ASPEN, Colo. -- Congress is all about control. And the Internet -- like it or not -- is all about chaos.

The clash of these concepts when politicians engage in digital policy-making, such as the key broadband debate, is either a great opportunity or a dire problem for the high-tech industry. That was the consensus of participants in a panel discussion on Congress and the Internet at the Progress & Freedom Foundation's Cyberspace and the American Dream conference Tuesday.

Perhaps ominously, the gloomiest predictions came from those who've seen the workings of Congress from the inside.

Former Rep. Rick White, R-Wash., who earned a reputation as a champion of the high-tech industry during his time in Congress, urged Internet executives to come up with creative solutions to problems such as protecting online privacy.

"You have to solve these problems yourselves, because Washington will never understand them the way you do," said White, who was the co-founder of the Congressional Internet Caucus -- a body formed to educate lawmakers about technology.

Bob Walker, who represented Pennsylvania's first Congressional district for 20 years, ending in 1997, said people run for Congress "to be in control -- to be at the center of the universe."

The former Republican Congressman had special criticism for what he called the GOP's failure to take the lead on high-tech issues.

"(Former House Speaker Newt) Gingrich, when he became speaker, wanted the Republicans to be the information party," Walker said. "But the Republican party did not get technology as the dominant factor in the economy, and they still don't quite get the extent of it."

"Even scarier than 'The Blair Witch Project' is the idea of Congress making decisions about the Internet," was the blunt assessment of Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash.

Broadband issue critical Inslee said determining how to spur investment in broadband competition "is the single most important issue Congress will face in the next 12 months, and yet half the Congress probably doesn't realize it."

Jerry Berman, executive director of the Center for Democracy and Technology, agreed that the broadband issue is critical. But he added that the feuding factions within the industry will bear part of the blame if Congress and the Federal Communications Commission can't be convinced to overhaul telecommunications regulations.

"If the industry continues to have a food fight on broadband, it's going to be disastrous," Berman said.

But White said he was pessimistic that the feuding broadband factions will be able to make an effective case to lawmakers.

"I think this is a time of great opportunity for the industry, but it might be blown if the past is any guide," he said.

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