IP: Second day of Congress' "high tech summit" -- a waste of time

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> Date: Tue, 15 Jun 1999 19:51:06 -0400
> To: politech () vorlon mit edu
> From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
>
>
> I have been hanging out at the so-called high tech summit held by the Joint
> Economic Committee. In reality it's a three-day hearing designed to let
> CEOs blather about the wonders of this new economy thang. It also lets
> legislators appear concerned about the Right Issues as they lob softball
> questions about what to do about privacy and kids on the net. I never
> thought I'd say this, but I can't wait for US v. Microsoft to resume tomorrow.
>
> My writeup from today:
>   http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/20236.html
>
> And another take (below) from someone who represents a high tech company
> that chose not to participate.
>
> -Declan
>
> > From my perspective it was an essentially cosmetic affair, giving
> > Republicans the opportunity to associate themselves with high-tech leaders
> > and their issues.  It doesn't seem to have been designed to deal in depth
> > with any issue, but more an opportunity to crowd as many names on the agenda
> > as possible.  Participants may have been impressed that they were invited to
> > testify, but if they have any expectations that more aggressive high-tech
> > friendly policies will follow, they'll be dissapointed.  Example:  The FY-99
> > H-1B Visa cap has just been reached, 3 and 1/2 months prior to the end of
> > the fiscal year.  There is no will in the Congress to offer remedial
> > legislation, Clinton opposes the visa issue and Repbulicans can't even get a
> > veto-proof majority on the issue.  (Phil Gramm's proposed legislation on
> > this issue is a non-starter.) Interested in your take on this event. Thanks.
>
>
>
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