McCain Tech Policy Expected Next Week

Sen John McCain's campaign is expected to release as early as next week a technology and telecommunications policy agenda. Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a senior domestic policy advisor for the McCain presidential campaign, said that rather than being a "narrow telecom regulatory proposal" McCain's "innovation agenda" will touch on larger issues like immigration, free trade and capital gains. It will highlight the country's need for skilled foreign workers, growth in international markets and tax policies that encourage capital investment. People familiar with the McCain camp acknowledge that the campaign hasn't put enough focus on technology issues, providing an opening to critics. McCain's defenders insist the senator has depth on these matters, and they point to his long track record in the Senate addressing specific telecommunications rules. Having watched the FCC for years from the viewpoint of the Senate Commerce Committee, McCain thinks the agency shouldn't be drafting rules for new markets, Holtz-Eakin said. Instead, McCain wants the FCC to function more like the Federal Trade Commission, which analyzes the impact of companies' endeavors before it acts. "Rather than regulatory decisions in advance, rulemaking that dictates business models, you want to look after the fact for demonstrated harm," Holtz- Eakin said. McCain parts ways with Silicon Valley firms like Google, which are calling for new laws mandating nondiscrimination on the Internet. At Google, McCain said market forces, not the government, should determine how Internet openness is accomplished. McCain's most potent offer to the burgeoning Internet industry may be to stay out of its business. "Google was born in an unregulated watch. Yahoo. IPod," said former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell, who advises the campaign. "Where was the missing government piece that would have made those creations better?"