National Association of Broadcasters President Gordon Smith wrote to House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy and others on Thursday in response to an Oct. 30 letter that sought a meeting to discuss legislation that would force AM and FM stations to pay a new fee to performers and record labels. In the letter, the former Republican senator for Oregon writes that he appreciates their interest "in gaining a greater understanding of the impact that this legislation will have on your local radio stations and the local communities they serve."
Due to laws prohibiting him from lobbying Congress for two years after leaving office, Smith said he requires an ethics waiver that indicates his participation in their planned Nov. 17 meeting is legally and ethically permissible. Smith was defeated by Democrat Jeff Merkley in 2008 after two terms in office and was named head of NAB in September. He said there may be an exception for communications made in congressional testimony and needs confirmation from the Senate that his involvement falls within that, or another exception.
Read more in Tech Daily Dose here and in CongressDaily here (subscription required).
The high-tech sector is growing restless as it awaits President Obama's appointment of a White House cybersecurity coordinator. In one of the most recent displays of that frustration, the trade group TechAmerica wrote to Obama urging him to name "a qualified, credible, senior level official... at the earliest possible opportunity." While he tends to other priorities, bad actors around the world are not sitting idly by, the Friday letter stated. "Those that would seek to harm America by exploiting our digital infrastructure continue to increase their efforts," the group said.
Ideally, the cyber czar would have relevant experience in both government and industry in order to truly reflect the shared roles and responsibilities in cybersecurity, TechAmerica President Phil Bond wrote. The letter came on the heels of a series of meetings in Washington in which industry executives sought to impress upon members of Congress and administration officials the importance of strong cooperation between industry and governments at the national and international levels in securing cyberspace.
Also on Friday, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Joseph Lieberman outlined his plans for cybersecurity legislation, which will support the naming of a White House coordinator. Lieberman's backing for the adviser, which some have called a cybersecurity "czar," puts him at odds with the top Republican on his committee, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. But he said he is in talks with Collins over the legislation and hopes to get her support for a bill they can introduce as co-sponsors by December.
Read more about Lieberman's speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in CongressDaily here (subscription required).
It was announced last week that Motion Picture Association of America
Chairman Dan Glickman would be stepping down from his influential post as Hollywood's top lobbyist in Washington -- and now his spokeswoman says she's departing as well. Angela Martinez will be joining the Commerce Department's Economic Development Administration where she will work for senior adviser to John Fernandez, assistant secretary of commerce for economic development. In her new role, Martinez will be overseeing legislative and public affairs.
Before joining MPAA in 2007 as vice president of communications, Martinez worked with several PR firms, as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Midwest Regional Political Director and in various roles in government and politics in her home state of Indiana. This is her encore performance working for Fernandez. She worked on the former Bloomington, Ind. mayor when he campaigned for Indiana secretary of state in 2002. Martinez's last day at MPAA is next Friday and she'll start her job at Commerce in mid-November.
The Information Technology Industry Council, which sat on the sidelines three years ago as the network neutrality battle raged on Capitol Hill, is poised to enter the fray as the FCC begins to take up the issue. The trade group that represents Apple, Cisco, Dell, eBay, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel and other high-tech firms plans to meet with all of its members next week and officials anticipate a vote in favor of ITI getting engaged in the debate. It is unclear how the vote will turn out or what the vote will be on since details of the FCC's notice of proposed rulemaking won't be revealed until Thursday.
A paper released this week by Information Technology and Innovation Foundation President Robert Atkinson that shows some in the tech community have serious concerns about the direction that the FCC is headed could be an indicator of how ITI weighs in. ITI and ITIF are co-located and ITI helped found ITIF four years ago. Atkinson's three page memo (PDF) states that regardless of how the FCC votes, making the right decision on net neutrality depends on careful and reasoned analysis. He lays out 10 key questions he believes are critical to answer accurately before any regulatory decisions are made.
NBC-Universal general counsel Rick Cotton, who chairs the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy, on Tuesday lauded legislation that would bolster intellectual property enforcement resources and tools for Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He testified at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on the bill that Chairman Max Baucus and ranking member Charles Grassley introduced in August. CongressDaily's AM Edition reported the bill could move through the committee before Thanksgiving.
Overall, CBP must ensure that U.S. innovation and creativity "is used to produce jobs here and is not stolen abroad -- endangering our economy, killing our jobs, threatening our citizens' health and safety, and nourishing organized crime," Cotton said in his written testimony. He went on to call IP theft "a stealth job killer" and warned that if the U.S. fails to take bold steps now, the country will be committing "slow-motion economic suicide."
The IP provisions of the broader CBP reauthorization bill would, among other things, establish an IP coordination center within ICE to prevent importation or exportation of pirated and counterfeit goods. The measure also strengthens CBP's targeting efforts to detect goods that violate IP rights and requires CBP to dedicate port personnel with primary responsibility for enforcing those rights. The bill requires strategic plan to decide where best to position those agents but in the meantime would assign at least one full time IP specialist at each of the top 10 ports.
