Aaron Toponce

I am concerned about my freedoms online, and my digital rights. I am concerned about software patents, licenses and other such issues that seem to be plaguing the computing industry like locusts. Unfortunately, I live in a very conservative Republican state. Not much is being done in the right-wing camp about such issues. Senator Orin Hatch protects, and advocates patents at every angle. Unfortunately, this is hurting technology and your's and mine's freedom.

That's why I am voting Democrat this upcoming election for Pete Ashdown. Pete, as many of you are aware, is the CEO and owner of Xmission here in the valley. He is one of the very few to take an ISP corporation and keep it going strong, even competing against the Big Boys, such as Comast and Qwest. He has had offers to sell Xmission, but refused to do so, as he values his customers, and knows that a large corporation will lose the customer service and relationships that he has spent so much time building. Even if it does mean making some serious coin.

But the purpose of this post is to help rally his campaign. First off, I am not a registered Democrat. I am a Centrist in every sense of the term. When it comes to Pete Ashdown, he and I share the same values on technology related issues. For example:

• The Internet should be free of government control, taxation and monitoring.
• Software patent timelines should be reduced to 5 years, instead of the current 20.
• The entire patent system needs an overhaul with interest in benfiting the small inventors.
• The Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DCMA) has been abused and strips consumers of their Constitutional rights. It needs rewriting and proper interpretation from the courts.

These are just a few of the issues that we see eye-to-eye on. There are many other issues that are important to me, besides just technology-related, that Pete seems to be hitting the bullseye with. It should be mentioned at this point that Pete is a member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). Again, defending your digital freedom.

In a nutshell, vote for Pete Ashdown. Too long have Republicans abused and tied down technology-related issues to frivolous legal matters, court oppression and paperwork. Too long have Republicans been suppressing your rights on the Internet. It's time to make a change. It's time to get serious with these issues, and attack the them at the core.

If you have questions regarding his campaign, make sure to check out his collaborative wiki. He can also be found online in the irc.xmission.com channel #pashdown. Further, you can subscribe to his mailing list, read his blog, read the press entries or view his stands on current issues. You'll find immediately that Pete is committed to protecting your rights, and doing what is best for Utah.