Silicon Valley grows old enough to vote

Somewhere in the controlled airspace between Washington and California, a decision had to be made. Air Force One was heading into a hornet's nest at the center of a battle over Proposition 211, a controversial state measure that would expand the ability to sue companies over investments gone awry.

The White House advisers on board were divided along lines of competing Democratic constituencies. One faction sided with the trial lawyers lobby and consumer groups; the other backed the interests of the high-technology companies most vulnerable to such suits, a camp led by Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, long-time congressman of a district just southwest of Silicon Valley.

By the time the plane touched down, say those familiar with the rancorous midair debate, high tech had won--and what some might have considered an obscure state ballot initiative drew the public opposition of the president of the United States.

"Clinton personally read the initiative," said Patrick Burt, president of Acteron. "At the end, he said this is bad policy."

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Beyond the debate over 211's merits, the decision gave Clinton a fortuitous opportunity to repair relations with an industry he had alienated with a series of recent policy decisions. The episode will remain a defining moment in the history of a long-anonymous sector of society and the economy: Fully emerged from its silicon-lined womb, high technology is coming of age.

As with any gangling adolescent, however, the industry is finding that the process of aging is an awkward one. In dozens of interviews, technology executives, political scientists, campaign strategists, cyberculture philosophers, and legislators of both parties say the high-technology sector is experiencing some acute growing pains as it matures into a viable political entity.

"I think that the life cycle of corporate citizenship mirrors an individual's life cycle. In the early years adolescent years, little time and attention is paid to public affairs or community or government relations. A moment away from business is a moment we can't afford," said Michael Maibach, vice president of government affairs for Intel, who himself ran for Congress in 1992. "In high school, teen years, a corporation starts to wake up. A little older company like Intel is in its 20s and starts to become more responsible. Caterpillar, GM are close to 100 years old and have significant maturity in working with government."

Like it or not, the industry will have to face up to something that is pure anathema to a business that prides itself on its maverick independence: government regulation. Hence, the new-found interest in politics witnessed in the presidential election and issues ranging from foreign sales taxes to national security and First Amendment law, as well as Proposition 211.