Read the full CongressDaily story here (subscription required).
Dan Glickman, Hollywood's top lobbyist, will step down from his post at the Motion Picture Association of America when his contract ends in September 2010, Politico reported Monday. Glickman, a former congressman and Clinton administration agriculture secretary, has served as chairman and CEO of the MPAA for the past five years. He succeeded the iconic Jack Valenti, who held the position for nearly 40 years.
"My guess is that I'll end up in the nonprofit or academic world," Glickman told Politico. Speculation about who will be named to the powerful post has already begun. Among those mentioned in the article: House Foreign Affairs Chairman Howard Berman, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Rep. Harold Ford Jr., Universal Music's Matt Gerson, Richard Bates of Disney, MPAA COO Bob Pisano and federal affairs chief Michael O'Leary. Read the full story here.
Greg Farmer is expected to head the D.C. office of Qualcomm, according to a K Street sources. Farmer currently works in government affairs with Nortel Networks. Earlier in his career, Farmer was chief of staff to then-Rep. Buddy MacKay, D-Fla. Farmer also worked as an undersecretary of Commerce in the Clinton Administration, and he was also secretary of Commerce for the state of Florida, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Qualcomm is a wireless technology company based in San Diego, Calif. According to CRP, Qualcomm ranks fourth in political donations for the 2010 election cycle among all telecom service and equipment companies. During the 2008 election cycle, Qualcomm gave 76 percent of its money to Democrats. In the 2010 cycle so far, the company has contributed 87 percent of its donations to Democrats, and 13 percent of donations to Republicans.
Think tankers at the Progress and Freedom Foundation will play musical chairs on Friday as the group's president, Ken Ferree, steps down to become a senior fellow and longtime senior fellow and director of PFF's Center for Digital Media Freedom Adam Thierer assumes the top job. Ferree, a former chief of the FCC Media Burea, became president of PFF in November 2007 after an executive-level exodus. Thierer formally joined PFF in 2005 but has been involved with group since its creation 16 years ago. He is an expert on content regulation and child safety, Internet governance, and intellectual property.
PFF Chairman and co-founder George "Jay" Keyworth said Thierer is "the perfect choice" to lead the group and said under Ferree's leadership, PFF has "played a leading role in the debate about technology policy issues in Washington issues." Ferree had been splitting his time between D.C. and Lake Tahoe, Calif., where he moved his family in 2007. Thierer said he looks forward to continuing the organization's vision of defending individual liberty, free markets, freedom of speech, and property rights.
The group is also working to re-launch its annual tech policy summit after PFF cancelled this year's event, which was to be held in August at Robert Redford's swanky Sundance Resort in Utah, Thierer said. Ferree cited the nation's ongoing economic woes as the rationale for pulling the plug on the popular outside the Beltway soiree. The summer retreat for lobbyists and policy experts had been held in Aspen, Colo. for 14 years before the group decided to relocate for 2009. The 2010 conference will be held in the Beehive State.
Public Strategies and Live Nation have parted ways as the Justice Department continues probing the music giant's pending $2.5 billion all-stock merger with Ticketmaster. Live Nation, which spun off from media conglomerate Clear Channel Communications in 2005, hired Public Strategies and Brunswick Group to manage its image during the merger process and has worked with attorneys at Latham & Watkins, CongressDaily reported earlier this year (subscription required).
Public Strategies spent $270,000 advocating for Live Nation in the first quarter of 2009 and $30,000 in the second quarter, according to lobbyists' filings. The firm also registered to represent Ticketmaster in April and racked up $30,000 in the second quarter. Additionally, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher spent $60,000 in the second quarter lobbying for Ticketmaster. In March, Akin Gump registered to represent Live Nation. The firm spent $80,000 in the first quarter and $30,000 in the second quarter on that work.
In related news, former Recording Artists' Coalition national director Rebecca Greenberg registered to lobby last month on behalf of Ticketmaster. Greenberg joined Irving Azoff's team at Ticketmaster when the coalition founded by Don Henley of The Eagles was folded into the Recording Academy in January. Azoff served as a RAC board member and is a longtime manager for Henley and his band.
Google is hiring an academic relations manager to be based at the Internet giant's Mountain View, Calif. headquarters. The new position, which would be part of the public policy team, would serve as the primary liaison to university faculty, economists, researchers, and scholars across the country, according to the job listing. The individual would be responsible for commissioning research papers and studies on public policy topics; organizing academic conferences; and conducting outreach to academics regarding Google's public policy positions.
The company has increasingly turned to the higher education community to fuel its growth. One such example is its controversial effort to create the world's largest digital library and bookstore. That ambitious book-scanning project has resulted in a pending $125 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit with authors and publishers. Google also has a robust university relations program that offers research awards; a visiting faculty program; Creative Commons-licensed educational resources for educators; and more.
