, who it will be won't be a sure thing until the WH actually makes a final decision). [UPDATE 2/3: Senator Gregg's nomination to the post certainly underlines this fact. It will be interesting to see what happens with Thompson next].

Whether he actually gets appointed or not, if you aren't familiar with Thompson, do yourself a favor and check out this quick video of the Symantec CEO and Chairman giving a few words at TechNet's inaugural reception. Credit goes to Tech Daily Dose.

And, if it isn't already abundantly obvious, having a such a worthy representative of Silicon Valley as Commerce Chairman would be a big deal, indeed. For the past two decades, some of the most powerful tech-policy advocates in the Bush and Clinton administrations have either been under-secretaries of Commerce or have been leaders at the Commerce bureau of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Having the busy boss fully understand what these people do and why would be invaluable.

Basic background on the Commerce Department:

The historic mission of the Department is "to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce" of the United States. This has evolved, as a result of legislative and administrative additions, to encompass broadly the responsibility to foster, serve, and promote the Nation's economic development and technological advancement. The Department fulfills this mission by:

a. Participating with other Government agencies in the creation of national policy, through the President's Cabinet and its subdivisions.

b. Promoting and assisting international trade.

c. Strengthening the international economic position of the United States.

d. Promoting progressive domestic business policies and growth.

e. Improving comprehension and uses of the physical environment and its oceanic life.

f. Ensuring effective use and growth of the Nation's scientific and technical resources.

g. Acquiring, analyzing, and disseminating information regarding the Nation and the economy to help achieve increased social and economic benefit.

h. Assisting states, communities, and individuals with economic progress.

Below is a snapshot (literally) of the different Commerce bureaus:

Things That Make You Go Hmmm: Sex Offenders Who Use Mug Shots on MySpace Profiles

Check out the the registered sex offender page below:

Now take a quick glance at this MySpace page ...

Well then, quite clearly, this Texas sex offender has set up shop on MySpace.

And, yesterday, CNET's Elinor Mills (whom I like and respect) ran a story about the "independent research" that fingered the social networking sex offender above:

In carrying out his research, (the private investigator) said he ran a list of 40,000 registered sex offenders against more than 2 million MySpace member pages. He came up with nearly 12,500 likely matches. After comparing the MySpace member photos with mug shots on a registered offender database, Rambam found 100 confirmed matches and said he would have found more if he had continued the research...

..."Based on the number of hits we're getting as a percentage of genuine MySpace users we believe that there are anywhere from 3,000 to 39,000 sex offenders on MySpace," Rambam said on Friday.

But, wait. Look closely. And, consider this about the cornerstone piece of evidence so prominently displayed on CNET:

--Why would anyone use a mugshot as their profile picture -- let alone a sex offender trying to use a social network to lure victims? And, especially one as unappealing as this one? Is this the one digital photo of himself that this guy has access to?

--This profile claims that he'd like to meet "your daughter." Really? That is supposed to appeal to people like, um, your daughter? Just like claiming that he is a bi swinger who "likes kids"?

--Scientologist, too? That knocks the possible population to less than one percent.

--And, why would he list his weight and height accurately but fudge his age by almost a decade? Is the thinking here that a 78-year-old just wouldn't have the same pull with a minor as a 68-year-old?

--As noted in the piece, the investigator who did this research was working on behalf of a lawyer currently in a legal battle with MySpace.

Certainly stupider and more brazen acts have been done. So, there is a possibility that this is a true match. And, if so, it's a bad thing and, regardless of the investigative source, it's good that he's weeded out of the system.

But, it makes you go hmmmm, indeed, when this is the exemplar of research that is currently being reviewed by several state attorney generals.

UPDATE: The investigator, Steven Rambam, writes into the comments below and says, among other things:

I am the Investigator that is the subject of your slightly snarky comments.

While I certainly understand a cynical attitude - I am similarly afflicted - you should have done a bit more careful analysis.

As Michael Carter points out, the Myspace page was posted during 2007. As I do not own a magic time machine, I am not capable of falsifying 2 year old myspace pages (which seems to be what you are implying). (BTW, Michael, we did find dozens of myspace.com pages for current and active accounts.)

Fair enough: So I also note in the comments:

It actually never crossed my mind that you or anyone associated with you would have posted this page in 2007 (and, I noticed that date, too). My guess is that, if it is not "real", the page was created by some joker with too much time on their hands. I'll happily make this more clear on the post, itself.

My issue with this is not the body of your research, but that this particular page was used as the exemplar of it.