Mr. Gates goes to Washington, from The Netly News

[Declan McCullagh]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 1997 12:13:40 -0700 (PDT)
From: Declan McCullagh <declan at well.com>
To: fight-censorship-announce at vorlon.mit.edu
Subject: Mr. Gates goes to Washington, from The Netly News


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http://cgi.pathfinder.com/netly/opinion/0,1042,1022,00.html

The Netly News Network
June 5, 1997

Mr. Gates Goes to Washington
by Declan McCullagh (declan at well.com)

        For Siliconaires like Bill Gates of Microsoft, Eric Schmidt of
   Novell and Jeff Papows of Lotus, Washington is a city made pleasant by
   absence. They view its labyrinthine bureaucracies and hidebound
   institutions as something between a minor hindrance and an
   insurmountable obstacle to the important business of making
   profits, not public policy. So it was no surprise to see the high-tech
   trio join seven other executives yesterday at the National Press Club
   to rail against the Clinton administration's restrictions on overseas
   sales of encryption products.
   
        This Billionaire Boys' Club was especially keen on praising two
   bills that would generally relax export rules. "We clearly support the
   House and the Senate bills that are on the Hill in their original
   form. Getting reform done now is a huge priority for all of us," said
   one. "There are bills in the House and the Senate that are totally
   acceptable, and if those bills are passed they'd solve the problem,"
   another added.
   
        But perhaps Bill Gates should have spent less time writing BASIC
   interpreters and more time in civics classes, because these bills are
   far from perfect. In fact, they may be downright dangerous.

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