The latest National Journal features a profile of former Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., the new head of the National Association of Broadcasters. Here's a snippet:
During his 12 years in the Senate, Oregon Republican Gordon Smith earned a reputation as a bridge-builder, team player, and nice guy. Now he hopes to bring that spirit of camaraderie to the National Association of Broadcasters, one of Washington's most powerful and fractious trade groups. Smith, who narrowly lost his seat to Democrat Jeff Merkley in 2008, will succeed David Rehr as president and CEO of the 8,300-member organization on November 1. Rehr resigned in May after a rocky four years in charge. "As a member of the Senate, I worked across party lines to get legislation passed," Smith said at the broadcasting guild's Radio Show last month in Philadelphia. "Now my politics are the interests of the [NAB]."
One of his biggest challenges will be in the boardroom. "NAB's governance model is badly divided," Consumer Electronics Association President Gary Shapiro said, contending that "aside from the word 'broadcasting,' radio and TV have nothing in common." He argued that the deep rift between the two sectors contributed to Rehr's demise--and the industry's estimated 30 percent loss of market share in recent decades. Smith told National Journal that the TV and radio camps "are stronger when they are together than apart, even though they have different interests." He said he will work hard to unify their message and satisfy the interests of both. Read the full story here (subscription required).
Google's Washington office is growing (again). Frannie Wellings, a top aide to Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., has announced she will join the Internet giant in three to six weeks as a federal policy outreach manager. It's a new role for Google that will utilize Wellings's background in consumer protection and technology issues. She will lead the company's work with trade groups, think tanks, and advocacy groups, serving as a liaison to the community and soliciting input and advice on Google's public policy positions. Before joining Dorgan's office in 2007, Wellings was associate policy director for media watchdog Free Press. She has a master's degree in communications from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor's degree in psychology from Arizona State University. Google also welcomed Mistique Cano as manager of global communications and public affairs. Cano previously served as vice president of communications for the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and Pennsylvania press secretary for the presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. She has a degree from the George Washington University.
Scott Corley, the director of government affairs at Microsoft, is leaving to join Monument Policy Group where he will be senior vice president of government affairs.
At Microsoft, Corley was charged with lobbying Senate Republicans. He worked with Compete America, an immigration coalition, in favor of immigration reform. Republicans will remain his focus, he said, with his issues including immigration and technology. Corley's own Hill experience includes tenures on the staffs of former Sen. George Allen, R-Va., and former Rep. Jim Rogan, R-Calif.
Before joining Microsoft, he was director of government relations for the Information Technology Industry Council. He hails from Fort Worth, Tex.
Apple Computer is the latest company to quit the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over the group's stance on climate change legislation, highlighting the ongoing internal dissension within the business lobbying group on its advocacy approach to legislation aimed at curbing greenhouse gases. The story was broken by the New York Times. See here.
Apple joins Pacific Gas & Energy, Public Service Company of New Mexico, and Exelon in withdrawing from the group over the issue. Nike last week withdrew from the board of the chamber but remains a member. In response to Apple's move, Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass. and chair of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming said: "While the U.S. Chamber has been looking to shoot down clean energy legislation at every turn, the defection of more and more companies over these issues are turning them into an 'empty chamber.'"
"We need a constructive discussion of the issues, not scare-mongering and Scopes monkey trials. Clean energy represents the future of business, and American companies and workers are ready to lead the world in the race for new technologies."
A group representing NBC, News Corp., Time Warner and other content providers is circulating nationwide a letter to President Obama and Vice President Biden asking the administration to pursue policies supportive of creators' rights. The broader dissemination of the document, which will be sent by the Copyright Alliance to the White House this fall, follows a swift internal response by members. Within a few days, the document garnered nearly 7,000 electronic signatures, officials said in a press release.
With artists encouraging participation within their personal networks on blogs and Twitter feeds, the letter already has been signed by creators in all 50 states and representing a full spectrum of creative disciplines. Signers include authors, photographers, songwriters, graphic designers, filmmakers, musicians, publishers, jewelry designers, Web designers, photojournalists, illustrators, video game developers, architects, cartoonists, composers, playwrights, animators and others.
"Increasingly, creators are finding their work misappropriated, reproduced and distributed without their knowledge, consent or benefit by those who believe intellectual property should be free for the taking," Alliance Outreach Director Lucinda Dugger said. Alliance Executive Director Patrick Ross added he believes the administration understands and values the contributions creators make but more needs to be done. "We'll be watching with optimism," he said. The letter is available here.
Former Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., who was tapped last week to become the new head of the National Association of Broadcasters spoke to reporters on Wednesday for the first time since being named to the post. His conversation with the press, which followed an appearance at NAB's Radio Show in Philadelphia, included a bit of perspective on legislation that would impose new fees on AM and FM stations. NAB has been lobbying hard against the bill, which broadcasters say could do great harm. The music industry has argued paying a royalty is only fair since other platforms already pay performers for the songs they play.
