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Mr. Gates goes to Washington, from The Netly News
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 1997 12:13:40 -0700 (PDT)
From: Declan McCullagh <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: Mr. Gates goes to Washington, from The Netly News
**********
http://cgi.pathfinder.com/netly/opinion/0,1042,1022,00.html
The Netly News Network
June 5, 1997
Mr. Gates Goes to Washington
by Declan McCullagh ([email protected])
For Siliconaires like Bill Gates of Microsoft, Eric Schmidt of
Novell and Jeff Papows of Lotus, Washington is a city made pleasant by
absence. They view its labyrinthine bureaucracies and hidebound
institutions as something between a minor hindrance and an
insurmountable obstacle to the important business of making
profits, not public policy. So it was no surprise to see the high-tech
trio join seven other executives yesterday at the National Press Club
to rail against the Clinton administration's restrictions on overseas
sales of encryption products.
This Billionaire Boys' Club was especially keen on praising two
bills that would generally relax export rules. "We clearly support the
House and the Senate bills that are on the Hill in their original
form. Getting reform done now is a huge priority for all of us," said
one. "There are bills in the House and the Senate that are totally
acceptable, and if those bills are passed they'd solve the problem,"
another added.
But perhaps Bill Gates should have spent less time writing BASIC
interpreters and more time in civics classes, because these bills are
far from perfect. In fact, they may be downright dangerous.
[...]