November Elections Are there issues that all IT Professionals can agree on?
September 23, 2000 by Eric Svetcov We are entering the last phase of the United States elections for President and I was wondering if there actually were issues that all of us in IT would actually be interested in. Sure there is the Napster, RIAA debate. That has certainly taken up some significant space on this website. Also there are issues of online privacy, Internet security, encryption policies, software copyright and other interesting technology specific issues, but I was wondering if there was anything that could unite an entire group of IT professionals to stand up and be noticed. As I consider it more on this spectacular Saturday afternoon in San Francisco, while sitting in my dark darkened office (cave) wishing I could go out to play (or something of the sort) instead of writing this missive. I have to conclude that there isn’t anything I could think of that would really stand out and unify us as a group; however, that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be interested. The issues noted above are important, but not as important as issues of war, poverty, social injustice, jobs and equitable tax policies that are universal interests. But that doesn’t mean at some point in the future there won’t be a universal IT political interest. So, while we await that day, I would recommend at least remaining tuned into politics. And for that reason, until the U.S. National elections are over, November 7, 2000, IThell.com will be providing a connection to local, state and national election information through a link to the Grassroots.com DemocracyNet. Enter your zip code (for US citizens who reside overseas, enter the zip code for the area you will be voting in as an absentee voter) and click go. You will be connected to the local, state and national election information that will be important for your area. (Note: IThell.com does not receive any compensation for providing this link).
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