Mozilla CEO: "If you don't understand the Internet, you don't have any place in government"
Capital of Nasty, an Electronic Magazine - ISSN 1482-0471
Monday, March 12, 2012 at 20:00 (6513/43)
During the annual South by Southwest conference in Austin, Mozilla CEO Gary Kovacs had some pretty strong words on the general cluelessness of government officials when it comes to the Internet.
Given the impact of the Internet on daily life, Kovacs said, he is amazed when members of Congress express a desire to hire staffers who "understand" the Internet."It's not something you learn, or hire someone for. It has to be the way you live your life," he said.
Washington and the tech industry have increasingly clashed as the impact of Internet and other tech issues grows. Mozilla joined other Internet companies and organizations like Google and Wikipedia in protesting proposed anti-piracy legislation in January.
But Kovacs said through internal discussions Mozilla officials have decided to avoid wading into more political fights. "That's not our place," he said. Instead, Kovacs said Mozilla will focus more on "protecting the Web."
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