The Microsoft antitrust trial, internet privacy and other issues have put the issue of government regulation of the hi-tech industry back on the table. Organizations representing vendors, consumers and voters have been lobbying government agencies and Congress with their views. The communications industry which has grown up to service hi-tech, and now carefully controls the flow of information to benefit the vested interests they protect also has a role to play, believes Rachel Postlethwaite, SVP TSI Communications Inc.
In addition to the Microsoft trial, government officials are keeping a close eye on other hi-tech industry issues including Year 2000 computer glitches, encryption and computer exports, internet privacy, the taxing of e-commerce, and sexual and violent content online. Although it currently still favors self- regulation it is not too hard to foresee situations where government may conclude that the computer industry is unable to regulate itself, or that it must be proactive to protect consumers.
Postlethwaite argues that technology communications professionals tend to have a silo mentality and develop standalone programs for product PR, corporate PR, government relations and investor relations. Her feeling is that putting an industry under the microscope as the government is doing with its review of high- tech issues, increases the likelihood that these disciplines will converge.
The issue is not a clear, linear ‘one-to-one, cause-and-effect’ relationship. The impetus for regulation comes from a wide variety of diverse sources. Therefore, although as individuals we may not have any influence on digital content, for example, we can be influencing the debate about regulating violence and sex in video games and creating the context for broader-based regulation. Despite our freedom of speech, we have a responsibility not to tell people to shoot their neighbor, she says.
Until the beginning of the 1990s, technology PR was aimed squarely at propeller-heads and IT managers, with just a small number of products marketed at consumers. The falling cost of technology and rise of the internet has turned that model on its head. Most of America is now crazy about the web and technology. Even the cab driver wants a tip on which PC to buy, which web sites to visit, what stocks to buy, Postlethwaite observes. And the communications industry has reacted accordingly.
She says that consumers may be aware that unprofitable dot coms have higher valuations than the GDP of many countries, online brokers are luring those consumers to those high risk stocks with images of helicopters and desert islands. The next Black Tuesday could wipe out the life savings of millions of small investors. If there is a backlash, who will admit responsibility? she asks. Appearances are everything. There is, or may well be a sense, that at the point technologists meet entrepreneurs we cease to be able to distinguish between ‘doing well’ and ‘doing good’, says Postlethwaite. That is not to say we must all morph into bleeding heart liberals, but rather our penchant for making money without responsibility makes us appear obscene – the 90s version of Barbarians at the Gate. Therefore, its not just what we do and say to address the issue of regulation, but also how we do and say it.
That’s because consumer PR messages impact jury pools and voters, just as government PR impacts consumer and business-to-business buying perceptions. It is therefore important to develop an integrated approach that factors government into all communications activities, she says.
As a result, communications professionals will in a better position to get out in front of these issues, she figures. Violence and sex online are easier to identify and address, others, such as Y2K are more nebulous. Although we may not have an equivalent to silicon breast implants or asbestos, we are getting close to a watershed. Regulation is an emotionally charged issue, which resonates with government, Wall Street, consumers and business. Raising our collective consciences at this point can avert bigger issues later. á