Here's an excerpt:
"I don't care whether you call it a fee, a fine, a tax... It taxes [stations'] ability to stay in business. As someone who, by the way in the Senate was very helpful to the artist community...What I've tried to stop for them is unlawful downloading of their material. That's a different issue than saying 'my business model was broken by my neighbor and so to make that right lets break their business model.' The truth is artists need broadcasters, broadcasters need artists. There's a mutual benefit society here, a community of interest that somehow has been lost by pointing to broadcasters and saying somehow they have to make this right by us. I'm anxious for members of Congress to know that these broadcasters are a vital piece of the economic and cultural life of the community they represent. If you want to buy some radio stations in Oregon there are a lot of them for sale. I want them operating. I don't want them out of business."
As radio executives gather in Philadelphia this week for the National Association of Broadcasters' annual Radio Show, attendees will likely get an earful about legislation moving through Congress that would impose new fees on AM and FM stations. The NAB has waged war against a pair of House and Senate bills, claiming they would impose an unfair burden on an already cash-strapped industry. But music stakeholders argue the bills would bring AM and FM in line with Internet, cable and satellite radio services, which already pay performers.
An NAB spokesman said Tuesday that support for "free and local radio" continues to grow despite the music industry-led effort. The group noted that 251 House members and 25 senators have signed onto resolutions opposing what they believe is a tax on local radio. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., along with Reps. Dennis Cardoza, D-Calif.; John Boccieri, D-Ohio; Brian Baird, D-Wash.; Joe Sestak, D-Pa., and Dan Lungren, R-Calif., were the most recent to back the resolutions.
Meanwhile, proponents of the legislation are turning up the heat on one radio giant. The MusicFirst Coalition said Wednesday that two Washington, D.C. area Clear Channel stations -- country station WMZQ and WIHT, "Hot 99.5," -- failed to comply with public disclosure rules for advertisements opposing the Performance Rights Act. MusicFirst argued the stations played NAB spots but an inspection of their public filings found no record of the broadcasts and nothing about the stations' opposition to the legislation.
Major software and hardware executives will be in Washington on Tuesday to meet with senior Obama administration officials, members of Congress and other policymakers. They are slated to visit Commerce Secretary Gary Locke; Federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra; Federal Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra; and high-level officials at the General Services Administration and Department of Homeland Security, according to the Business Software Alliance, the trade group that organized the trip.
On Capitol Hill, the group of CTOs will spend time with House Republican Leader John Boehner; Minority Whip Eric Cantor; House Oversight and Government Reform Committee ranking member Darrell Issa; and Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., according to a BSA press release. During their meetings, executives from Adobe, Microsoft, Siemens, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and others will present a set of principles for government acquisition of technology to maximize choice, competition, and innovation.
"Good technology-neutral policies drive the economy, make businesses more competitive, and help address social concerns such as health care, the environment, education, and security by ensuring an environment in which IT can continue to develop innovative solutions to these issues," BSA President Robert Holleyman said.
Former Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., has been tapped to head the National Association of Broadcasters, the trade group announced Friday morning. Smith, who was defeated by Democrat Jeff Merkley in 2008 after two terms in office, starts Nov. 1. Among Smith's top priorities will be leading broadcasters' effort to stave off legislation that would force AM and FM radio to pay fees to performers whose songs they air.
NAB's former president, David Rehr, stepped down in May after four years on the job. Smith, who served on the Senate Commerce, Finance, and Foreign Relations Committees, will be introduced to NAB members and make brief remarks at the group's annual Radio Show in Philadelphia next week and will meet the entire NAB board in mid-October. While on Capitol Hill, Smith also chaired the Senate Republican High Tech Task Force -- a role that helped foster his interest in new media and technology issues.
His appointment comes on the heels of a string of recent defeats for the NAB, including its failure to block the XM-Sirius satellite radio merger. The association was also a key player in the nation's switchover to digital television signals. Smith issued a statement calling the NAB post "an opportunity of a lifetime." "As radio and television stations embrace new technologies and new business opportunities, I look forward to articulating to public policymakers the unique and positive role played by local and network broadcasters in the fabric of American society," he said.
Read more in CongressDaily's PM Edition.
Even though Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus and ranking member Charles Grassley are up to their eyeballs in healthcare reform, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy wants them to keep intellectual property on their radar screen. Coalition Chairman Richard Cotton, who also serves as general counsel for NBC Universal, wrote to the pair Monday commending them for including provisions aimed at bolstering IP protections in their customs and trade enforcement reauthorization bill. The measure was introduced just before August recess.
The legislation would ensure that there is sufficient leadership, resources, and legal tools to sustain effective IP enforcement at the Homeland Security Department, Customs Border Protection, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Cotton wrote. The measure would allow those agencies "to work smarter and faster to stop the importation of counterfeit goods while also speeding legitimate commerce." Protecting IP is essential to creating quality jobs and growing the U.S. economy, he stated, noting that IP dependent industries in the U.S. account for more than $5 trillion of the gross domestic product and comprise more than half of all exports.
