We'll get to a round-up of "What-Does-It-All-Mean-For-Tech?!" coverage in a bit, but, first, our quick thoughts...
First and foremost, with the notable and troubling example of net neutrality, support for and opposition to tech policy has been largely bipartisan in nature. Therefore, at first glance, the election results shouldn't really matter much. Yet, an optimist would say that since both the Bush Administration and Congressional Democrats will be motivated to get something done, melding respective "Innovation Agendas" and getting it passed and signed would seem to be a good way to disprove gridlock. Practically, this means high-skilled immigration reform, modernizing and making permanent the R&D tax credit, needed education reform, reforming the patent system
Likewise for Greentech policy. The Bush Administration is poised to become cheerleaders for alternative and efficient technologies. So are leading Democrats. Perhaps they'll be able to work together to create the first wave of federal policies that begins the slow road to weaning America off of foreign oil.
But then there is the downside of bipartisanship. Both Republicans and Democrats were able to come together and spend 410 House votes on a terrible Deleting Online Predators Act. Yes, we get why many Dems felt "forced" to vote on it, but we also heard plenty of them saying that a big problem of DOPA was that it didn't go far enough. The reality is that the quizzical look that both a Democrat and a Republican Congressman gets when they look at MySpace for the first time is pretty much the same.
And, it's bills like DOPA that provide an incremental, dangerous creep towards shoving old media models onto the Internet in order to make sense it all for congress folks who frankly are struggling to keep up with the rapid changes on the Net and with other new technologies like so many other Baby Boomers on up. We're worried that something as seemingly benign as closed captioning rules for online video doesn't somehow start a snowball of regulations that will turn YouTube into YeOldeTube.
But, this isn't all on Capitol Hill to figure out. The industry needs to remember how fast things move in tech and make a greater effort to educate. And, importantly, the education shouldn't be just about what Web site does what and how a new gizmo works. It should be about how those sites and gizmos are improving the average American's life far away from Silicon Valley. It's also high time for the Web 2.0 players to get off the snide and get involved in DC.
And, while all this attention is being showered on the new congressional leaders, let's not forget that 2008 is right around the corner and we need to be arming all of the top candidates with a positive innovation platform.
After the jump, what others are saying....
Lezlee Westine, TechNet's CEO, said she was hopeful that renewal of the tax credit and more H-1B visas for tech workers would be approved in the lame-duck session of Congress starting next week.
``Now that we're past this highly charged election environment, we're optimistic on these issues -- they are not partisan,'' said Westine, who worked in the Bush White House for Karl Rove.
She also said President Bush's competitiveness agenda, which languished after he announced it in the State of the Union speech in January, and the Democrats' innovation agenda ``were actually similar'' on the need for more scientific research and investment.
In Tech Daily today (sub required), Information Technology Industry Council lobbyist Josh Ackil said: "Republicans' inability to reach across the aisle and work in a bipartisan fashion ultimately disabled their ability to move things across the finish line, and we hope Speaker Pelosi doesn't make the same mistake."
PFF's Adam Thierer says that Innovation Agenda's smell of pork.
Cisco's Tech Policy blog notes that:
in a recent BusinessWeek article, Mrs. Pelosi said that Cisco CEO John Chambers will likely be one of the industry leaders that she will "consult regularly" with. So, hopefully, the technology industry will be well represented within the new Congressional agenda.
But is it all good news for the Internet voice/video/media/entertainment disruptors? I know, given the vast resources devoted on all sides of the debate to Net Neutrality, one might conclude that Net Neutrality is the only issue that matters, but it is not. While the Internet application providers and users might win on the Net Neutrality front, I harbor no great expectations that the Democrats will be any less paternalistic than their Republican corollaries on the social issues affecting the Internet and communications, particularly the inertia pushing traditional emergency response, lawful intercept, and now indecency statutes and regulations on Internet applications, without any serious regard for the deleterious effects on innovation and progress.
Bottom line, however, is that I no longer expect Congress to pass any significant, Internet-affecting, legislation this year.
1. Telecom Reform Legislation is Dead
2. Net Neutrality Dominates the Discussion
3. The FCC Will Become Even More Divided
4. Hollywood’s Intellectual Property Issues Get Even More Attention
TechDirt looks at that last point.
News.com does the whole hog round up and gets a net neutrality quote from the next House Commerce chair....
"Clearly, we're going to have to address the question of network neutrality," Rep. John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, told reporters on Wednesday. Dingell, who has served in the House for more than 50 of his 80 years, is set to be the next chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which writes telecommunications laws.
Speaking of which, the Tech Policy Summit blog gives a snapshot of future committee chairs...
--S. Garrett
This blog seems like a really good idea. I'm lkoiong forward to reading it and telling my Council members about it.Also... A big THANK YOU to Google and State Policy Council John Burchett for writing a letter to our House Chair, Representatives, and Governor opposing the North Carolina House Bill 1587. (The wording was strong and pulled no punches.) This piece of unfair legislation would prevent local governments in North Carolina from building broadband networks. I for one want to work with my municipality to bridge the digital divide. Net Neutrality is under threat in State government as well as Federal Government.
Posted by: Guilherme | August 05, 2012 at 10:37 AM