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    <title>cmdln.net_2007-12-19</title>
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    <outline text="Intro" Offset="00:17"/>
    <outline text="Word of the Week: crawling horror" Offset="01:39">
      <outline text="http://catb.org/jargon/html/C/crawling-horror.html"/>
    </outline>
    <outline text="Feature" Offset="03:04">
      <outline text="Washington Post op-ed got me thinking about this">
        <outline text="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/30/AR2007113001802.html"/>
        <outline text="Rife with examples"/>
        <outline text="This is not new, but implies we are getting to a stage where legislators should have adjusted"/>
        <outline text="Suggests this is generational"/>
        <outline text="Also cites a lack of leadership"/>
        <outline text="Thinks today's Vannevar Bush's end up in private sector"/>
        <outline text="I disagree, we have Feltens, Lessigs"/>
        <outline text="Why are they not ending up as advisors, policy makers?"/>
        <outline text="Also points to gap in lobbying with older industries"/>
        <outline text="Implies, and I agree, that tech companies eschew government, show a libertarian streak"/>
        <outline text="Many tech companies have learned the hard way that this is not healthy"/>
        <outline text="Suggests we use the presidential election to force the issue"/>
        <outline text="I think we need a more sustained change to norms"/>
      </outline>
      <outline text="Legislators aren't experts on all things">
        <outline text="Have staffers to provide expertise"/>
        <outline text="Technology should be no different"/>
        <outline text="http://techdirt.com/articles/20071203/095421.shtml"/>
        <outline text="Tim Lee makes similar point"/>
        <outline text="Warns that the risk is for legislators to fool themselves into thinking they know it all"/>
        <outline text="Could lead to even worse, ill conceived legislation than out of ignorance"/>
      </outline>
      <outline text="Lessig is exploring idea of US CTO">
        <outline text="http://lessig.org/blog/2007/12/a_us_cto.html"/>
        <outline text="Just an idea for discussion"/>
        <outline text="I am concerned that this would also allow legislators to abdicate responsibility"/>
        <outline text="Think it would be better to have expertise more widely distributed"/>
        <outline text="Not sure what he is suggesting would be mutually exclusive"/>
        <outline text="Just concerned at risk"/>
        <outline text="Hope Lessig also tackles issue of failed or lacking norm"/>
        <outline text="Would be a more direct response to issues highlighted in Post's op-ed"/>
      </outline>
      <outline text="Is speed of change to blame?">
        <outline text="I don't think information age is unique"/>
        <outline text="Industrial age saw such massive change in short time, too"/>
        <outline text="I think we saw similar disconnects, bad predictions"/>
        <outline text="Why not study this to better understand how to deal?"/>
        <outline text="Enlightenment saw similar trends"/>
        <outline text="Use of science to accelerate development of science"/>
        <outline text="Patronage of science was popular"/>
        <outline text="Not sure that model would work in a non-gentry society"/>
        <outline text="Seems to be a popular back lash against science"/>
        <outline text="Hard to talk of science funding without foundering on faith debates"/>
        <outline text="Can technology be separated from questions of science funding and policy?"/>
        <outline text="If we think of it as infrastructure, like energy, transportation, commerce"/>
      </outline>
      <outline text="There are existing advisory groups">
        <outline text="Some have agendas, like Public Knowledge"/>
        <outline text="Others seem more reactionary"/>
        <outline text="USACM responds to calls for comments, drafts positions in response to specific issues"/>
        <outline text="Need sustained expertise, local to individual legislators"/>
      </outline>
      <outline text="Individual technologists and policy often seem in conflict">
        <outline text="Few staffers I've met are either techies or wonks but not both"/>
        <outline text="Techies are often idealists of some strip--utopian, libertarian"/>
        <outline text="Policy is dealing with law as it is, working with the system"/>
        <outline text="Techies often have a hard time coming to grips, getting past how broke policy making seems to be"/>
        <outline text="Libertarian techies often reject the system outright, see no point in participating"/>
        <outline text="Problem is that there are plenty of interests willing, and skilled, to participate in policy"/>
        <outline text="Need to adjust both sets of norms">
          <outline text="Get technologists engaged, willing to advise, help, work with the system"/>
          <outline text="Make legislators understand they need more assistance"/>
          <outline text="This would better distribute knowledge"/>
          <outline text="Should lead to better deliberation on technology policy"/>
        </outline>
      </outline>
      <outline text="Rhetorical failures">
        <outline text="Commons sense metaphors often break down"/>
        <outline text="When they do, lead to opportunities for vested interests"/>
        <outline text="Big media and copyright as &quot;property&quot;"/>
        <outline text="Law enforcement and network as &quot;telephone&quot;"/>
        <outline text="Need to move past metaphor and understand the thing on its own"/>
        <outline text="This, again, requires strong technology, rhetorical, policy thinkers"/>
        <outline text="We have a few good thinkers"/>
        <outline text="Need to make them more accessible to public"/>
        <outline text="Do we need a &quot;Sagan of information technology&quot;?"/>
        <outline text="Does advocacy for the masses make sense?"/>
        <outline text="Motivated techies are one thing, but can hardly redress issues of norms"/>
        <outline text="Upping the tech literacy of the public would help improve norms for legislators"/>
        <outline text="Had some good folks, LaPorte and crew, but lost public venue"/>
        <outline text="Podcasting is too niche to be as effective"/>
        <outline text="Radio markets to segmented"/>
      </outline>
    </outline>
    <outline text="Outro" Offset="26:26">
      <outline text="Contact me">
        <outline text="Email to feedback@thecommandline.net"/>
        <outline text="Web site at http://thecommandline.net/"/>
        <outline text="IM to command.line@skype"/>
        <outline text="Listener comment line is 240-949-2638"/>
        <outline text="del.icio.us tag is &quot;for:cmdln&quot;"/>
        <outline text="http://twitter.com/cmdln"/>
      </outline>
      <outline text="I'd like to thank libsyn.com for AAC hosting and Wouter de Bie for MP3 hosting"/>
      <outline text="These notes and the show audio and music are covered by a Creative Commons license">
        <outline text="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/"/>
        <outline text="Attribution, non-commercial, share alike"/>
      </outline>
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