President-elect Barack Obama has promised the nation a Technology Czar or Chief Technology Officer (CTO). While this may sound good at first, there are several issues with this new position and their duties. This new position would be able to oversee the entire internet and control what happens, stop corruption, and create a new way of surfing the web. But would he use this power to do good for the people, would he limit the information that is available, or even create regulations to its current freedom? There are several issues that are at top priority and many other issues to consider for the new Czar. I would like to focus your attention to three of these issues in particular: Net Neutrality, money, and the “digital divide.”
Net Neutrality is keeping the internet as it currently is. As of now, internet surfers are basically allowed to use which ever technologies they want how they want to. There is a possibility that the new CTO would stop this and create usage guidelines. It is not his place to decide what each user does on the internet, nor with which programs or utilities that person does such things. Just as a phone company can’t limit or restrict what you say on the phone, the new CTO should not be able to limit or restrict how or when you use the web. There should be a neutrality about it that allows users to express themselves freely. Another issue might be the possibility of a restriction of information or content on the web. The new Czar could possibly pass laws that let restriction be placed on the information on the web. He or she could limit what information gets to you first and fastest, even more so than the government does right now.
A second concern of the new Czar or CTO would be the position itself. Where is the government getting the money to pay this new position? Is the position really needed? Would the Czar have a bias towards certain companies, programs, or websites over others? Which company would this new Czar be leaving to attain this new position and who would replace them? What would be the criteria for choosing such a person? What guidelines would they have and who would be their boss? How would this new position fit into the current system of checks and balances? The position itself creates many questions in my mind. I know that the Obama campaign is working on this position and trying to find answers to all of these questions that I have posed as well as the questions of others.
A third issue would be the digital divide. This refers to the separation between people with effective access to digital technologies and the people who do not have access to such information. Question about this issue align very closely with question about poverty in America. Should the government assist its own people so that all would be at a technologically equal level or not? Should we assist people who do not have internet at all or let them fall more behind? Should we allow the government to pass out copies of certain programs to individuals to keep them as advanced as everyone else and if so, how often? Would things such as income, gender, and race be considered in selecting who get assistance? Would there be a built in hierarchy to the web in terms of who gets priority and top speeds or not? Should all web users be treated as equal, or would money be a factor as to who gets the best?
These questions have yet to be answered and will probably not all be answered even after the Czar is chose and in power. It will take several years to see the fullness of this issue. And while we are waiting, what is going to happen globally because of this change? Will we ever have wars based on the internet?
