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Great Words, But Where's My Data?
Secretary of Commerce William Daley. From Mr. Daley's
Mission Statement for the Department of Commerce:
The Department of Commerce promotes job creation,
economic growth, sustainable development, and improved living
standards for all Americans, by working in partnership with business,
universities, communities, and workers to:
1. Build for the future and promote U.S. competitiveness
in the global marketplace, by strengthening and safeguarding the
nation's economic infrastructure;
2. Keep America competitive with cutting-edge science
and technology and an unrivaled information base; and,
3.Provide effective management and stewardship of
our nation's resources and assets to ensure sustainable economic
opportunities.
President William Clinton. President Clinton's Speech to the World Trade Organization on
May 19, 1998:
Today, there are no customs duties on telephone calls,
fax messages, e-mail or computer data links when they cross borders.
We have spent 50 years tearing down barriers to trade in goods
and services. Let us agree that when it comes to electronic commerce,
we will not erect these barriers in the first place. I ask the
nations of the world to join the United States in a standstill
on any tariffs on electronic transmissions sent across national
borders. We cannot allow discriminatory barriers to stunt the
development of the most promising new economic opportunity in
decades.
From the
Presidential Directive on Electronic Commerce,
July 1, 1997:
I direct the Secretary of Commerce to update and
make more efficient our system for protecting patentable innovations
to meet the needs of the fast-moving electronic age and to seek
agreements with other governments to protect patentable innovations
worldwide.
Commissioner Bruce Lehman. From the Patent Office
Mission Statement:
Through the issuance of patents, we encourage technological
advancement by providing incentives to invent, invest in, and
disclose new technology worldwide. Through the registration of
trademarks, we assist businesses in protecting their investments,
promoting goods and services, and safeguarding consumers against
confusion and deception in the marketplace. By disseminating both
patent and trademark information, we promote an understanding
of intellectual property protection and facilitate the developments
and sharing of new technologies world wide.
Obviously, they had an old mission statement hanging around and just
reused it.
Sally Katzen, former Administrator of OMB's Office
of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), which is charged
with developing and implementing the government's information
policies, at the press conference on
the release of Circular OMB A130, which is the administration's
regulation to implement the Paperwork Reduction Act:
We will use information technology to make government
information available to the public in a timely and equitable
manner, via a diverse array of sources, both public and private.
These policies build on the tradition of open information flow
reflected in the Freedom of Information Act
Congressman Newt Gingrich, on his inauguration as
Speaker of the House, describing the new process of government he
was advocating:
It is a process of putting every bill, every report,
every conference report on Internet so that every citizen has
the same instantaneous access as the highest paid lobbyist in
Washington, D.C.
(BTW, Thomas is the result of that rhetoric, is a
*killer* web site! Check it out:)
Vice President Al Gore
We could give you dozens of speeches in which the
Vice President advocates thinking smarter, thinking different,
reaching out to serve the public and other bon mots. His dedication
to this issue is unquestioning. But, there has been no answer
from him or his staff to our letter of two months ago.
This issue obviously is not on the front burner. Let him know if
you think putting patents and trademarks on-line is important!
The Bottom Line:
Almost every government agency has made great strides
in the last four years. The White House, the Congress, the SEC,
the IRS, and countless others are putting their data on-line with
a vengeance. There have been a few holdouts like Bruce Lehman
at the Patent Office, fighting a desperate battle to preserve
an artificial empire.The USPTO is required by administration policy,
by congressional law, by the constitution, and by common economic
sense to put this data on-line. The Patent Office is simply not
keeping up with the times.
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