Instead, the relationship between the Clintonites and the high-tech community has been the political equivalent of a hard-disk crash. Beginning with the Clipper Chip debacle and continuing with techno-hostile initiatives like the Communications Decency Act, Clinton-Gore continually disappointed (and often outraged) those who believe that the information revolution is the engine to promote not only a supercharged global economy but worldwide democracy as well. But now, less than a week after the Supreme Court’s emphatic rejection of the CDA, the administration is finally attempting to reform its cyberways. On July 1 the president and vice president will unveil an ambitious strategy for global commerce that, to the cautious surprise of observers, seems finally to hit the right notes for an administration eager to channel the Internet’s flow instead of fight it.
Don’t be fooled by the wonky title of the paper that outlines this plan: if the administration makes good on its vows (a big if, considering its track record), ““A Framework for Global Electronic Commerce’’ might one day be seen as a cutting-edge, history-making blueprint. It quite correctly asserts that the world is poised on the cusp of an economic and cultural shift as dramatic as that of the Industrial Revolution. (OK, it doesn’t take a genius, or even a politician, to figure out that big changes are afoot when we have a medium that lets someone throw up a virtual storefront on the Web and instantly gain access to the global market.) More startlingly, the report bluntly asserts that the most important thing governments can do about this is get the hell out of the way. ““Where government is needed,’’ it states, ““its aim should be to support and enforce a predictable minimalist, consistent and legal environment for commerce.’’ One thing governments should most decidedly not do, the report insists, is tax the Internet. Cyberspace, according to Clinton and Gore, should be a tariff-free zone.
Essentially, the policy is a double-pronged approach: Endorse and promote the freewheeling, market-driven, do-it-yourself style of the Net. At the same time, act aggressively and globally to nurture things that will grease digital commerce, like electronic money, uniform contract regulations, security - and free speech. The idea is to cajole the private sector into adopting open standards and, most of all, to persuade foreign governments not to regulate, restrain or censor the Net. And why will these enti- ties cooperate? ““Because it’s good for them,’’ says Don Gips, adviser to Gore. ““Because otherwise, they’ll be left behind.''
In some controversial areas, like privacy issues, the hard details remain to be worked out. And in other areas, the Clinton-Gore reps will find themselves hampered by the administration’s previous stances. For instance, one of the most formidable obstacles to zipless electronic commerce is the Net’s lack of built-in security. But perhaps the biggest factor to date in delaying those safeguards has been the Clinton administration itself, with its insistence on regulating the export of encryption technologies. On the flip side, the Supreme Court’s rejection of the CDA now looms as a big plus for the administration. It would have been pretty cheeky for Clintonites to pitch an anti-censorship line to China and Singapore when Bill and Al were still supporting a law that could potentially jail people for a stray cuss word.
Ironically, this document was a product of a task force led by the person largely responsible for the most painful of all Clinton administration train wrecks: Ira Magaziner, architect of the star-crossed health plan. Magaziner did not slink back to the private sector but continued as a presidential adviser, eventually deciding to work on export problems. He quickly divined that the future of trade lay in developing the Net and for 15 months has been working with others in the administration to refine the policy and garner support from key players in industry, government and the technology community. As the time approaches to unveil the policy, Magaziner is quietly moving to the background so that the ultimate point man in techno-policy, Al Gore, will take center stage.
Four years ago one would have thought it was the Clinton-Gore destiny to provide such leadership. Now, as Gore moves to shore up constituencies for his own probable White House run, the administration has its best chance, and maybe its last, to finally prove that it can walk the cyberwalk without kicking Netizens in the head.
