Interview with Pete Ashdown
Quite a while ago, I asked for an interview with Pete Ashdown who is running for the U.S. Senate. I never got a reply back and assumed he was was a bit busy, what with running a business and running for public office at the same time. I figured living on the other side of the world from me may have also had something to do with it as well.
I was wrong. Pete did get back to me as I discovered while I was going through some raw logs, and so I present it here with my deepest apologies.
Alex H - Why did you decide to run for public office?
Pete Ashdown - Initially I was interested in backing whoever was going to be running in this race on the Democratic ticket. Senator Hatch's stands on copyright vs. the Internet had caused me concern and I wanted to see him challenged in this race. However, as I started to ask inside Democratic circles in Utah, it became apparent that nobody wanted the task. So I had to decide whether running for office was something I wanted to do. I talked to my family, employees, and friends and they were all very supportive, but they were emphatic about starting early and doing it full time. So I declared in March of 2005 and have been working on this race full time ever since.
Alex H - Utah has one of the highest rates of bankruptcy in the U.S. which a number of studies have linked to a growing entrepreneur culture in your part of the world. As the founder of a well known high-tech company, how do you see these budding enterprises working out? What are some of the pitfalls facing Utahns looking to start their own businesses, especially in the tech sector?
Pete Ashdown - The model for starting a business in the U.S. seems to have evolved into hiring a board of directors, getting a load of venture capital, advertising, then hoping to cash out with an IPO or an acquisition. I took the more traditional approach in my business of starting small, wearing several hats, not paying myself initially, and resisting acquisition for the sake of cashing out. That fiscal conservatism allowed me to not only steer the company in a direction I felt was most appropriate without the permission of a board or shareholders, but to move faster than my larger rivals. I think the largest pitfall in American business today is believing you can cash out quickly. The "five years to profitability" adage was thrown out in the 90's.
Alex H - You're campaign has taken some pretty amazing steps towards opening up the democratic process, like the Wiki for creating policy and your calendar. How are those aspects the campaign going and what has the reaction been from the public?
Pete - People find it refreshing across the political spectrum. I think many conservatives are caught off guard when they find a Democrat who is not only willing to listen, but adopt their position if it something that makes sense. Frequently, I hear the sentiment that people are tired of the bickering between the two sides more than anything else. They want to see the divisiveness end and some real solutions come forward. I believe that collaboration and transparency are cures to many of the ills of American politics. My experience so far is that most Americans want that too.
Alex H - Is there anything that particulary irks you about Orrin Hatch's policies?
Pete - His one-sidedness in the debate over copyright was a real problem for my business and for the consumer. The artist should be rewarded for their work, but I think the middle-man model that the recording industry wants to preserve is rapidly going out of date due to the Internet. Fighting it through legislation is not what the free-market is about in my opinion. Senator Hatch stated in his Presidential campaign in 2000 that the government should keep its "Grubby mitts off the Internet." If he had retained that sentiment, I most likely would not be running against him.
Alex H - What is the difference between intellectual property and tangible property?
Pete - Intellectual property can be used without depriving the inventor of using it themselves. If by this question you are trying to probe my feelings on IP, I do recognize IP protection of inventors, but believe as Jefferson did that after a reasonable time it should fall into the public domain. I think that patent review should be opened up for peer participation as long as there is some protection while that evaluation is going on. I am against frivolous, obvious, and derivative patents.
Alex H - You guys (and gals) in Utah have the lowest child poverty rate in the United States and are often mentioned as one of the best places to raise a child. How did that come about? Is it a community values thing, a public policy thing or is there something in the water?
Pete - Utah has a high sense of community. It also has one of the highest volunteer rates in the country. People here are very generous with their time and resources. My success in business has also depended upon giving away my services to non-profits, charities, religious organizations, and candidates without bias. I think you'd be hard pressed to find any other ISP or media company with a similar philosophy.
