Google has asked Alan Davidson to be on its Washington team to contribute to the debates that inform policy making and defend the internet as a free and open platform.


Google has asked Alan Davidson, Associate Director of Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), to be on its Washington team.

Google’s mission statement has been summarized in the Google Blog by Andrew McLaughlin, senior policy counsel, “Our mission in Washington boils down to this: Defend the Internet as a free and open platform for information, communication and innovation”.

The issues that Google is concerned about are:

Net neutrality (Should network operators be able to block their customers from reaching competing websites and services (such as Internet voice calls and video-on-demand)? Should they be able to speed up their own sites and services, while degrading those offered by competitors?)

Copyrights and fair use (Google believes in protecting copyrights while maintaining strong, viable fair use rights in this new digital age. We support efforts by the U.S. Copyright Office to facilitate the use of orphan works (works whose rights-holders can’t be found), while fully respecting the interests of creators.)

Intermediary liability (we don’t believe the Internet works well if intermediaries and ISPs are held liable for things created by others but made searchable through us. That’s why Google will continue to oppose efforts to force us to block or limit lawful speech; instead, we focus on providing users the information, tools, and features (such as SafeSearch) they need to protect themselves online.)

Google says that it has opened a shop in Washington because the policymaking and regulatory activity in Washington affect Google and its users every day.

Google feels the need to be involved, to participate in the policy process and contribute to the debates that inform it. “So we’ve opened up a shop there. The first member of our Washington team is Alan Davidson, a veteran thinker and advocate for issues we care about.”

According to Google Blog, “This is just a taste. We’re also engaged in policy debates over privacy and spyware, trademark dilution, patent law reform, voice-over-Internet-protocol (VOIP) regulation, and more.

The Internet policy world is fluid, so our priorities will surely morph over time. And, of course, Google is a global company. In a future post, we’ll introduce you to some of the policy issues we’re confronting outside the U.S”.

 

 

 

 

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