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USC Annenberg Unveils Policy Watch Comparing McCain and Obama on Communication and Technology Issues
LOS ANGELES, Oct 15, 2008 (ASCRIBE NEWS via COMTEX) --
As the 2008
presidential election enters its final month, researchers at
the Annenberg Research Network on International
Communication (ARNIC) have found some sharp differences -
and surprising similarities - in the two major candidates'
positions on technology policy.
In areas such as media ownership and consolidation, open
access to Internet content and intellectual property rights,
ARNIC's report provides guidance for voters concerned about
the future development of communication technology and the
media. Titled "Campaign 2008: USC Annenberg Technology and
Media Policy Watch," the report examines each candidate's
party platform and public record to gain an understanding of
their positions on the issues. The project was directed by
Ph.D. student Russell Newman and communication professor
Jonathan Taplin, and is available online at
http://arnic.info/policywatch.php .
"Voters should have access to the best contextualized
knowledge available as they make their decision about who
will govern their country for the next four years," Dean
Ernest J. Wilson III said. "The Annenberg School for
Communication is committed to fostering knowledge in the
public interest, especially as it intersects with our
specialty domains of media, journalism and
communications. We view this as a start to help the public
navigate the sometimes murky waters of net neutrality, media
concentration and other topics."
In general, the researchers found that Sen. Barack Obama
(D-Ill.) and the Democratic Party believe that government
can play a strong role in guiding the development of
America's communication environment, while Sen. John McCain
(R-Ariz.) and his Republican colleagues rely more on the
ability of the competitive marketplace to meet the public's
desires.
In the area of media ownership and consolidation, Obama
believes that prescriptive regulation encouraging diversity
of ownership and enhanced enforcement of anti-trust laws
will lead to increased competition in the media
environment. In contrast, researchers found that McCain's
public record and statements reveal some contradictions on
the issue. While he has warned that "consolidation without
competition can hurt consumers," he has encouraged looser
restrictions on ownership. McCain also believes that
competition from emerging media models - the Internet and
cable and satellite TV - serves as a corrective against
monopolistic tendencies of the "traditional" media, while
Obama raises concerns about the decline in local service
seen when local monopolies in traditional media are allowed
to proliferate.
On the hot-button issue of network neutrality, which
addresses network providers' ability to charge different
rates to their users based on the amount of network traffic
the users' generate, both candidates again stand in
contrast. According to the report, "McCain opposes mandated
network neutrality," and it quotes his position that the
free market is the "best deterrent against unfair
practices." The report authors also quote McCain as saying
that legislation designed to remove rate structures based on
network usage could "actually harm the openness of the
Internet." Obama, on the other hand, sees declining network
neutrality as a side effect of the limited competition
available among broadband service providers - if consumers
are unable to choose among competing providers, they may be
unable to find the network openness they desire. Obama
believes network neutrality must be ensured through
legislation designed to eliminate tiered rate structures and
encourage open access. While the report's authors found both
candidates' positions vague on details, they saw a sharp
contrast between Obama's call for open access and McCain's
belief that the market is "competitive enough."
Some area of agreement was found on the topic of
copyright, patents and access to knowledge, although the
report criticized both campaigns for a lack of leadership in
addressing controversial issues of intellectual
property. Both candidates strongly believe that copyright
protections must be a key part of international business
agreements, and both campaigns decry the influx of pirated
creative material from countries with looser intellectual
property laws than our own. Both McCain and Obama believe
the U.S. patent system needs increased transparency in order
to reduce the cost of bringing innovative products to
market. Costly lawsuits and patent disputes are seen by both
candidates as impediments to American innovation, the report
found.
ARNIC researchers found surprising silence from both
political parties on what the report called an
"era-defining" set of issues, including application of the
fair use doctrine and the role of the public domain in the
creation of digital culture. With Web sites like Wikipedia
and YouTube revealing a vibrant community of content
creators building on each other's work, the report
criticized both candidates for failing to recognize the
importance of these emerging issues in the information
economy. "Neither McCain nor Obama seem willing at this
stage to provide the visionary leadership that is needed to
bring U.S. copyright and patent policy up to speed with
existing technologies," the report concluded. Both campaigns
have been approached for additional input, and researchers
hope these concerns will be addressed.
Faculty advisor Taplin saw the report as an extension of
USC Annenberg's leadership in communication law and policy
analysis through ARNIC and other research
organizations. "ARNIC was founded to allow students and
professors to collaborate on important issues of
communications policy," Taplin said. "This work comes from
our belief that technology policy could be the key to
America's economic recovery."
Newman said communication and technology policy is
central to the United States' democracy.
"The next president, with his power of appointment to the
Federal Communications Commission and other agencies which
bear on our media, will wield tremendous influence over its
trajectory at a time of incredibly rapid and formative
change," Newman said. "Will control of vital information
resources be permitted to consolidate further into fewer and
larger hands? How will we expand access to broadband
communication technologies? Will control over what we access
and create aboard broadband networks remain decentralized,
or will dominant providers be permitted to favor certain
content or to accumulate information on our activities for
sale to the highest bidder?"
"The candidates this year have strikingly different
answers to these questions. This project is an effort to
provide information on these important differences."
Located in Los Angeles at the University of Southern
California, the USC Annenberg School for Communication
(annenberg.usc.edu) is among the nation's leading
institutions devoted to the study of journalism and
communication, and their impact on politics, culture and
society. With an enrollment of more than 1,900 graduate and
undergraduate students, USC Annenberg offers degree programs
in journalism, communication, public diplomacy and public
relations.
((AScribe - The Public Interest Newswire / http://www.ascribe.org))
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