
White House Names Dr. Ed Felten as Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer - JoshTriplett
https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/05/11/white-house-names-dr-ed-felten-deputy-us-chief-technology-officer
======
jonstokes
I followed and covered Ed's career over the years at Ars, and he's a great
technologist and one of the Good Guys. EFF board member, anti-DRM activist,
one of those sounding the alarm on e-voting and mass surveillance. In other
words, he's opposed to just about everything that Obama seems to stand for in
practice (disregarding the president's rhetoric on these issues). So I have to
wonder, is this one of those "keep your enemies closer" things?

Anyway, congrats(?) to Prof. Felten. Here's to hoping he can make a
difference.

~~~
wsxcde
Well, he was named CTO of the FTC back in 2010, so it seems he has a good
relationship with the Obama administration.

~~~
csoghoian
The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency. They don't take orders
from the President.

(I know, because I worked there for a year)

------
JoshTriplett
This is a refreshing dose of sanity, considering his technology background and
history
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Felten](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Felten)).
I look forward to seeing what he can accomplish in this position.

~~~
xnull6guest
Can you clarify what changes you would expect Felten to bring into the
government? I'm a little frustrated by the lack of specifics in both the
article, the Wiki page, and these comments. What about his technology
background and history make him a particularly viable candidate - and what
changes will we expect him to bring to bear from his background?

~~~
JoshTriplett
He's pro-technology, pro-privacy, anti-DRM, anti-DMCA, etc. I'm hoping that he
will use this role to make the government a little less technophobic, a little
less inclined to use laws to prop up companies that can't cope with new
technologies, and a little less inclined towards mass spying and data
collection.

On the other hand, I have no idea how much influence this role actually has;
we'll see how it goes over the next few years.

~~~
sukilot
DRM is technology. Don't confuse "anti-tech" with "pro-entrenched wealthy
interests"

~~~
JoshTriplett
DRM is a technology that restricts the invention of future technologies. DRM
enumerates what you can do with data, which by design restricts future
possibilities as well as present ones. One of the key features of non-DRMed
data is that it can be used in novel ways that its original authors never
thought of.

On balance, I feel comfortable classifying DRM systems as "anti-technology":
they prevent the further advancement of technology past the vision of what the
authors of the DRM system could think of and deigned to allow. More
importantly, laws and policies that enforce DRM are anti-technology.

But in any case, a clarification then: against DRM enforced by law, such as
via the DMCA, or enshrined into "standards" that are then used by governmental
entities. DRM enforced solely by technology, without the backing of laws like
the DMCA, is not necessarily a governmental issue, though it's still something
to fight against.

------
drzaiusapelord
I never understood some of these high level appointments when its comes to
technology. What does this role really do? It seems borderline ceremonial,
like the King's wizard or somesuch.

~~~
xnull6guest
It brings in leadership that aligns with policy objectives.

The appointment of Shaarik Zafar for example - they needed someone who would
be on board with mass propaganda of the Middle East:

[https://minerva.dtic.mil/doc/samplewp-
Lieberman.pdf](https://minerva.dtic.mil/doc/samplewp-Lieberman.pdf)

[https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/05/07/senators-
want-...](https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/05/07/senators-want-blow-
isis-water-fancy-memes/)

[http://csis.org/multimedia/combating-violent-
extremism](http://csis.org/multimedia/combating-violent-extremism)

[http://csis.org/files/publication/131011_Douglas_EngagingMus...](http://csis.org/files/publication/131011_Douglas_EngagingMuslimWorld_Web.pdf)

Or take Sunstein's appointment after his work on systems of domestic
'guidance' of public discussion through 'nudging' and 'choice architecture'
through the study of behavioral economics.

It's less of a crowning as it is bringing in those who can transform, with
leadership, the mechanisms and operating procedures of a department.

~~~
jldugger
What exactly is he he leading? It's not like there's a technology department
of the US governement. There's a couple hundred.

~~~
xnull6guest
The US Chief Technology Officer was set up in the E-Government Act of 2002,
which states the role's responsibilities as:

* To provide effective leadership of Federal Government efforts to develop and promote electronic Government services and processes by establishing an Administrator of a new Office of Electronic Government within the Office of Management and Budget.

* To promote use of the Internet and other information technologies to provide increased opportunities for citizen participation in Government.

* To promote inter-agency collaboration in providing electronic Government services, where this collaboration would improve the service to citizens by integrating related functions, and in the use of internal electronic

* Government processes, where this collaboration would improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the processes.

* To improve the ability of the Government to achieve agency missions and program performance goals. To promote the use of the Internet and emerging technologies within and across Government agencies to provide citizen-centric Government information and services.

* To reduce costs and burdens for businesses and other Government entities.

* To promote better informed decision making by policy makers.

* To promote access to high quality Government information and services across multiple channels. To make the Federal Government more transparent and accountable.

* To transform agency operations by utilizing, where appropriate, best practices from public and private sector organizations.

* To provide enhanced access to Government information and services in a manner consistent with laws regarding protection of personal privacy, national security, records retention, access for persons with disabilities, and other relevant law

( lifted from
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Government_Act_of_2002#Provis...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Government_Act_of_2002#Provisions)
)