Utah tends to be an enigma to outsiders and a well kept secret to insiders. We have some of the best recreation and most beautiful scenery in the nation. Some complain about the cultural aspects, but I think some of that is responsible for an extremely energetic underground music scene. I've traveled a fair share, and although I admire some aspects of other states and countries, I would choose no other place to raise my children than where they are right now.
Alex H - Since the whole Enron debacle went down there has been quite a lot of focus on America's energy policy. What's your take on this?
Pete - Our energy policy is the greatest shame this country has. I fully blame the congress for a lack of imagination in regards to new technologies. The last energy bill that came out of the Senate had looking for more oil as its focus with a slight nod towards hybrids and alternative technologies. I want to turn that around. I do believe we need to look for more oil and build refineries, but for every refinery built, I want to see 100 windmills put up. For every well drilled, I want to see a solar chimney constructed. I want to see the scientists at Sandia fully funded in researching their hot-fusion Z-Machine. I advocate for government bounties like the Ansari X-Prize for energy research into all areas. Rapid rail transit is something that America has taken a backseat on that we need to be on the forefront again. I find it ironic that we had better rail infrastructure in the 19th century than we do in the 21st century.
Energy policy is not only responsible for the broad issues of global warming its responsible for the acute issues of mercury emissions and funding monarchies and dictatorships in oil-rich countries. I believe America needs to find a way to generate its own cheap, clean, and plentiful energy and we can do it if we had people in office that understood the possibilities of science.
Alex H - Please don't take offence at this, but there are a lot of people not living in the U.S. who think you guys are proposing and enacting some pretty whacked out laws. How do you think this has come about (or do you even agree with that statement)?
Pete - I am equally dismayed about the eroding of our constitutional rights in the United States. I believe in a broad interpretation of the constitution rather than attempting to find loopholes. Surveillance without a warrant is not constitutional and I think it shouldn't be approved by a "secret court" either. There are very good reasons to shine the light in on the process, primarily because it has been abused in the past. When the government says, "Trust us," I think everyone should be demanding full accountability.
There also been more abuse of the political system than ever by moneyed interests lobbing for their own agenda. The concern of government should be broad, but its currently being controlled by entities whose concerns are narrow. That generates laws that are very specific towards benefiting a few rather than the people.
Alex H - In the past, you've criticized a number of sections in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act; a pretty significant piece of legislation which was 8 years old a few weeks ago. What lessons have been learnt since it was enacted?
Pete - My own experience as an ISP has shown me the economic problems of being forced to serve as media companys' copyright police when they have automated bots doing the reporting. I am thankful for the safe-harbor provision, but I think a request for investigation should carry compensation for execution.
The freedom to tinker with your hardware, own your media, and have fair-use is important to the consumer. DMCA prevents much of that. I want to see this power returned to the individual and the "punishing of the innocent" ceased.
Alex H - Your views on the proposed Intellectual Property Protection Act?
Pete - More effort to restrict the fair-use rights of consumers, add punitive damages beyond what violent crime dictates, and put our tax-funded public enforcement in charge of protecting private media concerns for free. The only benefit is some positive movement on archival of orphan works.
Alex H - So do you think the U.S. will ever get around to releasing a Constitution 2.0? I mean, with all the Amendments, people could be forgiven for thinking you guys were just releasing patches while working out something that would work for maybe 50 to a hundred years. Is the Constitution a "living document"? What things are, or are going to be, important to people in the long term?
Pete - The constitution should be interpreted broadly and I believe that efforts to bypass and find loopholes in the constitution deserve clarification. If not by the court then by amendment. I do not believe the constitution should be amended to restrict or contradict other protections of rights already in the constitution, nor do I believe we need to start over with Constitution 2.0. The founders of the USA had a remarkable clarity of vision about the responsibility of government and the rights of the citizen. If anything we need to work towards our laws respecting the constitution more, not less.
Alex H - Thanks for your time and good luck with the campaign.
