You’ve got to love speculative stories, and conspiracy theories about a president who technically isn’t a president yet. The conspiracy theories I mentioned in the second link aren’t from the article itself but the responses to it.

The story is that Obama or whoever is in change of his website has made drastic cuts to the agenda section of his transition website. What was once a page with varying policies about what Obama wants to get done in office, is now a vague statement. The news itself isn’t what I question, but the reactions to it. From what you hear from Obama detractors and supporters, you’d figured he was the devil, or a saint. Of course it shouldn’t be a surprise considering how the election went.

What really concerns me is the scrutiny that Obama is going to face during his term. He isn’t in charge of anything yet, and there’s already people out to get him. I haven’t lived through a whole lot of presidential terms, but I never saw anything along the likes of this with President Bush. Sure he was put under a microscope, but it was during his presidency, not directly before it. With a growing media, and information flying at the speed of light this might be Obama’s first big challenge. Forget the economy, Iraq, and energy. He’s going to need to make sure he’s one step ahead of the people reporting him. Which of course is a daunting, maybe impossible task.

I reported about Obama’s tech policy a few days ago. In the policy he mentions about making the government more accessible to the people. Creating a website with direct access to goings-ons of the government, which looking at how the news is flying around about him might not be a bad idea. When I first read it, I didn’t buy much into it because it just seemed like how most politicians talk about transparent government only with a Web 2.0 twist. After keeping an eye on the media this past week, that lofty goal might actually work to his favor.

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Yesterday we finally received our president-elect, and he is Barack Obama. Millions undoubtedly stayed tuned into their various news stations to usher in a new era in American history. So, now that it’s happened, what can we look forward to? Well, Obama has released an official document stating his positions in the tech sector.

If you’d like to read it yourself, here is the link.

There’s quite a bit of vague political rhetoric, so I’ll try and sift through it to bring you the major points.

The major point Obama makes in his policy is his views towards Net neutrality.  He specifically mentions ISP’s, and being to stop them from charging fees for certain content to be featured over other.

“Barack Obama supports the basic principle that network providers should not be allowed to charge fees to privilege the content or applications of some web sites and Internet applications over others. This principle will ensure that the new competitors, especially small or non-profit speakers, have the same opportunity as incumbents to innovate on the Internet and to reach large audiences.”

The next major point that Obama makes, is to strengthen the Federal Trade Commision’s budget. According to Obama, it’s there we’ll find the means to battle cyber-criminals specifically on an international basis.

“Obama will increase the Federal Trade Commission’s enforcement budget and will step up international cooperation to track down cyber-criminals so that U.S. law enforcement can better prevent and punish spam, spyware, telemarketing and phishing intrusions into the privacy of American homes and computers.”

Yet, further through even more rhetoric (you gotta love political statements) we find how Obama wants to change the defition of broadband. Specifically changing the speeds that’s currently considered ‘broadband’.

“The Federal Communications Commission today defines “broadband” as an astonishingly low 200 kbps. This distorts federal policy and hamstrings efforts to broaden broadband access. Obama will define “broadband” for purposes of national policy at speeds demanded by 21st century business and communications.”

To me the largest, and most influential piece of Obama’s tech policy is the inception of the Chief Technology Officer (CTO). I think it’s here that Obama will find his largest divide among the population. According to Obama, the CTO will be in charge of overseeing the technology used within our federal government.

The divide of course will be, if people think it’s necessary for tax dollars to be spent in such a fashion.

“Obama will appoint the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to ensure that our government and all its agencies have the right infrastructure, policies and services for the 21st century. The CTO will ensure the safety of our networks and will lead an interagency effort, working with chief technology and chief information officers of each of the federal agencies, to ensure that they use best-in-class technologies and share best practices.”

After reading Obama’s tech policy, what are your thoughts?

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A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a summary on the technology policies of the presidential candidates (Obama),(McCain). Since that time it looks as though Obama has made some drastic changes to his technology page.

If you’d rather read the comparison in its entirety, go ahead and click here. For those who just want know the major changes, I’ll summarize for you.

The first major change on his technology page is his report on ‘The Problem’. In his original tech page Obama was very general on what need to be changed. He never really cited anything specific, but made general claims about advancing technology and whatnot. On his new page, he goes into more specifics, mostly about the economy. Hmm, wonder if the fallout last week has anything to do with that?

Here’s an added excerpt from Obama’s new ‘The Problem’ section, “America risks being left behind in the global economy: Revolutionary advances in information technology, biotechnology, nanotechnology and other fields are reshaping the global economy. Without renewed efforts, the United States risks losing leadership in science, technology and innovation. As a share of the Gross Domestic Product, American federal investment in the physical sciences and engineering research has dropped by half since 1970.”

Besides expanding on the ‘The Problem’ section, it looks like other parts of the page have been cut dramatically. “Barack Obama’s Plan” has been changed to “Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s Plan”. The first noticeable edit is to Obama’s stance on open internet, and net neutrality. His first tech page had nearly 300 words dedicated to net neutrality; on his new page, only 45. He cuts out a lot of facts, and really puts a largely broad outlook on the situation.

The second major edit is Obama’s stance on creating a ‘transparent, and connected democracy’. Again, Obama scales back his words from 488, to 217. His stance becomes even more general, and leaves about a slew of details that he presented in his original tech page. Was the adding of Biden to the page a result, who knows?

There were other minor edits as well, but the net neutrality, and what I refer to as Government 2.0 is what really saw the edit axe. Is Obama wanting to steer away from these issues? And if so, for what reason? Any ideas?

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An interesting video with Bill O’ Reilly’s views on the information found through a hack on Sarah Palin’s email. Enjoy.

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