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Document 4 of 27.

June 17, 2000

SECTION: POLITICS; Pg. 1950; Vol. 32, No. 25

LENGTH: 1514 words

HEADLINE: High-Tech Queries, Slow-Mo Answers

BYLINE: William Schneider

HIGHLIGHT:

Things have changed a lot since Al Gore invented the Internet.

BODY:

Bill Gates may be the richest man in the country, but Washington
has cut him down to size. Cut him in half, in fact. Federal
District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ordered Microsoft Corp.
split in two because, he said, Microsoft "has proved
untrustworthy" and "unwilling to accept the notion that it broke
the law."

Gates called the ruling-which his company, naturally, is
appealing-"an unwarranted and unjustified intrusion into the
software marketplace, a marketplace that has been an engine of
economic growth for America." We know exactly what Microsoft has
done for the economy, responded antitrust chief Joel Klein of the
Justice Department-things like "intimidate computer manufacturers
who choose to select other people's products" and "illegally
tying two products together as a way to force them on consumers."

According to a recent Gallup Poll, the American public is
inclined to believe that Microsoft is a monopoly, and that
breaking it up into two companies would be good for consumers. So
people must approve of the judge's decision, right?

Surprise! In both the Gallup Poll and an NBC News-Wall
Street Journal poll, most Americans opposed a breakup. Why?
Because they're not sure Microsoft has done anything bad. Two-
thirds of the public has a favorable view of Microsoft and of
Bill Gates. We're a long way from the trust-busting days of Teddy
Roosevelt. To ordinary Americans, the decision against Microsoft
looks like a solution for which there is no known problem.

What Americans are convinced of is that the new economy
has been good for the country. By 5-to-1, people endorse the view
that changes in information technology have done more good than
harm. How relevant, then, is the old politics to the new economy?
The old politics works like this: Democrats say government should
do more. Republicans say government should do less. Then they
fight. But that framework doesn't necessarily work when it comes
to issues raised by the new economy.

You might expect Vice President Al Gore to be an ardent
defender of the government's case against Microsoft. But he
refused to comment on Judge Jackson's ruling, calling it an
"ongoing legal matter" (unlike the Eli n Gonz lez case?). The
ruling could prove to be a big problem for Gore in Microsoft's
home state of Washington, where both Democrats and Republicans
quickly condemned the decision.

You might expect Texas Gov. George W. Bush to be a vocal
critic of the Microsoft ruling. Congressional Republicans
certainly were. House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas said
the decision "will send a message to innovators around the world
that in America we punish success." Bush said back in February
that "I think the great fear is that Microsoft will be broken
up." When that fear became a reality, however, Bush refused to
comment. Microsoft has a lot of foes in the computer industry who
would welcome a breakup. Anti-government ideology may drive
congressional Republicans, but it doesn't seem to drive Bush.

How about privacy, another issue raised by the new
economy? All that personal information floating around on the
Internet. Gore has jumped on that issue the way you would expect
a Democrat to: The government will protect you. He has called for
"an electronic bill of rights," and has said, "If we are to move
full-speed ahead into the Information Age, government must do
more to protect your rights." Bush has also expressed concern
about electronic privacy, but he wants to look more carefully at
different ways of safeguarding it. "Let's take our time before we
make policy on e-commerce," he said earlier this year. "I don't
know where this is headed."

Should Internet sales be taxed? Sounds obvious.
Republicans oppose new taxes, right? "Extend the moratorium,"
Bush said in February. In other words, no new taxes-for three to
five years. Bush has been unwilling to support a permanent ban on
Internet taxes, however. He's a governor, and he's fully aware
that as Internet sales grow, state sales tax revenues will
disappear. Gore backs a shorter moratorium, to pressure Congress
to come up with a new way to collect sales taxes on Internet
purchases.

The "digital divide" is a big issue for Democrats. It's
about the gap between rich and poor, after all. "In the first
term of the next President," Gore has promised, "we must finish
connecting every classroom and library in America to the
Internet." Except that Internet connections may quickly become
obsolete, as new wireless technology becomes available.
Technology moves a lot faster than government.

Things have changed a lot since Al Gore invented the
Internet. And change has left both candidates groping for
answers. When asked in a primary debate whether he uses the
Internet, Bush replied, "I e-mail my mother. She told me to stand
up straight." As computer junkies guffawed at Bush's confusion of
e-mail with the Internet, the governor added, "I can click around
and surf around. I don't have much time, you know, running for
President."

The bottom line is, we're dealing with two cultures here.
Government is the culture of regulation and control. It moves
slowly and sets boundaries. Technology is the culture of
innovation and flexibility. It moves fast and recognizes no
limits. The culture of politics and the culture of technology
will never understand each other. They'll just have to figure out
some way to get along.

LOAD-DATE: June 19, 2000

Document 4 of 27.


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