Pete - Thank you Alex.
Pete Ashdown's website can be found at http://peteashdown.org/
I was wrong. Pete did get back to me as I discovered while I was going through some raw logs, and so I present it here with my deepest apologies.
Alex H - Why did you decide to run for public office?
Pete Ashdown - Initially I was interested in backing whoever was going to be running in this race on the Democratic ticket. Senator Hatch's stands on copyright vs. the Internet had caused me concern and I wanted to see him challenged in this race. However, as I started to ask inside Democratic circles in Utah, it became apparent that nobody wanted the task. So I had to decide whether running for office was something I wanted to do. I talked to my family, employees, and friends and they were all very supportive, but they were emphatic about starting early and doing it full time. So I declared in March of 2005 and have been working on this race full time ever since.
Alex H - Utah has one of the highest rates of bankruptcy in the U.S. which a number of studies have linked to a growing entrepreneur culture in your part of the world. As the founder of a well known high-tech company, how do you see these budding enterprises working out? What are some of the pitfalls facing Utahns looking to start their own businesses, especially in the tech sector?
Pete Ashdown - The model for starting a business in the U.S. seems to have evolved into hiring a board of directors, getting a load of venture capital, advertising, then hoping to cash out with an IPO or an acquisition. I took the more traditional approach in my business of starting small, wearing several hats, not paying myself initially, and resisting acquisition for the sake of cashing out. That fiscal conservatism allowed me to not only steer the company in a direction I felt was most appropriate without the permission of a board or shareholders, but to move faster than my larger rivals. I think the largest pitfall in American business today is believing you can cash out quickly. The "five years to profitability" adage was thrown out in the 90's.
Alex H - You're campaign has taken some pretty amazing steps towards opening up the democratic process, like the Wiki for creating policy and your calendar. How are those aspects the campaign going and what has the reaction been from the public?
Pete - People find it refreshing across the political spectrum. I think many conservatives are caught off guard when they find a Democrat who is not only willing to listen, but adopt their position if it something that makes sense. Frequently, I hear the sentiment that people are tired of the bickering between the two sides more than anything else. They want to see the divisiveness end and some real solutions come forward. I believe that collaboration and transparency are cures to many of the ills of American politics. My experience so far is that most Americans want that too.
Alex H - Is there anything that particulary irks you about Orrin Hatch's policies?
Pete - His one-sidedness in the debate over copyright was a real problem for my business and for the consumer. The artist should be rewarded for their work, but I think the middle-man model that the recording industry wants to preserve is rapidly going out of date due to the Internet. Fighting it through legislation is not what the free-market is about in my opinion. Senator Hatch stated in his Presidential campaign in 2000 that the government should keep its "Grubby mitts off the Internet." If he had retained that sentiment, I most likely would not be running against him.
Alex H - What is the difference between intellectual property and tangible property?
Pete - Intellectual property can be used without depriving the inventor of using it themselves. If by this question you are trying to probe my feelings on IP, I do recognize IP protection of inventors, but believe as Jefferson did that after a reasonable time it should fall into the public domain. I think that patent review should be opened up for peer participation as long as there is some protection while that evaluation is going on. I am against frivolous, obvious, and derivative patents.
Alex H - You guys (and gals) in Utah have the lowest child poverty rate in the United States and are often mentioned as one of the best places to raise a child. How did that come about? Is it a community values thing, a public policy thing or is there something in the water?
Pete - Utah has a high sense of community. It also has one of the highest volunteer rates in the country. People here are very generous with their time and resources. My success in business has also depended upon giving away my services to non-profits, charities, religious organizations, and candidates without bias. I think you'd be hard pressed to find any other ISP or media company with a similar philosophy.
Utah tends to be an enigma to outsiders and a well kept secret to insiders. We have some of the best recreation and most beautiful scenery in the nation. Some complain about the cultural aspects, but I think some of that is responsible for an extremely energetic underground music scene. I've traveled a fair share, and although I admire some aspects of other states and countries, I would choose no other place to raise my children than where they are right now.
