War, financial crisis and the fate of a nation hanging in the balance. It sounds like a back-of-the-envelope outline for a spy novel, but it’s actually the current political climate in the U.S. Given that, it’s no surprise that discussion of Internet and technology issues is adrift, and that civil liberties protection has been pushed to the margins during this intense political season.

And yet this election cycle provides a great window of opportunity. The President and Congress will have a chance to take a fresh look at the challenges and opportunities of the Internet and set a policy course for this vital medium that will keep it open, innovative and free.

We often take the Internet for granted. In a short time it has become a powerful engine for innovation, economic growth and democratization. The Internet has changed the way we “do” politics. Ordinary Americans are making their voices heard and organizing online. Political candidates are building online networks of supporters, raising unprecedented funds from small donors, and educating the public on their policies and visions.

A few months ago CDT started a dialogue on what we believe are the key issues impacting the digital work-a-day world where most of us are spending an increasing amount of time. The ideas and feedback flowing from that discussion will help us craft a kind of blueprint for technology policy for use by the new Administration, noting things that can be done right now while also providing a strategy for achieving longer term goals.

Starting this week and following through until the election, CDT will focus on specific issue areas and write about each of them here on our Policy Beta blog. Our President, Leslie Harris, will add another level of insight and commentary on the issue in a companion article published in her Huffington Post column. And for those that want a daily dose of policy prognostication —in 140 characters or less—you can follow our efforts via Twitter.

We encourage you to push these blog postings out to your friends, family, forums and social networks. We welcome comments, criticisms and suggestions, all of which will help us sharpen our message and hone our suggestions for the next Administration and Congress.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 26th, 2008 at 2:49 pm and is filed under CDT, Consumer Privacy, Digital Copyright, Free Expression, Health Privacy, International, Internet Neutrality, Open Government, Security & Freedom, Spyware, Standards & Governance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.