Obama picks RIAA guarddogs for the Justice Dept
“… one of Obama’s first tech-related decisions has been to select the Recording Industry Association of America’s favorite lawyer to be the third in command at the Justice Department. And Obama’s pick as deputy attorney general, the second most senior position, is the lawyer who oversaw the defense of the Copyright Term Extension Act—the same law that Lessig and his allies unsuccessfully sued to overturn.” - from cnet
Wow, how backward can you be? Granted, I am criticizing this decision with much information about Tom Perrelli and David Ogden under my belt. But by God, it’s so backward to be fighting this fight. It’s childish, a waste of time and money, and it’s not effective. The newspapers aren’t suing news aggregators or blogs for “stealing” their stories and re-newsing it, although now they probably should start, because the new DOJ will probably be amenable to it. What a waste of taxpayer money.
On the other hand, Obama will be announcing the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer today. Ciarelli interviewed some folks - including Jimmy Wales and Craig Newmark - to gather some thoughts on what the new CTO should do. Newmark said that he has discussed ideas with the transition team, including Obama’s proposal to create a Craigslist for public service. Reddit co-founder Aaron Swartz wants public government documents to be made easily accessible online. My own suggestion is shared by Fred Wilson, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist: Obama won the election by encouraging people to get active online, and by giving people access to real ways they could help him become president. This communication network that he has built up should not just dissolve - Obama and his transition team should continue to send out updates and engage with his constituency in these powerful ways. Of course, it also has a big brother feel to it, but I doubt that newsy updates and fireside chats can be equatable to mind control. The point is not communication and collaboration - Obama has to prove that “yes we can” be part of his presidency, over and over, and not just in getting him to the White House.
