[LINK] Obama picks Hollywood sock-puppet for running mate

[David Boxall]

Maybe Obama will keep him on a short leash.

<http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/08/25/obama-picks-hollywood-sock>

> Anti-pirate, anti-privacy, anti-encryption, not too sure about net 
> neutrality.
>
> By Nick Farrell 
> <http://www.theinquirer.net/articles/flameAuthor/gb/inquirer/news/2008/08/25/obama-picks-hollywood-sock>: 
> Monday, 25 August 2008, 10:15 AM
>
> *BARACK OBAMA* has chosen one of the most rabid pro-music and film 
> industry senators in the business to be his running mate in the 
> forthcoming presidential elections.
>
> Joe Biden has been selected as Obama's choice for vice presidential 
> candidate over the weekend.
>
> While his boss might have glowing credentials on technology, Biden has 
> spent most of his career allied with the FBI and copyright holders. He 
> ranks toward the bottom of CNET's Technology Voters' Guide, and has 
> come up with some of the worst anti-privacy legislation.
>
> Biden has been one of Hollywood and the recording industry's biggest 
> fans and has been working to expand copyright laws. In 2002 he tried 
> to make it a felony to trick certain types of devices into playing 
> unauthorized music or executing unapproved computer programs. The law 
> was caned by almost every technology outfit in the land and was 
> quietly dropped.
>
> Later he wrote to the Justice Department demanding that it use 
> taxpayer money to do the work of the RIAA and MPAA to drag P2P users 
> into court. Fortunately this was ignored by the DoJ.
>
> Last year, Biden sponsored an RIAA-backed bill aimed at restricting 
> Americans' ability to record and play back individual songs from 
> satellite and Internet radio services. This was in support of his 
> chums at the RIAA who were suing satellite radio companies at the time.
>
> Biden has refused to answer questions on technology. This might have 
> something to do with the fact he supports Internet taxes and censoring 
> libraries and schools, which is a wee bit different from Obama's 
> official stance.
>
> He has also sponsored the anti-privacy Violent Crime Control Act which 
> was anti-encryption and demanded users turn over encryption keys to 
> the government. It was a reaction to this bill, which failed, which 
> lead to the creation of PGP.
>
> In 2001 he took the FBI's stance during the debates on the Patriot Act 
> although this changed last year when Democrats wanted to embarrass 
> President Bush over warrantless wiretapping. At the time his 
> conversion on the road to Damascus was seen as trying to court 
> liberals in his party at a point where he was thinking of running for 
> President himself.
>
> He seemed to go back to his own ways recently when he demanded the 
> government spend $1 billion in US tax dollars so police can monitor 
> peer-to-peer networks for illegal activity.
>
> As far as Net neutrality is concerned, Biden has stood back claiming 
> it was not necessary to have laws to protect it.
>
> Fortunately the history of US Vice-presidents usually indicates that 
> they are not there to actually do anything unless the President is 
> shot, or caught assisting in a burglary.
>
-- 
David Boxall                    |  In a hierarchical organization,
                                |  the higher the level,
                                |  the greater the confusion.
                                |                     --Dow's Law.