Friday, December 01, 2006
"Wireless Enters the Political Arena"
This is from WirelessWeek.com:
Wireless phones could be an important catalyst – from increasing the impact of campaign strategies to how voters stay informed about elections, says Adam Thierer, senior fellow and director of the Progress and Freedom Foundation's center for digital media freedom. For instance, using "flash mobs" – which have been an online forum phenomenon, where people are directed to be at a certain place at a certain time – could become a campaigning technique for candidates looking for mass support at a given time, he says.
...
Wireless technology also is making its way into voting machines themselves. A number of voting machine vendors now incorporate infrared communications ports that allow officials to download new ballots or update old ones instantly, according to Lillie Coney, coordinator for the Electronic Privacy Information Center's National Committee for Voting Integrity.
Along with the increased efficiencies and possibilities, though, wireless technology also is raising concerns. Coney says voting machines with an infrared access port should be considered with caution, as those ports make voting machines vulnerable to hacking and illegal entry.
...
Other concerns are in the grey area that's emerging between broadcast regulations and telecommunications regulations as the two converge. Thierer notes the coming difficulties involved with separating broadcast content regulation from wireless content regulation. There are broadcasting rules that mandate "equal time" for political candidates. If services that link broadcast television to wireless phones transmit political ads, do the same equal access rules apply? Coney says no, as the signal remains a broadcast signal.
However, some wireless political ads already have begun to blur the line and attract the attention of regulators. Late last year, California passed a law that explicitly prohibits candidates from sending mass text messages to wireless phone subscribers.
