Election 2K Presidential Profile - Orrin Hatch- continued

E-Trading
In October, Hatch expressed his concerns over e-commerce policy between the European Union and the U.S. before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Hatch said that international trade and technology policies are two significant components contributing to current U.S. economic growth.

As a member of the Finance Committee Hatch has long favored policies that foster free and unencumbered trade and competition. But he also believes that government should provide proper incentives to fuel future economic growth.

"We must provide incentives for more and better technology creativity," Hatch said. "We must clear the underbrush of numerous tariff and non-tariff barriers to foreign market access in pursuit of ensuring U.S. eminence in this highly competitive sector."

Hatch said he favored seeking commitments on duty-free electronic transmissions with the European Union. He wants to make sure that arbitrary international standards do not become barriers to U.S. e-commerce. In attempting to ensure non-discriminatory E.U. market access for the U.S., Hatch was forced to offer his opinion on data privacy and encryption policy.

Encryption interdiction
Although Hatch favors industry self-regulation as adequate protection for global e-commerce consumer privacy, he does not want to impose undue regulatory burdens on e-commerce that would diminish the sector's growth. However, Hatch concurs with current U.S. Department of Justice policies and prohibitions over strong encryption.

"Restricting the export of strong encryption software is absolutely essential," Hatch said. "Strong privacy measures would render law enforcement impotent. If the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other U.S. law enforcement agencies lose the ability to break into criminals' computer systems, they won't be able to gather evidence that will put terrorists, pornographers, and perpetrators of fraud behind bars."

Consequently, it's illegal to export any program stronger than 56-bit encryption without a waiver from the Department of Commerce.

Net regulation
When it comes to how presidential hopeful Hatch would work to keep the Internet free of cumbersome government regulations, he took the opportunity to restate his legislative tenure and take a parting shot at Vice President Al Gore.

"I don't believe I am exaggerating when I say this new digital medium is one of the most important technological developments facing society in a long time," Hatch said. "I believe I have had far more experience with Internet dynamics than any person in this race; save the father of the Internet - Mr. Al Gore," he chided.

"As President, I intend to work with members of Congress to ensure the Internet's continued growth to the benefit of consumers across the nation," Hatch said.

"The basis of the Hatch Administration's involvement in the Internet would be only to ensure Web users are ensured the certainty and safeguards they need to venture into e-commerce and the global networked information superhighway," he added.

"Further, it has not, nor will it be, my intent to restrict Web content. However, the proliferation of any revolutionary, paradigm-shifting technology has always presented government with new policy challenges, which must at some point be addressed. The Internet is no exception," Hatch said.

Vigilant trustbuster and cybersquatting foe, should Senator Orrin Hatch become the 43rd POTUS*, you would find him in favor of crafting effective legislative enforcement today, rather than wielding the heavy hand of government regulation over the Internet tomorrow.

* POTUS = President of the United States

—End

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