Technology Voters' Guide: Hillary Clinton

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The Department of Homeland Security has proposed extensive Real ID requirements restricting which state ID cards can be accepted at federal buildings and airports. Do you support those regulations as written, would you want to repeal Real ID, or would you prefer something in between?
Clinton: I believe we need to seriously re-examine Real ID and make changes that take into account legitimate concerns raised by states. I have long expressed concern with the Real ID Act, dating back to its initial consideration in the Senate in the spring of 2005.

Had there been an opportunity to properly consider this legislation, it would have been revealed that the Real ID Act imposes dramatic new burdens on our states and substantially changes our immigration and asylum laws in ways that deserve critical examination.

Among other things, Real ID's driver's license provisions impose a massive unfunded mandate on states, while ignoring our broken immigration system.

But there never was an opportunity to consider it properly. Senate Republicans brought this legislation up for a vote without holding hearings or engaging in serious debate, and by tacking it on to an emergency spending bill for our troops. By employing these tactics, Republicans revealed that they were determined to bulldoze this law through without serious discussion.

I support a comprehensive review of Real ID to determine whether its various ID provisions make sense in light of our very real security needs and the challenges facing our states.

The Federal Trade Commission is reviewing the proposed merger of Google and DoubleClick. Some members of Congress have raised privacy concerns, while others have said the deal should proceed. What are your views? (Editors' note: We posed this question before the FTC gave the merger unconditional approval on December 20.)
Clinton: I believe that a thorough review process for this proposed merger was appropriate, given concerns about consumer privacy. I have long been concerned about the privacy rights of Americans. That is why I introduced legislation to provide consumers with a comprehensive set of data protections that are appropriate for the age of electronic commerce. The Privacy Rights and Oversight for Electronic and Commercial Transactions Act (Protect Act), for example, prohibits vendors from mishandling personal information about consumers and protects consumers who are victims of identity theft.

Recently, there's been a lot of talk about sex offenders using social-networking sites. What, if any, new federal laws are needed in this area?
Clinton: Protecting children against sexual predators is an issue of great importance to all parents. In the Senate, I was proud to co-sponsor and support the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, which became law in 2006.

This legislation strengthened sex offender laws already on the books and updated registration requirements to include Internet offenses. It also places the responsibility on sex offenders to register with local authorities, requires them to notify those authorities when they move or change jobs, and makes it a felony to fail to register.

Additionally, it set national minimum standards for classifying sex offenders, a big step toward eliminating the lag time in classification and registration that occurs when sex offenders move across state lines.

Parents--and all concerned citizens--should have the ability to access information to see if a convicted sex offender is living in their neighborhood or near other places where their children spend time. As president, I will continue to fight to protect children and keep sexual predators from reaching them.

The Bush administration has supported legally requiring Internet service providers, and perhaps search engines and social-networking Web sites as well, to keep logs on who their users are and what they do. Do you support federal legislation, such as HR 837, to mandate data retention?
Clinton: Our primary concern must always be the protection of our children. I believe that we must strike a balance between blanket data retention and activity tracking of all Internet users that some bills propose, and legitimate law enforcement efforts to seek out online predators who are using the Internet to prey on victims.

I would support effective and constitutional efforts to strengthen law enforcement's ability to track and stop online predators. Simultaneously, I would ensure that the privacy rights of lawful users of the Internet are protected.

Do you support enacting federal laws providing for any or all of the following: a) a permanent research-and-development tax credit, b) a permanent moratorium on Internet access taxes, and c) an increase in the current limits on H-1B visas?
Clinton: As part of my Innovation Agenda, I have called for making the R&D tax credit permanent. A permanent tax credit will eliminate uncertainty and make it easier for companies to plan their R&D budgets. This will make America a more attractive location for R&D facilities and increase the likelihood that high-paying research jobs will be created here rather than abroad.

I have co-sponsored legislation to extend the moratorium on Internet taxes.

I have also supported significantly increasing the cap on H-1B visas because they are effective tool for attracting the best and brightest to America. However, I support increasing the H-1B cap as part of comprehensive immigration reform. I also believe that the cost of the visa should be increased, with the proceeds used to train American workers.

We have to know: what's your favorite gadget?
Clinton: My BlackBerry.

[sellitman]

So where is the Edwards Tech Voters Guide?

What no support for a Populist? Is he too anti corporate for this site? Shame on c/Net!

[Jon Skillings]

Edwards guide coming Friday

John Edwards' responses are scheduled to be published on Friday, Jan. 4. You can check back on this main page of the voters' guide for all the responses as they're published, along with other coverage of the presidential race:

http://www.news.com/Following-the-digital-campaign-trail/2009-1028_3-6221134.html?tag=nefd.lede

[sellitman]

So where is the Edwards Tech Voters Guide?

What no support for a Populist? Is he too anti corporate for this site? Shame on c/Net!