An executive at the Biotechnology Industry Organization on Wednesday said his trade group is hopeful that a Senate bill aimed at updating the U.S. patent system will reach the floor and receive a favorable reaction from the House. BIO Vice President for Governmental Relations Brent Delmonte told reporters that a measure that passed the Senate Judiciary Committee in April is a "fair, responsible compromise." Chairman Patrick Leahy worked with Sens. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., to smooth out contentious language that would alter how damages are awarded in patent infringement lawsuits. Previously divided industry stakeholders lauded the changes.
"We hope that type of process will replicate itself [in the House]," he said. House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers introduced a similar bill but his panel has yet to move the measure forward. A House Judiciary Republican aide told CongressDaily recently that there is a "real possibility" that legislation can advance without major changes even though damages language has yet to be tweaked in his chamber. "We'll see over the course of a few weeks whether we can reach a consensus," the aide said. "We've seen great ideas originate on both sides of the Capitol and in both parties," Delmonte said of damages proposals and efforts to adjust the system by which individuals can challenge an issued patent.
The Music Managers Forum, a member of a coalition backed by the Recording Industry Association of America, royalty collector SoundExchange and other music interests, filed comments with the FCC on Tuesday in support of a petition urging the agency to probe radio stations' refusal to air advertisements backing legislation that would require AM and FM stations to pay fees to performers. National Association of Broadcasters officials have repeatedly noted their members are under no obligation to accept any and all advertising, including spots from the MusicFirst Coalition.
The MMF filing contains a copy of a strongly worded e-mail from college radio station WICB in Ithaca, N.Y., to musician Aimee Mann, which MusicFirst argues illustrates their claim that stations are threatening artists who support the legislation. In the e-mail posted on Mann's online message board, WICB General Manager Chris Wheatley states: "Since you support MusicFirst, WICB hereby drops Aimee Mann... from our playlist like a bad habit." "The very medium that made you a 'star' should now pay for the privilege of promoting your product? MusicFirst is out to kill radio. For you, no airplay = no sales, and no concert tix," the e-mail reads.
Wheatley added that he would encourage other college broadcasters to follow WICB's lead "and the few commercial stations that play your music will be happy to join our cause." WICB is an affiliate of both ABC Radio and the Associated Press. Under provisions of the Performance Rights Act, as passed by the House Judiciary Committee earlier this year, college and other non-commercial radio stations would pay $500 or $1,000 a year, according to MusicFirst, which has documented other instances of performers' tracks being shunned after they spoke in support of the legislation.
Steve Largent, president of wireless association CTIA, told reporters Thursday that his trade group will use the FCC's recently announced notices of inquiry on innovation and competition in the mobile marketplace to share his industry's success story. Having a fact-based examination, which FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski requested at last week's Commission meeting, will "be a good thing for our industry," Largent said. Genachowski has faced pressure from Congress and smaller telecom firms to investigate whether firms like AT&T, Verizon and Sprint Nextel are unfairly dominating the space.
Largent insisted, as telecom companies' executives have, that there is vigorous competition in the wireless industry. Prices continue to fall; 95 percent of U.S. consumers have a choice of three or more carriers; consumer satisfaction is up and complaints are down, he said. Largent also acknowledged that the mobile industry has been impacted by the economic slump. "We have not seen the numbers grow the way they have the last three years but nonetheless we're still growing," he said.
CTIA is also lobbying hard for regulators to make available more spectrum. The FCC has held two auctions in recent years, which resulted in the freeing of valuable spectrum, but Largent said more is needed. He said the last auction took about a decade to come to fruition and companies and customers "cannot afford to wait" years for the next auction. Additionally, his group is pressing Congress to change tax laws -- namely placing a five year moratorium on increases to wireless taxes. Consumers pay an average of 15.3 percent taxes on their wireless bill and "that's unacceptable," Largent said.
Music and broadcasting industry lobbyists have ramped up their rhetoric ahead of Tuesday afternoon's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on legislation that would end a royalty exemption extended to AM and FM radio, according to CongressDaily's AM Edition (subscription required). The bills Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy and House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers introduced in February would bring over-the-air radio in line with cable, Internet and satellite services, which pay performers -- but broadcasters warn some stations could go out of business.
On Monday, the MusicFirst Coalition drew attention to a July CBO report that the group insists puts to rest the National Association of Broadcasters' refrain that the legislation is a "tax" on local radio. The CBO's analysis of the bill that passed Conyers' committee in May found the measure would not cost taxpayers money to implement nor result in federal revenue. A Monday release from the NAB highlighted a Senate resolution that opposes "any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge" on AM and FM stations, which has attracted 23 co-sponsors. A group of 246 lawmakers signed onto a similar House measure. Additionally, 22 House Democrats wrote to Speaker Nancy Pelosi late Friday urging her not to bring the bill to the floor for a vote.
Read complete overage of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Wednesday's CongressDaily AM Edition.
