Some of the nation's most weighty media, Internet, educational and other groups have created a think tank for Internet research and priming political candidates on issues facing the coming technological and online economic expansions.
Initial funding for the Morino Institute has come from such powerhouses as the Washington Post, America Online, NASDAQ, Network Solutions, and others, according to CNET. The nonprofit think tank is aiming for a $3 million budget in its first three years to hire scholars and experts for reports on subjects from the Net's effect on privacy, traditional business and tax issues, and health care.
"The Internet is surrounded by noise, hype, rumors, marketing, IPOs, and the hopes of starry-eyed start-ups, but there is very little hard data on which policymakers can base critical decisions that will determine the future of the new medium and how it affects society," says Morino Institute co-chairman Jim Barksdale, the former Netscape Communications CEO.
The first project, "The Economic Payoff from the Internet Revolution," will examine the Net's affect on the growth rate of productivity, its influence on specific industries, its market barriers, and the implications of antitrust and regulatory policy, CNET says.
The think tank describes itself as nonpartisan - leading the study will be the Brookings Institution's Alice Rivlin, former vice chairwoman of the Federal Reserve System's Board of Directors under President Clinton, and Robert Litan, former associate director of the Office of Management and Budget. But the board of directors includes former House speaker Newt Gingrich, as well as former White House aide and failed health-care mastermind Ira Magaziner.
Heavyweight backing aside, the Morino Institute insists it will not be a high-tech mouthpiece. "The policy institute will not endorse or lobby for or against any particular piece of legislation," says AOL senior vice president George Vradenburg, a member of the Morino board. Member.
Its first publication will be a briefing book for Presidential candidates covering the Internet and how it has transformed life.
Other board members, CNET says, include Microsoft chief operating officer Bob Herbold, Network Solutions chairman Michael Daniels, and Roberta Katz, president of the Technology Network.
