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posted by on Sunday November 20 2016, @04:08PM   Printer-friendly
from the if-you-wish-upon-a-star dept.

The Internet Association, a group of internet-related companies including Amazon, Dropbox, Facebook, Google, Netflix, and many others has released a roadmap of policy areas for the incoming administration and Congress.

The roadmap's opening letter begins by congratulating President-elect Trump and goes on to say:

Our country's foundation of digital entrepreneurship flows from policy decisions the United States government made long ago to encourage continued innovation and a vibrant e-commerce marketplace. These policies have allowed the internet industry to flourish in the U.S. and to export our products and services worldwide.

[...] Included with this letter is a roadmap of key policy areas that have allowed the internet to grow, thrive, and ensure its continued success and ability to create jobs throughout our economy. The internet industry looks forward to engaging in an open and productive dialogue. Thank you for your consideration of the following policy priorities.

Most of the positions discussed in the roadmap are exactly the sort of policies we, as technical people, support. They include:

  • Intermediary Liability
  • Copyright
  • Privacy and Data Security
  • Trade and Global Internet Policy
  • Surveillance Reform
  • Patent Reform
  • Enhance U.S. STEM and Computer Science Education

Press release


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 20 2016, @08:03PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 20 2016, @08:03PM (#430038)

    They bundled IE tightly with the Windows kernel so it couldn't be removed by an OEM.

    When European antitrust regulators ordered MS to make a version of Windows that didn't have IE, Steve Ballmer sputtered, "I don't know how to do that".

    Now, of course, they're paying for the deliberately bloated architecture and Windows API they crafted during the '90s.

  • (Score: 2) by requerdanos on Sunday November 20 2016, @08:17PM

    by requerdanos (5997) Subscriber Badge on Sunday November 20 2016, @08:17PM (#430048) Journal

    Sure, it was a tangled mess, but a tangled mess with more features than before.

    Still perfectly simple to add third-party browsers just as easily as any other third-party software of the time.

    You don't get to pick and choose how a proprietary software product is built -- that's their nature.

    The whining at the time over this fact was pathetic then, and it's pathetic now.

    Free software has its problems, but this isn't one of them. This is a problem that proprietary software has, and that is just a part of the fabric of reality. Rail against it if you want, petulant governments and users; reality will still be here when you're done. If that's really your biggest concern, there's plenty of free software you can build however you like.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by aristarchus on Sunday November 20 2016, @08:50PM

      by aristarchus (2645) on Sunday November 20 2016, @08:50PM (#430069) Journal

      The whining at the time over this fact was pathetic then, and it's pathetic now.

      It is not whining, it is a warning.

      Rail against it if you want, petulant governments and users; reality will still be here when you're done.

      But once you have been warned, once you realize the true danger of proprietary operating systems, reality will no longer include Micro$oft.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 20 2016, @09:03PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 20 2016, @09:03PM (#430080)

        It's already happened. When Windows Phone was rolled out 10 or so years ago - I can't remember what they called it back then - everyone from OEMs to mobile phone providers to retailers to bloggers to consumers looked at it and said, Thanks but no thanks. Doesn't suit my needs, but maybe I'll check back later.

        Because they remember how badly Microsoft screwed everyone in the entire PC business in the '90s. Payback is a bitch.