House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., want the FCC to consider probing allegations of retaliation by AM and FM stations over pending bills that would require over-the-air radio to pay performers for songs they broadcast, CongressDaily reported Wednesday. While the lawmakers did not take a position on the merits of the June complaint by the MusicFirst Coalition, they said in a letter that the agency should conduct a "thorough examination" of the merits of the claims.
MusicFirst's petition argued that stations have refused their ads but run ads by the National Association of Broadcasters, which opposes the legislation. Most recently, MusicFirst's media buyer was rejected by Clear Channel stations in Houston and Detroit. On Thursday, MusicFirst released the 30-second ad featuring Duke Fakir of the Four Tops, which stations would not run. The bill that is the focus of the ad war passed the House Judiciary Committee in May and will be the subject of a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday. Read a preview story about the hearing in CongressDaily here (subscription required).
While calls to Clear Channel were not immediately returned an NAB official said broadcasters are under no obligation to accept any and all advertising. WPGC in Washington, D.C., for example, is not obliged to take ads from WKYS claiming that WKYS is the best hip-hop music station in town. The seminal 1973 Supreme Court decision in Columbia Broadcasting System v. Democratic National Committee outlines that broadcasters have the right to reject advertising.
National Journal's Under The Influence blog reports that Comcast is bringing on two new D.C. hires already familiar with Capitol Hill. One is Joe Trahern, a former lobbyist for General Motors, who will be Comcast's senior director of federal government affairs. Before GM, Trahern served as chief of staff to Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., as a staffer for Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and in political affairs at the White House under President Bill Clinton.
Rudy Brioché, the other new hire, joins as senior director of external affairs and public policy counsel. In that role, he will help define the company's public policy interests, which revolve around telecommunications law. He has served as a legal adviser at the Federal Communications Commission and before that worked for Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J. Comcast spent $2.8 million on lobbying during the first half of this year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In 2008, the company spent a total of $12.5 million, placing it among the top spenders in the entertainment industry, the Center said. Topping Comcast's 2008 lobbying agenda were tax, broadcasting, and intellectual property issues.
The American Civil Liberties Union has tapped Michael Macleod-Ball as acting director of its Washington office, which has been on the front lines of the battle against government warrantless wiretapping, Internet free speech fights and a range of other issues. The group is searching for a new legislative director because its top lobbyist Caroline Fredrickson left to become executive director of the American Constitution Society -- a center-left rival of the conservative Federalist Society. That was the ACLU's second recent high profile loss. Earlier this year, Tim Sparapani, who was the group's senior legislative counsel, became public policy director for social networking site Facebook.
"Michael's wide range of legal, civil liberties and legislative experience in both the public and private sectors makes him a well-suited candidate to lead our outstanding legislative staff during this transition period," ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said in a Friday press release. Macleod-Ball joined the ACLU's DC office in September 2007 as chief legislative and policy counsel, where he managed a team of policy counsels and lobbyists who work with Congress and the White House. He previously served the organization for 25 years in New England and Alaska.
Google spent $950,000 on lobbying in the second quarter of 2009, according to a disclosure form filed with the Senate Office of Public Records this week. By comparison, the Silicon Valley titan doled out $880,000 in the first quarter of this year and $770,000 in the last quarter of 2008. Yet other prominent tech players in Washington paid more and some paid less. Microsoft, for example, spent over $1.8 million in the second quarter and $1.6 million in the first quarter. Yahoo lobbyists racked up $480,000 in the second quarter and $460,000 in the first quarter.
Google's government affairs team -- as well as hired guns at Dutko Worldwide, Franklin Square Group, McBee Strategic Consulting and others -- weighed in on a range of issues during the several month period including privacy and competition issues surrounding online advertising; patent reform; copyright issues related to the Google Book Search project; and online consumer protection issues. They also focused on cybersecurity; content regulation; renewable energy policies; electricity grid upgrades; international freedom of expression and censorship; health information technology and privacy; and various broadband policies.
Nearly two dozen business groups led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sent a letter Monday to the leaders of the House Financial Services Committee raising concerns about proposals to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The letter urges Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank and ranking member Spencer Bachus to delay consideration of a CFPA until after the August recess "to provide due time for all stakeholders and decision-makers to fully understand the legislation's scope and its potential economic and legal impacts," CongressDaily reported (subscription required).
Also signing on were a number of major players in the high-tech and advertising space including the Consumer Electronics Association, the American Association of Advertising Agencies, Consumer Data Industry Association, Direct Marketing Association, and the Interactive Advertising Bureau. The letter is viewed by some consumer advocates like Jeff Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy and Ed Mierzwinski of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group as an attempt to kill the legislation, which would create a new federal watchdog.
The IAB, whose board's executive committee includes representatives from Google, AOL and Walt Disney Co., is afraid of having an agency that would be empowered to investigate how online marketers sell and promote a wide range of financial products online, Chester said. Mierzwinski called the proposal to create such an agency "a game changer" and "the biggest thing for financial consumers since deposit insurance in the 1930s." He testified June 24 at a House Financial Services Committee hearing on the issue. Read a copy of the business groups' letter to Frank and Bachus here (PDF).
