[Random-bits] Reed Hundt on day 4 of Nader/Hundt debate

[James Love]

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,39294,00.html
 Hundt: Nader Should Back Gore 
 by Reed Hundt 
 Oct. 12, 2000 PDT 


On the open access issue, Mr. Hundt says:

". . .for Mr. Nader to espouse the cause of Disney in its lobbying
fights with Time Warner is, if you permit, Mickey Mouse behavior. Disney
does not need the shilling of one of America's foremost champions of the
little guy, and Mr. Nader should stick to the concerns of his historic
constituency -- the people Al Gore has said he would stand up for, and
whom he has stood up for all his public life. 

"Sixth, Cisco's vision of the Internet fundamentally reinforces the
concepts of openness, and the transfer of market power to the individual
and/or enterprise user. The tools discussed by Cisco can work for the
individual: Every person with a server is part of the vision.

   [snip]

"consumer protection actions at the FCC and FTC have never been so
sweeping and effective." 

   [snip]

"Join us, Ralph, in electing the most visionary leader our political
process perhaps has ever produced from one of the two major parties.
Help elect Al Gore the next president of the United States."

	Also from Hundt's Oct 12 response: 

"I notice that Mr. Nader stoops momentarily to the Bush-like tactic of
mocking Al Gore for asserting accurately that he was responsible for
certain initiatives that have promoted the Internet in America.
Presumably no one thinks that in his well-publicized Larry King
interview Al Gore meant to say that he invented the software protocols
that allow communication across interconnecting networks (hence the name
"Internet")."  

	What Ralph Nader actually said was"

Oct 9, "While the vice president has been unfairly criticized for
overstating his role in the development of the Internet, he has not
received enough recognition for the fundamental shortcomings of the
administration's policies."

Oct 11, "Mr. Hundt doesn't claim that Mr. Gore invented the Internet,
but he does lay claim to credit for its success as a technology. And
while Mr. ^XGore surely deserves some credit, particularly for his early
congressional backing of government investments in the research and
^Xdevelopment which created the Internet, Mr. Hundt should be more
expansive in terms of the reasons for the
Internet's success."

-- 
James Love, Consumer Project on Technology
v. 1.202.387.8030, fax 1.202.234.5176
love@cptech.org, http://www.cptech.org