CompTIA Survey Compares & Contrasts Bush, Kerry Tech Agendas
President Bush and challenger Sen. Kerry (D-Mass.) may have given their most detailed insight yet into their position on technology and telecom issues with their answers to a Computer Technology Industry Assn. (CompTIA) questionnaire. On some issues, such as intellectual property protection and Internet pornography, Bush and Kerry are very similar, analysts said. But the 2 candidates have large differences in other areas, such as broadband deployment.
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Surrogates for the 2 camps debated the differences Tues. morning during a CompTIA event. Rob Atkinson, Progressive Policy Institute vp and dir.-technology, said Bush had ignored too many technology policy issues by virtue of his free market ideology. “A Kerry administration might be interventionary,” Atkinson said, suggesting a larger govt. role would be appropriate: “There are issues that require regulation and public- private partnerships.” Atkinson said issues like spam and cybersecurity require more govt. intervention, which Bush has been reluctant to address.
Kerry has many plans for govt. involvement, but offered little about how to pay for these programs, said Thomas Lenard, Progress & Freedom Foundation, vp-research. Kerry relies on the auction proceeds from the analog broadcast spectrum, which likely won’t be realized for several years, perhaps even after the completion of the next Presidential term, Lenard said: “We'll all have broadband by then, anyway.”
CompTIA posed 12 questions to each candidate. Kerry’s camp gave limited responses to a few. When asked about the appropriate federal and state regulatory roles over Internet telephony, Kerry said: “I am open to examining the best methods to deploy new technology in a way that is consumer friendly and promotes a competitive answer.” Bush stressed the importance of regulatory certainty and said his “aggressive” deadline of 2007 for all Americans to have high-speed Internet access available would help with VoIP deployment.
On cybersecurity, Bush stressed the importance of R&D funding and public-private partnerships. Kerry talked about the destructive power of worms and viruses, and said he would carry out best practices and global standards, as well as devote “the energy of the White House” to the problem.
On privacy, Bush said the govt. had a role to play in making sure all Americans have control over their personal information. Kerry said he supported Internet privacy legislation, and consumers need appropriate tools to secure their privacy. On spam, Kerry simply said: “I am open to considering the best means available to ensure people do not receive unsolicited e-mail.” But Bush said federal legislation alone wouldn’t solve the problem; the recent CAN-SPAM act would give federal and state authorities more tools, but development of new technologies was also crucial to controlling spam.
Both candidates emphasized making more spectrum available. But Atkinson and Lenard said Kerry would likely place more emphasis on unlicensed spectrum while Bush favors auction allocation of spectrum resources. Bush said his administration “dramatically” increased spectrum resources when it identified 90 MHz of spectrum to be auctioned for advanced wireless services and said spectrum relocation trust fund legislation (HR-1380) was also critical for opening valuable spectrum. Kerry said the explosive growth of Wi-Fi showed the benefits of making some spectrum available unlicensed. He also said unlicensed spectrum would be ideal for helping to deploy advanced services to rural areas.