[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
FC: Where John Ashcroft stands on technology: A mixed bag
- To: politech@politechbot.com
- Subject: FC: Where John Ashcroft stands on technology: A mixed bag
- From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
- Date: Fri, 5 Jan 2001 14:48:13 -0500
- Comment: This message comes from the debate mailing list.
- Reply-To: declan@well.com
- Sender: owner-debate@fitug.de
- User-Agent: Mutt/1.2.2i
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,41008,00.html
Top Cop Arrives With Mixed Bag
by Declan McCullagh (declan@wired.com)
2:00 a.m. Jan. 5, 2001 PST
For liberal Democrats, John Ashcroft is a maddening symbol of
everything wrong with a George W. Bush presidency -- from the former
senator's staunch opposition to abortion to his alleged insensitivity
regarding race.
To conservatives, Bush's nominee for attorney general represents
precisely the opposite extreme: A respected leader who will restore
integrity to a Justice Department brought low by the Clinton
administration. Ashcroft opposes background checks at gun shows,
supports increased penalties for drug offenses and would not prohibit
discrimination based on sexual orientation.
On technology issues, Ashcroft's record as a Missouri governor and
senator is mixed. He seems genuinely to believe in privacy rights and
economic liberty, and has taken a moderate position on intellectual
property and fair-use rights.
But free-speech groups already are girding themselves for the legal
equivalent of trench warfare, predicting that newly emboldened
Department of Justice prosecutors will launch an assault on sexually
explicit material online. And Microsoft foes fret that the antitrust
division's commitment to the high-profile antitrust case may wane.
On one point everyone can agree: More than any other Cabinet member,
the next attorney general will be in a position to make crucial
decisions with far-reaching effects on antitrust enforcement, privacy
protections and free speech rights.
"An Ashcroft DOJ could be a decidedly mixed bag for the high-tech
sector since he will be engaged in a constant balancing act on most
industry issues," says Adam Thierer, an analyst at the free-market
Cato Institute who's well connected in Republican technology circles.
"While Ashcroft has a very strong record of support for loosening
encryption controls, he may be faced with pressure from GOP
law-and-order types to moderate his views on this and also be willing
to continue, or even expand FBI efforts like Carnivore," Thierer said.
Make that a near certainty. It's a fair bet that pro-law enforcement
conservatives in the mold of wiretap-happy Rep. Bill McCollum of
Florida, who unsuccessfully ran for the state's open Senate seat, will
view a Republican DOJ as an opportunity to expand government
surveillance and wiretapping powers.
Liberal Democrats have vowed opposition to Ashcroft's nomination --
People for the American Way even assembled a detailed criticism of the
nominee -- but privately confide that they don't expect to
successfully block his confirmation by the Senate.
Wiretapping and Carnivore:
Under Attorney General Janet Reno, a DOJ panel has reviewed the FBI's
controversial Carnivore surveillance system and extended a tentative
blessing. But critics panned the review board as uniformly
pro-government, as first reported by Wired News, and independent
researchers refused to participate in the process.
Ashcroft is the former two-term attorney general and two-term governor
of Missouri. During his time there, he cemented his reputation as a
solid conservative eager to lower taxes and build new prisons.
[...]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list
You may redistribute this message freely if it remains intact.
To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html
This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------