MP Tanzcos almost a geek

By RICHARD PAMATATAU

Green MP Nandor Tanzcos is a borderline computer geek who likes to get into the source code behind the applications he runs on his Dell laptop computer.

"In the same way that I like to be able to change the oil and look after the motor in my vehicle I am fascinated by how the software behind the systems work," Tanzcos says.

The Green Party spokesman for IT, Tanzcos juggles the portfolio with drug-law reform, forestry, justice, tertiary education, treaty issues, urban affairs, youth affairs and being on the justice and electoral select committee.

He says the Greens, in an early stage of formulating IT and telecommunications policy, recognise how critical the area is and its impact on almost every aspect of life.

"We've got our processes in place for some more formal work on IT issues because they are huge."

A consummate user of technology, Parliament's dreadlocked MP nevertheless has concerns about IT. They range from the hollowness of computer and software sellers' promises that technology speeds up and increases worker output to the vexed issue of what to do with obsolete PCs.

The relentless drive for quarterly profit targets can be ecologically unfriendly, Tanczos says, putting more product on the market without considering the impact of oversupply. So the Green Party is investigating how more machines con be recycled. He looks forward to companies stripping data from old PCs before handing them over to other organisations.

Tanzcos is working with a Hamilton-based group on a recycling process.. He envisages a day when PC buyers lay down a deposit as part of the purchase price and get it back by returning the machine to the seller when they upgrade.

There's a possibility, too, of manufacturers becoming part of the recycling loop by obliging them to accept old machines to be broken down for components recycling.

Like most alternative IT users, Tanzcos favours open source software and the Linux operating system.

"I'm running Mandrake [a Linux distribution] on my Dell laptop because there are alternatives to products from Microsoft."

Tanzcos says Mandrake is good to use, even if it does mimic the look of Microsoft's Windows, and would like the Government to ditch its use of Microsoft systems and move to Linux.

He considers Microsoft a "scary company" and an evangelist of the thinking that people need new software all the time.

Recently, in a speech, Tanzcos pointed out how the German Government and other government agencies worldwide had adopted open source software.

"Unfortunately our Government doesn't seem to be too clued up on these issues.

"When I ask them about it the answer is usually, 'um, we think it's good but we keep forgetting to consider it when we upgrade'."

The Greens are concerned about the Microsoft Government Security Programme (GSP ) - an agreement which lets our government security staff analyse Microsoft source code.

"There seems to be no information about what we have to give Microsoft in exchange or how much this is going to cost us," Tanzcos says. "I mean, if its going to cost X million dollars to participate in this scheme, why don't we just spend that money moving to Linux."

He also is concerned about the way the IT industry and global capital markets have together hijacked research in science and technology.

These developments are about the creation of so-called property rights rather than creating a body of knowledge for common good, he says.

"You can see that where companies are now trying to patent a process," the MP says, citing Amazon.com's efforts to impose the US patent for its ordering system in New Zealand.

"We all need to be mindful of that because it is like the creation of genetically modified organisms that are, in turn, owned by multinational corporations."

It also spawns draconian legislation to protect "rights", he says.

Tanczos is a Telecom customer only because "parliamentary services issues us with O27 phones".

He uses text messaging and is "sussing out Wap" (web-capable phones).

He says more debate about privacy and surveillance is crucial because they are areas where rights can be eroded.

The recent convert to high-speed internet at home believes broadband is vital to the country's economy and that Telecom must be prepared to open its local loop to other players. "I'm not a big recreational internet user, but the broadband connection means I get material I need quicker and faster.

"In fact, I think the internet can be a device which isolates people and I don't like the way it allows us to have click-off relations."

As for email, its both a boon and a problem.

"Yes it is a good way to stay in touch, it makes politicians more accessible, but managing it can be problematic," he says.

"Sometimes I take a day out to get my email up to date."

Tanzcos rarely surfs the net for pleasure, but when he does it might be to contribute to a bulletin board discussing aspects of his Rastafarian faith or search out scholarly papers on a subject he is interested in - pseudepigraphal texts or spurious writings often falsely attributed to biblical characters or times.