In these days, Politics and regulations on Information Technology are increasingly seen crossing paths.
A few days ago there was the news of Google been summoned to a committee to explain the incidents of its mobile software tracking the geographical location of the cellphone user and keeping a history of where they have been. More recently there was the news of regulators in several states trying to find the solution to what is the effect of imposing sales tax on e-commerce. Many online retailers have threatened to move their business to other states if the sales tax were imposed which could mean the state loses valuable economic employment and state exchequer stands to lose money one way or the other. Besides antitrust lawsuits against monopolistic businesses are not uncommon.
So no matter what the actual circumstance, its not infrequent that Politics and Technology Businesses often rub against each other.
In this the essential element is that Tech businesses are after all another Business which affect peoples livelihood and economic activity for the administration. As such to protect the interests of the economy in general is an important Political duty of the elected representatives. On the other hand, providing services to the people thereby creating an economic activity is the very essence of any Business. Now there is no surprise in the fact that there is a lots of lobbying in most businesses to 'buy' the legislation in their favor. So there is a need for a moral ground on part of both sides to balance need and greed. Every business exists for some economic activity. The ones involved in for-profit model are more so. So if their greed overtakes the need for a law abiding activity, the role of the government is clearly to step in. On the other hand if the government is turning a blinds eye to illegal activity, then events like 'occupy wall street' are a natural consequence...
A few days ago there was the news of Google been summoned to a committee to explain the incidents of its mobile software tracking the geographical location of the cellphone user and keeping a history of where they have been. More recently there was the news of regulators in several states trying to find the solution to what is the effect of imposing sales tax on e-commerce. Many online retailers have threatened to move their business to other states if the sales tax were imposed which could mean the state loses valuable economic employment and state exchequer stands to lose money one way or the other. Besides antitrust lawsuits against monopolistic businesses are not uncommon.
So no matter what the actual circumstance, its not infrequent that Politics and Technology Businesses often rub against each other.
In this the essential element is that Tech businesses are after all another Business which affect peoples livelihood and economic activity for the administration. As such to protect the interests of the economy in general is an important Political duty of the elected representatives. On the other hand, providing services to the people thereby creating an economic activity is the very essence of any Business. Now there is no surprise in the fact that there is a lots of lobbying in most businesses to 'buy' the legislation in their favor. So there is a need for a moral ground on part of both sides to balance need and greed. Every business exists for some economic activity. The ones involved in for-profit model are more so. So if their greed overtakes the need for a law abiding activity, the role of the government is clearly to step in. On the other hand if the government is turning a blinds eye to illegal activity, then events like 'occupy wall street' are a natural consequence...
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