---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 6 Nov 1996 15:28:57 -0800 (PST)
From: Declan McCullagh
To: fight-censorship@vorlon.mit.edu
Subject: Net Results: elections and the Internet, from The Netly News
[I recommend that you visit The Netly News to read the article with the
links -- I wrote it with a web audience in mind. --Declan]
---
The Netly News
November 6, 1996
http://netlynews.com/
Net Results
By Declan McCullagh (declan@well.com)
Nineteen ninety-six was to have been the Year of the Netizen.
Bob Dole this spring endorsed strong crypto, making it a likely
campaign issue. The Communications Decency Act was accelerating
toward the Supreme Court. Every political candidate sported a web
page. The First Cat and the Dole Dog were online. Electronic mailing
lists such as Netizens-l were springing up as symbols of netizens'
hope to start wielding power over the body politic.
It didn't happen. Yesterday's election largely preserves the
status quo: a Clinton White House and a Republican Congress. Matters
important to netizens never became campaign issues. Sure, Bill
Clinton may have pledged to wire all schools to the Net, but election
year rhetoric is cheap and realizing his plan will be expensive.
Dole's stammering announcement of his web site's address demonstrated
only his lack of a cyber-clue.
Yet with the election, the political terrain has shifted subtly.
Sen. Jim Exon (D-Neb.), architect of the CDA, has retired. The
leadership of the powerful Senate Commerce, Science, and
Transportation Committee will change. Attorney General Janet Reno,
who has attacked the Net repeatedly, may step down or be replaced.
Even with a slimmer majority, Republicans in the House likely will
continue to resist hasty "anti-terrorist" measures and remain unlikely
champions of online liberties. Some civil libertarians hope that
Clinton will emerge as a statesman who for the first time does not fear
defeat at the hands of voters.
CYBER-RIGHTS DARLING RICK WHITE WINS REELECTION: Fighting against
Internet regulation may keep the campaign checks from Bill Gates
coming, but Washington State voters would rather talk about the
environment. Still, cyber-rights champion and Newt Gingrich fan Rep.
Rick White (R-Washington) narrowly won his first re-election bid
yesterday. It's bad news for the environment and good news for
netizens. As a sophomore rep, White will be in a better position to
shepherd pro-cyberspace legislation through the House next year.
LEADERSHIP OF SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE CHANGES: Larry Pressler
(R-South Dakota) ended an 18-year Senate career yesterday when he lost
to challenger Tim Johnson, a House Democrat. Now the chairmanship of
the powerful Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee --
which handles telecommunications and Internet bills -- is in flux,
with Arizona's John McCain the likely successor. "McCain is an unknown
quantity. He voted for the CDA and supported crypto without being out
in front on it," says Jonah Seiger from the Center for Democracy and
Technology.
SENATOR JOHN KERRY, TECHNO-FRIENDLY WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING:
Although we may not agree with all of Massachusetts incumbent Sen.
Kerry's positions on Net freedom, he at least recognizes Netizens as
an important constituency. His vote in favor of the CDA seemed a
strike against Netizens until he vociferously modified it to say that
such matters should be handled by parents rather than the law. Kerry
was the only Senator to answer the Voters Telecommunications Watch
Pledge, a political platform for the technological public, and now
that he's been reelected we should remind him of just what that pledge
means. As a senator representing high-tech firms and sitting on the
Commerce and Intelligence committees, Kerry is well-positioned to back
up his email with his votes.
ONLINE COPYRIGHT BILL LOSES CHAMPIONS: Free speech on the Net may
get a reprieve in the next Congress, thanks to the retirement of Reps.
Carlos Moorhead (R-California) and Patricia Schroeder (D-Colorado).
The duo championed the heinous NII Copyright Protection Act of 1995,
which would hold Internet providers financially liable for the actions
of their users and make browsing the Net without a license from
copyright holders against the law. With librarians, PTA groups, and
teachers arguing against it, the legislation died in committee this
summer.
IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND FCC NEXT YEAR: Brace yourself for more steamy
Net-rhetoric from Al Gore, who will take a more prominent role as
administration spokesperson on technology and telecom issues as he
prepares for a presidential bid in 2000. Inside the White House,
failed health care czar Ira Magaziner has turned his attention towards
online commerce. Sensing a possible growth opportunity, the FCC has
started to take an interest in Internet regulation -- and Clinton now
will appoint a commissioner to fill a vacancy at the FCC. With
Naderites like Jamie Love calling for FCC regulation of spam,
bureaucratic meddling seems near-inevitable.
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