Howie Hawkins on Technology

	Howie Hawkins on Technology Green Party Challenger for President

We support all efforts to achieve net neutrality

We support all efforts to achieve net neutrality. Internet users should be able to access any lawful web content they choose and use any applications they choose, without restrictions or limitations imposed by their Internet service provider or government, except for restrictions that exist to prevent spam e-mail, viruses, and similar content that will harm the provider's network or internet access devices.
Return ownership and control of the electromagnetic spectrum to the public.
We urge the public to reclaim the airwaves. The privatization of the broadcast airwaves has caused serious deformations of our politics and culture.
End the privatization of broadcast frequencies and reserve them for the creation of new not-for-profit community broadcasters around the country and for broadband and wifi networks owned and operated by cities, counties and towns.

Source: Green Party Platform adopted by 2020 presidential hopeful , Jul 12, 2020

Protect software by copyright, not patent

The Green Party supports protection of software (free or proprietary) by means of the copyright. We strongly oppose granting of software patents. Mathematical algorithms are discovered, not invented, by humans; therefore, they are not patentable. Format patents only exist to restrain competition, and the harm falls disproportionately on programmers who work independently or for the smallest employers. Source: Green Party Platform adopted by 2020 presidential hopeful , Jul 12, 2020

Prioritize rail over cars and trucks

The Green Economy Reconstruction Program will rebuild our railroads for electrified transportation powered by clean renewable energy. We want to prioritize public freight rails, light-rail mass transit, and high-speed inter-city rails over private trucks and cars on the roads.

Our transportation program will enable the restructuring cities and towns into walkable communities centered around the hubs and spokes of these electrified rail systems.

Source: Declaration of Candidacy for the Green Party Nomination , May 28, 2019

Public broadband; public ownership of online platforms

Establish a public broadband service as a not-for-profit public utility in order to provide universal access to a high-speed phone, TV, and internet service at lower costs and with net neutrality.

Online platforms like Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Uber tend toward monopoly because people gravitate to the platforms that have the most users and information. These monopolies are abusing data collection and privacy, censoring content, and eliminating competitors through predatory pricing and buyouts. The remedy is a combination of antitrust action to divest tech conglomerates of multiple platforms and the conversion of some platforms to public utilities that serve the public interest.

Source: 2020 Presidential Campaign website HowieHawkins.us , May 19, 2019

Public funding of diverse nonprofit, noncommercial media

Freedom and democracy depend on a well-informed population. Our First Amendment freedoms of speech and press have eroded under the growing concentration of ownership of both the traditional mass media and the new social media. These giant media and tech conglomerates are replacing hard news with gossipy infotainment, corporate indoctrination, and state propaganda. If I run, I will campaign for reforms to create a vital, democratic, and diverse media system, able to present a wide range of news, issues, and ideas in their full complexity, free from censorship by government or big business. Reforms should include a decentralized, democratic system of public funding of a diverse nonprofit, noncommercial media, including decommercialized, fully funded, and community-controlled public radio and television stations.

The Internet must be regulated as a public good and a basic right, open and accessible to all with net neutrality and personal privacy and data protected.