~~~
droopyEyelids
Too bad the wiki doesn't give any information about what power he actually
has. Does he control any budget? Get to make appointments of his own? fire
people?

~~~
xnull6guest
To hazard a guess, no on all three. I say this only because they are not
specifically enumerated.

But I do not know. Agreed. These are good questions.

------
MrZongle2
I find it difficult to not view such appointments with a great deal of
cynicism. We are supposedly six _years_ into an administration that promised
change from what came before, but seems determined to maintain the status quo
on many fronts.

~~~
shit_parade2
I fully agree, if anything it impinges on the reputation of anyone who willing
works with the lying murders in the White House.

------
mrb
FYI this news is creating excitement in the Bitcoin community because Dr. Ed
Felten is a notable Bitcoin researcher and advocate:
[http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-researcher-ed-felten-
white-h...](http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-researcher-ed-felten-white-house/)

------
themeek
I am able to access some of his syllabi for his law and policy classes from
his homepage (for example, here's a syllabus for Digital Surveillance [1]),
but can't find very particularly much on his politics.

Does anyone know where he stands on public policy with regard to IP law, civil
law, domestic surveillance and domestic propaganda?

[1]
[https://www.cs.princeton.edu/courses/archive/fall13/cos597G/](https://www.cs.princeton.edu/courses/archive/fall13/cos597G/)

~~~
colechristensen
He was a board member of the EFF, which should tell you enough.

~~~
themeek
Being a board member of the EFF isn't enough for me - I like to understand
specifics and don't trust the EFF sheerly on invocation of their name.

~~~
niels_olson
And since you're so vociferous, I'm sure you'll do some good research and
write it up for us, right? :)

~~~
themeek
It all depends on time, though it's unlikely I'll do a dossier on the EFF
unless something prompts it.

I will say broadly that their coverage of information sharing, surveillance
law, and intellectual property is rounded down to their specific issues and
narrow perspective - and these issues aren't necessarily one-for-one mappings
to "what's best for the internet/civility".

One example that comes to mind was their coverage of the recent Obama
Administration Executive Order 13694 [1][2] where they dropped the
international purpose and nature of the order entirely, as if the sanctions
weren't directed towards, and enforced by law, at actors in China and Russia
(and Iran and smaller players) overseas.

Following Snowden - who truly did show that the NSA was surveiling hundreds of
millions of Americans - the EFF's speculatory, alarmist and misleading
coverage of national cybersecurity and civil rights confused and angered a
confused and angry group of people we would rather have engaged in deliberate
and reasonable debate. Namely, despite how different in kind, scope, purpose
and method EO 13694 is, the EFF reported on it with the tone of the Snowden
disclosures and its audience associated the two.

I have spoken, too, with the EFF - and was disappointed both by their their
inability to use PGP (even after suggesting it to others) and the way they
engaged with the material I provided them. [I sent them evidence of a backdoor
in popular software and an analysis of a possible convenient backdoor location
for a popular hardware brand; they quietly acknowledged these reports but
AFAICT did nothing with them - as a comparison when I sent similar material,
using PGP, to cryptome they were immediately published.]

I should not have been so disappointed by what they did with the materials I
sent to them: I did not understand at the time the scope of the EFF - that
even their published matrix of trustworthy communication software was a
stretch of their operating scope.

So this isn't to rag so very much on the EFF. I think they have a role in
advocacy and journalism and the legal landscape. I'm just not willing to
invest my full and unquestioning faith in the reports of any interest group -
for even those with good intentions are not infallible.

[Anecdotes only today, I'm afraid. :)]

[1] [https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/04/whitehouses-new-
execut...](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/04/whitehouses-new-executive-
order-cyber-crime-unfortunately-no-joke)

[2] [https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-
office/2015/04/01/execu...](https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-
office/2015/04/01/executive-order-blocking-property-certain-persons-engaging-
significant-m)

------
dude_abides
time to go long on bitcoin!

~~~
drcode
Given how things have been going lately, I'll just be happy if all the recent
good news doesn't lead to another price crash.

