About Me

November 8, 2006

The legacy attitude about politics and regulation on the part of so many technologists I know has been that government and the courts really aren't well-suited to interfere with technological services and policies. Traditionally, lawmakers, regulators and judges have been seen as servants to a glacial pace not compatible with light-speed (in some cases literally) innovations in the technology sector.

Like it or not, though, that's not reality.

We're looking at an environment where the interests of technology frequently are in conflict- broadband service providers vs. content providers; free-thinkers vs. national security advocates; content expressionists vs. the FCC; merger suitors vs. the SEC; consumers vs. shareholders; competing technology standards for specifying and delivering new applications.

Not only that, but like it or not, recent shifts in the balance of Congressional power in Washington portend a different type of rhetoric from Capitol Hill. The lobbyists are ready.

These and so many more fields of conflict calls for this blog. With an obvious nod to the RSS (Really Simple Syndication) distribution method of the blog world in which we are a part, that's why I created Regulations, Statutes and Standards. Each business day, we'll be examining how these issues unfold - not only in Washington but in courts, regulatory commissions, state and local governmental bodies, interest groups, and civic dialog both here in the U.S. and internationally as well.

And as someone who is quite "outside the Beltway"- Portland, Oregon if you care to know-I'm not so much an "insider" that my perspective is skewed.

I've been writing about technology and politics for more than 20 years. You may have, and may continue to, see my work on ZDNet, where I write about VoIP; Weblogs, Inc., where I do a blog about BlackBerry; Om Malik's blog network, where I concentrate on infrastructure issues; as well as on more than one political site where my rhetoric can be said to be somewhat divergent from the non-partisan tone I will try here.

I said non-partisan. I didn't say non-opinionated. Opinions? Oh yes, I got some. When appropriate look for my own interpretations on the news I report. Some will be between the lines, others will be more forward.

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