Rep Blackburn says both parties have failed on tech

Speaking at the State of the Net conference, Rep Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) decried the failure of her own party to create a national agenda for technology policy. She noted that Democrats haven't laid out a vision, either. The failure of both parties to set a technology agenda has allowed negative policies to fill the void, she said. "When Congress fails to move forward on an issue, bureaucracies step in," Rep Blackburn said.

She referred to an "alphabet soup" of regulators that businesses must face before they can get their efforts off the ground: the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), SEC Securities Exchange Commission), FTC (Federal Trade Commission).

Rep Blackburn, the vice chairwoman of the House Commerce Committee trade subcommittee, laid out some priorities for tech policy: patent reform, intellectual property protection, privacy and repealing network neutrality regulations. On the last point, she said she expects the FCC to face "a congressional hurricane" as a result of Internet line rules in December. Legislation halting the regulations will pass the House and Senate, she predicted. She added that she "is not so sure" President Obama will attempt to veto such a bill since "more and more people are coming to agree on this issue."