By "the point," do you mean that the government intends to initially encourage innovation, only to later stifle, repress, and criminalize the elements it doesn't like?

I mean, that's the reasonable application of the metaphor, right?

My point was that, assuming most people are unfamiliar with Chinese history under Mao, the expression will have positive connotations.

And those who are familiar with China under Mao will also find historically accurate connotations with Obama's quote.

Obama's a thoughtful guy. I'm guessing he knew what he was saying. Perhaps it's a warning, looking at the history of tech, invariably all are tested for nefarious purposes, whatever the original purposes were.

that sounds like something Obama would do when you put it like that...