What the Obama Reelection Means for Internet Law

Gray Reed
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It means I woke up to this actual post from a Facebook “friend” of mine:

Christian or not, Praise God we still have some freedom of speech and can voice our opinion. That being said here are words for thought…Do you know what America has in common with those countries in poverty and constant devastation??? God is missing! Now some people have voted to put a Muslim to lead this nation another 4 years. We need to be on our knees in prayer and fasting! Those that were at rock bottom 4 years ago are doing better than they were 4 years ago because Obama rewarded them by living off the government by giving them more benefits.  

There were others that decried our move to socialism and lack of American values and morals as if half the country suddenly rejected morals and values.  While folks settle down, I thought we would take a look at what President Obama’s reelection means for technology and internet law.

Professor Eric Johnson of the Blog Law Blog put together a pro-Obama endorsement prior to the election.  Citing an American Science article, President Obama answered “What role, if any, should the federal government play in managing the Internet to ensure its robust social, scientific, and economic role?” as follows:

A free and open Internet is essential component of American society and of the modern economy. I support legislation to protect intellectual property online, but any effort to combat online piracy must not reduce freedom of expression, increase cybersecurity risk, or undermine the dynamic, innovative global Internet. I also believe it is essential that we take steps to strengthen our cybersecurity and ensure that we are guarding against threats to our vital information systems and critical infrastructure, all while preserving Americans’ privacy, data confidentiality, and civil liberties and recognizing the civilian nature of cyberspace.

Cutting through the rhetoric, it means President Obama does not support SOPA as last proposed.  I’ve blogged on the pros and cons of SOPA.  Professor Johnson suggested Governor Romney, meanwhile, was against net neutrality which we discussed before.

Like every election I have been a part of, this one was described as the most important of my lifetime.  If technology and internet law are your main issues, this was not an earth shaker.  SOPA and PIPA were already headed toward serious re-writes regardless of the outcome. 

In a post today, Professor Johnson suggested a still too close to call race in the House may be more important.

Although you didn’t ask, I prefer post-election Facebook analysis like this: 

First candidate that announces they’re considering running in 2016 I am going to squarely kick in the balls until they can’t breathe. Seriously.

 

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations. Attorney Advertising.

© Gray Reed

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