Alex H - Since the whole Enron debacle went down there has been quite a lot of focus on America's energy policy. What's your take on this?
Pete - Our energy policy is the greatest shame this country has. I fully blame the congress for a lack of imagination in regards to new technologies. The last energy bill that came out of the Senate had looking for more oil as its focus with a slight nod towards hybrids and alternative technologies. I want to turn that around. I do believe we need to look for more oil and build refineries, but for every refinery built, I want to see 100 windmills put up. For every well drilled, I want to see a solar chimney constructed. I want to see the scientists at Sandia fully funded in researching their hot-fusion Z-Machine. I advocate for government bounties like the Ansari X-Prize for energy research into all areas. Rapid rail transit is something that America has taken a backseat on that we need to be on the forefront again. I find it ironic that we had better rail infrastructure in the 19th century than we do in the 21st century.
Energy policy is not only responsible for the broad issues of global warming its responsible for the acute issues of mercury emissions and funding monarchies and dictatorships in oil-rich countries. I believe America needs to find a way to generate its own cheap, clean, and plentiful energy and we can do it if we had people in office that understood the possibilities of science.
Alex H - Please don't take offence at this, but there are a lot of people not living in the U.S. who think you guys are proposing and enacting some pretty whacked out laws. How do you think this has come about (or do you even agree with that statement)?
Pete - I am equally dismayed about the eroding of our constitutional rights in the United States. I believe in a broad interpretation of the constitution rather than attempting to find loopholes. Surveillance without a warrant is not constitutional and I think it shouldn't be approved by a "secret court" either. There are very good reasons to shine the light in on the process, primarily because it has been abused in the past. When the government says, "Trust us," I think everyone should be demanding full accountability.
There also been more abuse of the political system than ever by moneyed interests lobbing for their own agenda. The concern of government should be broad, but its currently being controlled by entities whose concerns are narrow. That generates laws that are very specific towards benefiting a few rather than the people.
Alex H - In the past, you've criticized a number of sections in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act; a pretty significant piece of legislation which was 8 years old a few weeks ago. What lessons have been learnt since it was enacted?
Pete - My own experience as an ISP has shown me the economic problems of being forced to serve as media companys' copyright police when they have automated bots doing the reporting. I am thankful for the safe-harbor provision, but I think a request for investigation should carry compensation for execution.
The freedom to tinker with your hardware, own your media, and have fair-use is important to the consumer. DMCA prevents much of that. I want to see this power returned to the individual and the "punishing of the innocent" ceased.
Alex H - Your views on the proposed Intellectual Property Protection Act?
Pete - More effort to restrict the fair-use rights of consumers, add punitive damages beyond what violent crime dictates, and put our tax-funded public enforcement in charge of protecting private media concerns for free. The only benefit is some positive movement on archival of orphan works.
Alex H - So do you think the U.S. will ever get around to releasing a Constitution 2.0? I mean, with all the Amendments, people could be forgiven for thinking you guys were just releasing patches while working out something that would work for maybe 50 to a hundred years. Is the Constitution a "living document"? What things are, or are going to be, important to people in the long term?
Pete - The constitution should be interpreted broadly and I believe that efforts to bypass and find loopholes in the constitution deserve clarification. If not by the court then by amendment. I do not believe the constitution should be amended to restrict or contradict other protections of rights already in the constitution, nor do I believe we need to start over with Constitution 2.0. The founders of the USA had a remarkable clarity of vision about the responsibility of government and the rights of the citizen. If anything we need to work towards our laws respecting the constitution more, not less.
Alex H - Thanks for your time and good luck with the campaign.
Pete - Thank you Alex.
Pete Ashdown's website can be found at http://peteashdown.org/
posted by Alex H at 11:47 PM
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