[Jon Skillings]

Edwards guide coming Friday

John Edwards' responses are scheduled to be published on Friday, Jan. 4. You can check back on this main page of the voters' guide for all the responses as they're published, along with other coverage of the presidential race:

http://www.news.com/Following-the-digital-campaign-trail/2009-1028_3-6221134.html?tag=nefd.lede

[loki_racer]

Writer should be ashamed

*** is this junk? Publishing political propaganda should be considered writer suicide.

Horrible article!

[TBolt]

disagree with you

if you don't like it, don't read it.

[Penguinisto]

Why?

I suspect the same questions are being put to other candidates,
where they get an equal chance of bloviating (or having a staff
member bloviate on their behalf).

To be honest, pretty much all of the current candidates are
barely tech-oriented enough to use their Crackberries. After
that, I sure as Hell wouldn't trust them to write code or admin a
network... similarly, I'm not so sure I'd trust them to do anything
legislative (or executive) with the tech realm except on a very
broad scale.

Until we see former programmers and former sysadmins get
elected, don't expect things to change too much for the better
vis-a-vis tech and politics.

/P

[loki_racer]

Writer should be ashamed

*** is this junk? Publishing political propaganda should be considered writer suicide.

Horrible article!

[TBolt]

disagree with you

if you don't like it, don't read it.

[Penguinisto]

Why?

I suspect the same questions are being put to other candidates,
where they get an equal chance of bloviating (or having a staff
member bloviate on their behalf).

To be honest, pretty much all of the current candidates are
barely tech-oriented enough to use their Crackberries. After
that, I sure as Hell wouldn't trust them to write code or admin a
network... similarly, I'm not so sure I'd trust them to do anything
legislative (or executive) with the tech realm except on a very
broad scale.

Until we see former programmers and former sysadmins get
elected, don't expect things to change too much for the better
vis-a-vis tech and politics.

/P

[Lee in San Diego]

No question about spam

What would she and other candidates do to stop the attack on our
inboxes by spammers?

[loki_racer]

Gov't should do nothing...

The government should't do anything to stop spam from reaching your inbox.

You should do something about it. The government shouldn't have any power over what reaches anyone's inbox. Big Brother already reads everything in your inbox, why have them limit what you can read.

If you don't like spam, blacklist the sender.

[Penguinisto]

Death Penalty!

But to be honest, there's frig-all that they can do, and using law
to solve a purely technical problem is not something I'd really
want to see...

/P

[Nicholas Buenk]

Nothing

Spam filters work. You want a communication system to be open to
allow people to talk and communicate without restriction. Internet
revolutionises communication and increases the power of free
speech.
SPAM is a consequence of that, but it's easy to deal with with
filtering software.

[Lee in San Diego]

No question about spam

What would she and other candidates do to stop the attack on our
inboxes by spammers?

[loki_racer]

Gov't should do nothing...

The government should't do anything to stop spam from reaching your inbox.

You should do something about it. The government shouldn't have any power over what reaches anyone's inbox. Big Brother already reads everything in your inbox, why have them limit what you can read.

If you don't like spam, blacklist the sender.

[Penguinisto]

Death Penalty!

But to be honest, there's frig-all that they can do, and using law
to solve a purely technical problem is not something I'd really
want to see...

/P

[Nicholas Buenk]

Nothing

Spam filters work. You want a communication system to be open to
allow people to talk and communicate without restriction. Internet
revolutionises communication and increases the power of free
speech.
SPAM is a consequence of that, but it's easy to deal with with
filtering software.

[erniecall]

Tech questions

Why no question about electronic voting?

[erniecall]

Tech questions

Why no question about electronic voting?

[cjb8465]

Dear Hillary...

Dear Mrs. Clinton,

We, the American people, do not want "a review of a range of issues related to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act." We want it REPEALED.

[Lee in San Diego]

Now with that I agree.

It went way overboard and this comes from someone who creates
graphics and videos.

[cjb8465]

Dear Hillary...

Dear Mrs. Clinton,

We, the American people, do not want "a review of a range of issues related to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act." We want it REPEALED.

[Lee in San Diego]

Now with that I agree.

It went way overboard and this comes from someone who creates
graphics and videos.

[savagesteve13]

Anybody but Bush and we win....

It really doesn't matter folks, Bush is THAT bad a president. If cross dressing Guliani wins, we win. If the Cult Mormonist Romney wins, we win. If CFR Hillary, Thompson, Obama, etc win, we win. If nut cases Tancredo, Gilmore, or any of the socialist candidates win, we win.
If Ron Paul or Kucinich win, we really win.

The only people that think Bush is doing a good job is Bush, and maybe William Kristol.

[Nicholas Buenk]

Yes but...

I think huckabee and romney seem just like bush.....

[savagesteve13]

Anybody but Bush and we win....

It really doesn't matter folks, Bush is THAT bad a president. If cross dressing Guliani wins, we win. If the Cult Mormonist Romney wins, we win. If CFR Hillary, Thompson, Obama, etc win, we win. If nut cases Tancredo, Gilmore, or any of the socialist candidates win, we win.
If Ron Paul or Kucinich win, we really win.

The only people that think Bush is doing a good job is Bush, and maybe William Kristol.

[Nicholas Buenk]

Yes but...

I think huckabee and romney seem just like bush.....