With Senator Barack Obama as the presumptive 2008 Democratic Presidential nominee, now is an interesting time to examine his policy positions on the Internet and the growing political influence of electronic retailing. Interestingly, Obama has received relatively little of his funding from the traditional fundraising bulwarks, telecom service providers. Senator Hillary Clinton raised the most money from telecom service providers, coming in with a little more than half-a- million dollars*. Even so, in a strong demonstration of the growing political power of the Internet industry, contributions by the Internet and software industry were higher for Clinton, Obama and McCain than each of their corresponding totals in the telecom services industry*. Senator Obama alone has received $2.7 million from the Internet and software industry*. These donations come from industry PACs, as well as from donations by employees and their families, and include contributions from software developers.

Obama’s fundraising potential in the Internet industry is definitely linked to the strong policy stances. His campaign website includes a section on the importance of “protecting the openness of the Internet” by preventing network providers from charging fees “to privilege the content of applications of some websites and Internet applications over others.” He has voiced his stance on Net Neutrality in a podcast that is featured on his website. It is by no means clear who will be the next president, but it is certain the influence of the Internet industry is increasingly significant in Washington.

Tomi Turner works in ERA’s government affairs department

*Center for Responsive Politics

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

My mother always told me that it was inappropriate to discuss religion and politics. I thus find it fascinating that when she’s not talking about the Pittsburgh Steelers, she’s usually discussing those two very topics. As a current resident of Washington, D.C., I’m beginning to see how crazy things are going to get here over the next year. With MySpace’s primary, the Iowa Caucus and the New Hampshire Primary all taking place in the past few days, I thought it may be the right time to throw my hat into the ring of one of the two unmentionable topics: politics.

Social media has become an increasingly important issue within each of the campaigns for the presidency. Howard Dean’s grass root Internet fundraising that raised eyebrows in ’04 is today an integral part of each candidate’s campaign. Just by browsing through their separate websites, I found a space on each page for citizens to get involved with the candidate on a social media level—whether it be through Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Linkedin, Flickr, etc. But, as most blogs and pundits continue to discuss what the Internet’s impact on politics will be, I’d like to ask perhaps a much more important question: What will politics’ impact be on the Internet?

Net Neutrality is one of ERA’s most important advocacy issues on Capitol Hill. Preserving a free and open Internet, as opposed to a two-tiered system controlled by the telecoms, is vital to the Internet’s thriving e-commerce. If you don’t think it’s a big deal, perhaps you haven’t heard that Comcast was recently caught interfering with Internet traffic. Of the major candidates in both parties, only Democrat Barack Obama’s website tackles this very important issue. Under “Issues,” he has a section devoted entirely to technology, while other candidates make no mention. Of the Republican candidates, Mike Huckabee has shown promising signs of favoring Net Neutrality. Perhaps our fellow Americans in Iowa had electronic retailers in mind as they braved near-freezing temperatures to make Obama and Huckabee the victors. Where were you New Hampshire? Forget gay marriage and Iraq, your bottom line may be at stake depending on the outcome of this year’s election!

I’d ask for your thoughts, but I’m sure that you know better than to discuss politics…right?

Pat Cauley, eMedia editor, Electronic Retailer Magazine

Bookmark It

Hide Sites