TechNet's search for a new president and CEO has turned up a number of qualified candidates but the high-tech group's board has apparently not yet settled on one. The bipartisan political network of Silicon Valley CEOs and senior executives enlisted professional search firm Korn/Ferry International after its former chief, Lezlee Westine, announced her departure in April. She became CEO of the Personal Care Products Council and took TechNet's Washington-based fundraiser Meredith Simpson with her.
TechNet Senior Vice President/General Counsel Jim Hawley has been serving as acting CEO and is among those interested in the top spot, sources told Tech Daily Dose. But Hawley, who lives in Sacramento, Calif., may have to be willing to move to the nation's capital if he truly wants a shot at the CEO job. Korn/Ferry's confidential eight-page description of the position clearly states that TechNet's president and CEO must be located in Washington and would make frequent trips to Silicon Valley.
According to the Korn/Ferry document, TechNet's CEO "will be the industry's advocate before all levels of government and in all public venues." "He/she must be proactive and focused on advancing the organization with a strong commitment to serving, increasing, and developing its membership." The document goes on to state that: "In conjunction with the leaders of TechNet's member companies and the board of directors, the CEO will develop and be personally engaged in implementing a strategic plan achieving specific results in Washington and around the nation."
Following on last week's passage of a resolution by the NAACP saluting House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers and supporting performance royalties for musicians that would be provided under a bill he is shepherding through Congress, the Detroit branch of the organization is taking similar action. The Rev. Wendell Anthony, who heads the NAACP in the Motor City appeared at a news conference Tuesday to support the bill that would let performers as well as songwriters get royalties for songs played by AM and FM stations, the Associated Press reported. Radio stations in Detroit and around the country have bashed the Conyers bill, arguing that performers and record labels already are compensated and the measure could hurt stations already struggling in the recession.
"This civil rights for musicians legislation guarantees fair pay for musicians. This is a rebuke of Radio One and Clear Channel for exploiting musicians and smearing members of the Congressional Black Caucus," a spokesman for the MusicFirst Coalition said last week upon passage of the NAACP's resolution at the group's centennial conference. Radio One founder Cathy Hughes and her son, CEO Alfred Liggins, were criticized by Conyers and other members of his committee earlier this month for refusing to appear at a hearing on minority owned media. Hughes previously wrote an open letter arguing the legislation would "murder black owned radio" and in May, the Michigan Broadcasters Association vowed to defeat the measure, claiming it could cost stations in the state more than $63 million annually.
Computer chip giant Intel and rival AMD have a long history of bitter legal battles and appear to be restocking their arsenals for a showdown in Washington, according to an article in the latest issue of National Journal magazine. Both have ramped up their lobbying and advertising budgets as Congress moves forward on issues that mean a great deal to them: competition, innovation, tax, and trade. Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission, after several years of scrutiny, recently opened a formal probe of Intel for anticompetitive practices. At the Justice Department, new Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney vowed to reinvigorate antitrust enforcement in the Obama administration. On the heels of regulatory actions against Intel in the European Union, Japan, and South Korea; the FTC probe and the Justice announcement have helped AMD position itself as David to Intel's Goliath. Read the full story here (subscription required).
After leaving Microsoft in December, Jack Krumholtz is joining the Glover Park Group as a managing director of its government relations practice. Krumholtz opened the Microsoft federal government affairs office in Washington, D.C., in 1995 and acted as a one-man shop for a year working out of the company's Chevy Chase sales office. Given the distance from Capitol Hill, Krumholtz spent most of his time in his Jeep on conference calls and writing and checking emails on the side of the road, said the company at the time. See Tech Daily Dose entries here for more on Krumholtz and here for details on his replacement at Microsoft, Fred Humphries.
Elsewhere in the tech policy world, David Washington, who has been serving as the associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, has joined the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation as a senior fellow. At ITIF, Washington will work on building private and public partnerships. Washington has a PhD in forensic clinical psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master's degree in legal studies from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Law School. -- Winter Casey
After searching for more than five months for the right person, Hewlett-Packard has settled on Larry Irving to serve as vice president of global government affairs and effectively act as the new leader of the company's public policy efforts around the world. Irving will report to Michael Holston, HP executive vice president and general counsel.
Irving has been the president and CEO of the Irving Information Group, a consulting firm focused on international telecommunications and technology companies. He served for almost seven years as assistant secretary of Commerce for communications and information and administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration under former President Bill Clinton. Irving was part of the U.S. team that negotiated the World Trade Organization agreement on basic telecommunication services.
When asked if he will be registering as a lobbyist, Irving said: "I will comply with the law."
