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Sun elaborates on its views on Feds, copy-protection standards

Declan McCullagh Former Senior Writer
Declan McCullagh is the chief political correspondent for CNET. You can e-mail him or follow him on Twitter as declanm. Declan previously was a reporter for Time and the Washington bureau chief for Wired and wrote the Taking Liberties section and Other People's Money column for CBS News' Web site.
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Declan McCullagh

A few hours ago I posted a about Sun President Jonathan Schwartz's statements on the federal government being involved in setting digital rights management (DRM) standards. He was speaking at the Progress and Freedom Foundation's conference here in Aspen, Co.

That posting prompted Christopher Hankin, the head of Sun's Washington lobby office, to come find me at the conference and offer an elaboration.

"A government role in standards-setting does not necessarily mean statutory mandates," Hankin said. He offered examples of the federal government being involved in making standards as a user of technology -- as opposed to Congress setting standards by legislative fiat.

He agreed that Schwartz's statements were a bit vague and said that they "can mean different things. I don't think we've determined what that is."