- Cnet, Wednesday, November 5, 2008 11:02 AM
Cnet asks how a Barack Obama presidency will affect technology policy, and the answers are both good and bad. On the plus side for independent Web publishers, Obama has a record of supporting network
neutrality, which prohibits Internet service providers from charging Web publishers for guaranteeing faster traffic delivery. He is also planning on appointing a sort of "chief technology officer" for
the government, and has a long list of promising backers from big tech companies, including Google executives Eric Schmidt and Vint Cerf.
On the controversial issue of copyright, Obama has
said, "we need to update and reform our copyright and patent systems to promote civic discourse, innovation, and investment while ensuring that intellectual property owners are fairly treated."
However, this is surely not at the top of his priority list, given that the President-elect is inheriting three wars and a financial crisis.
On the negative side, Obama "doesn't have the
ideological bias toward free trade that Clinton had," which means that it's hard to tell how he and a solidly Democratic Congress will face the issue. Obama also has a record of promoting aggressive
antitrust actions, which could hurt Silicon Valley giants like Google.
Read the whole story at Cnet »