an unshakable faith in technology
Ed Felten has an interesting post on his blog about the dynamics of technology policy. Trying to reconcile how Republicans can hostile to science in some endeavors like global warming research, while supportive of technological initiatives in others, he suggests that there’s a strain of techno-libertarianism in their behavior. Like their belief that free markets will produce social good, technological advancement will improve society. It’s a blog post, so I won’t criticize it for it’s lack of evidence, but it seems that most technology policy decisions are chosen between the interests of two competing sets of technological utopians, and the interests with the most money and influence win out. For example, the current debates about network neutrality pit the computer industries (and the oft-neglected consumers) against the telcos, which have a century of practice lobbying the government. Despite the wealth of the computer sphere, the telcos are apt to win out. Similarly, the DRM battles pit the computer industries against Hollywood. Although Felten is right in suggesting that former MPAA head Jack Valenti is a techno-utopian for believing that impregnable DRM can be made, these policy decisions seem to be more rooted in banal power politics, rather than out of ideology or an interest in consumers.
