How much will Biden influence Obama?
p2pnet news view | P2P | Politics:- It isn’t so much that Barack Obama is to be America’s first black president: he is, after all, cross-cultural.
It’s that finally, the reign of the corrupt Cheney / Bush government which has brought so much misery to so many people not only in North America, but also around the world, is ending.
If Obama is only half the man he seems to be, this may really be a new dawn.
He and the people around him have already shown they understand the importance of the Net and online communities. They had a very great deal to do with him being elected and it’s likely that without them and their support, John McCain would have been triumphant.
The ability to share information is the currency of the 21st digital century and the Net and unlike eight years ago, this time, communications weren’t under the direct control of the usual suspects.
Hopefully, someone who really understands the importance of sharing and freedom of speech will make sure Obama isn’t besieged to the exclusion of all else by the powerful entertainment and software cartels and persuaded every school child needs to be familiar with the intricacies of copyright law.
And hopefully, someone will tell Obama not to listen too hard to his vice president, Joe Biden, when it comes to copyrights, privacy and associated matters.
Because although the corporations would undoubtedly have preferred to see John McCain in the driving seat, they can’t have been too disappointed to find Joe Biden so close to the new seat of power.
Biden, online privacy and file sharing
CNET News gave Biden a 37.5 in its Technology Issues Voter’s Guide and, referred to him as “Pro-RIAA” and “Pro-FBI”.
He sponsored a bill, “that would make it a felony to record internet radio, and signed a letter that urged the United States Department of Justice to prosecute file sharers,”says the Wikipedia, going on »»»
Biden also sponsored two bills, the Comprehensive Counter Terrorism Act and the Violent Crime Control Act, both of which contained language effectively banning encryption. Phil Zimmerman, creator of PGP, has said it was Biden’s legislation (SB 266) that “led me to publish PGP electronically for free that year, shortly before the measure was defeated after vigorous protest by civil libertarians and industry groups.
He’s a proud founding member of the Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus who’s, “helped the lead the fight against countries such as China, Russia, Mexico and India that need stronger copyright protections,” said p2pnet in August, quoting the Hollywood Reporter and continuing »»»
“When somebody holds you up on the street and takes your wallet, we call it robbery,” the story quotes him is as declaring. “And when somebody steals your idea and creation, we call it theft, plain and simple.”
The MPAA, “has lauded the work of the anti-piracy caucus as being essential to motivating the government to action,” it goes on.
And it gets worse.
“Biden was one of only four U.S. senators invited to a champagne reception in celebration of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act hosted by the MPAA’s Jack Valenti, the RIAA, and the Business Software Alliance,” says CNET News.
In contrast, “Barack Obama believes 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,” says his web promo site in which he also states:
“Let us be the generation that reshapes our economy to compete in the digital age.”
But it’s a view diametrically opposed to the approaches of the music, movie and software cartels.
The last thing they want is honest competition of any kind.
However, “The choice by Mr. Obama in some ways mirrors the choice by Mr. Bush of Dick Cheney as his running mate in 2000,” the New York Times reassures us, going on, “at his age, it appears unlikely that Mr. Biden would be in a position to run for president should Mr. Obama win and serve two terms. Shorn of any remaining ambition to run for president on his own, he could find himself in a less complex political relationship with Mr. Obama than most vice presidents have with their presidents.”
This year Biden proposed a $1 billion program, “to monitor P2P networks for ‘illegal activity’ and a version made it through Judiciary,” says paidContent.
“He sponsored an RIAA bill last year to restrict recording and playback of individual songs from satellite and internet radio stations.”
The Net, “exists today and continues to move forward despite, not because of, corporate self-interest; critical mass passed the point of no return long before Microsoft and Netscape tried to salt the earth of their rivals,” we quoted Xiph.org as saying in a post yesterday, adding:
“The great advances in computer engineering and science came from research labs and universities, freely shared with the rest of the world. You would not be reading this at your PC, workstation or iMac today if Microsoft held a patent on TCP/IP.”
It’s also one of the very few places on earth where democracy really does exist untrammelled, corporate efforts to change that notwithstanding.
Obama is in power and hopefully, he’ll be strong enough and wise enough to understand that and encourage the growth of the Internet, instead of finding ways to crush it, as have done Bush and his cronies.
And Biden.
Definitely stay tuned.
CNET News -Joe Biden’s pro-RIAA, pro-FBI tech voting record, August 23, 2008
p2pnet – Obama picks RIAA, MPAA friend Biden as VP, August 25, 2008
Hollywood Reporter -Joe Biden has strong anti-piracy record, August 23, 2008
New York Times -Obama Chooses Biden as Running Mate, August 23, 2008
paidContent - Dem VP Pick Biden’s Tech Policy: Pro-Copyright Friend Of RIAA, MPAA; Net Neutrality Skeptic?, August 23, 2008
Xiph.org – Mozilla likes Xiph.org Theora 1.0 video codec, November 4, 2008
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November 5th, 2008 at 11:36 am
uh oh here we go
November 5th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
“the corrupt Cheney / Bush government”
Oh, compare to the previous Clinton/Gore government, they were lightweight. This is bias BS.
Read the U.S. Constitution. The first job of the president is to protect the people. Bush did his job and very well, thank you. American were safe in their country for last 7 years.
Now let see if the naive Obama does as good a job.
November 5th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
“The first job of the president is to protect the people”
What about the job that is before first?
November 5th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Oh what ever
all politicians are corrupt, even Our Harper gives in to greed.
Next to Lawyers, Politicians are as dirty as they come.
November 6th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
“the corrupt Cheney / Bush government which has brought so much misery to so many people not only in North America, but also around the world”
Corruption itself is not such a terrible thing, it’s the rabid, indiscriminate – and illegal – use of the country’s military that has caused the most damage by far. Still, it’s better that I only have to pay for my share of this $3 trillion fantasy war, which is getting off easy compared to the people being victimized on the other end.