-- Winter Casey
Qwest Communications is rejoining the U.S. Telecom Association as high-speed Internet issues take on a higher profile in Washington. The Denver-based telecommunications firm, which provides local service in 14 western states, left the association eight years ago "because we believed it to be in our best interests to do so at that time," a company spokesman said Friday. He declined to elaborate on the circumstances of the split but a 2001 Washington Post story shed some light on the rift: "Depending on whom you talk to, USTA either suspended [Qwest] for not paying its rather hefty dues or the company quit the group after growing apart." At the time, Qwest's annual dues were nearly $800,000, but the company had negotiated a 25 percent reduction, the article said.
Regardless of their checkered past, Qwest and U.S. Telecom have formally reunited and Friday marked "a big day for the broadband community," the association's chairman, Ron McCue said in a press release. "Our member companies - large and small, urban and rural - are united by a shared commitment to delivering the broadband future across America," he said. McCue noted that his organization and its member companies have been working closely with Qwest on key industry issues for a number of years and "at this critical time for our nation, its economy and American innovation, it is very meaningful that this industry is joining together in a common bond." The Obama administration recently released guidelines for its $7.2 billion broadband stimulus program, which has a number of corporations licking their chops.
Gary Fazzino, Hewlett Packard's vice president for government and public affairs since 2000, has left the computer company to become vice president of government affairs for Applied Materials, a capital equipment manufacturer for the semiconductor, display and solar industries. He will be headquartered at Applied's Santa Clara, Calif., complex. Fazzino said his new firm has "has shown strong government policy leadership for many years, especially in the areas of clean, renewable energy and solar power."
"Energy and the environment are top policy priorities for governments around the world, and Applied Materials' technology... will be an important part of the solution," Applied CEO Mike Splinter said in a press release. "Expanding relationships and engaging in dialogue with government are important to the long-term success of Applied Materials, and Gary's proven ability to help shape public policy will be invaluable as we explore new markets and new lines of business." Prior to joining HP, Fazzino was mayor of Palo Alto from 1992-93 and again from 1999-2000.
Applied spent $130,000 on internal lobbying in the first quarter of 2009, according to disclosure forms. The company also worked with Franklin Square Group, Elmwood Strategies, McAllister & Quinn, and the Washington Tax Group on a range of issues including solar manufacturing incentives, climate change legislation, and the economic stimulus bill. HP's lobbying budget for the first quarter of 2009 was quite a bit bigger. The company spent $840,000 and brought in McDermott Will & Emery, Palmetto Group, Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti.
Silicon Valley social networking sensation Facebook -- which earlier this spring hired former American Civil Liberties Union senior legislative counsel Tim Sparapani as public policy director for its growing Washington, D.C. office -- took another inside-the-Beltway step late Monday. The company submitted its first ever lobbying registration forms for Sparapani and his colleague Adam Conner with the House's Legislative Resource Center and the Senate's Office of Public Records. The chief focus of their Capitol Hill efforts will be Internet privacy, according to the forms. Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Chris Kelly, who is also a Democratic candidate for California attorney general, testified last week at a joint hearing on the issue held by the House Energy and Commerce Communications and Consumer Protection subcommittees.
In his testimony, Kelly told members that if they choose to legislate, they should focus on "actors that undermine instead of enhance user control over personal data." He was joined at the witness table by executives from Google and Yahoo -- two companies that have mature lobbying operations. Earlier this month, Yahoo announced that it will bring in Margaret Stewart, a former assistant to Vice President Dick Cheney for legislative affairs. She serves as director of federal public policy, working under David Hantman. In the first quarter of 2009, Yahoo disclosed $460,000 in lobbying expenditures toward a range of topics including organized retail crime, Internet advertising and online child protection. In addition, Yahoo worked with outside lobbyists like Kountoupes Consulting; Ryan, MacKinnon, Vasapoli and Berzo; Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti and others.
Google's team -- Alan Davidson, Pablo Chavez, Harry Wingo, Richard Whitt, and Robert Tai -- spent $880,000 lobbying in the first quarter on similar topics. They also weighed in on patent and copyright reform, cloud computing, and broadband and spectrum issues. Their efforts were aided by Van Ness Feldman; Franklin Square Group; Podesta Group; King & Spalding; McBee Strategic Consulting; Wilmer Culter Pickering Hale and Dorr; and Dutko Worldwide.
The U.S. Telecom Association on Monday formally unveiled its new and improved NextGenWeb.org -- a Web site meant to facilitate engagement in a range of issues surrounding broadband deployment and educate those interested in the societal benefits of broadband. The trade group beefed up the site with enhanced social media applications and added Shana Glickfield as its official blogger and online community director. "The innovative new site reinforces key themes that help to drive broadband deployment and adoption: connect, innovate and collaborate." said Glickfield, who also founded DCConcierge.com, a service that helps Internet users find goods and services in Washington. "As we blog, livestream, podcast and tweet from policy and industry events taking place in Washington and across the country, NextGenWeb will serve as a central resource for the latest news on how broadband is transforming lives and be a place for honest debate," she said in a press release.
High-tech lobbyists Sharon Ringley and Elizabeth Frazee announced the creation of TwinLogic Strategies, a government relations firm leveraging their combined expertise in a range of business related issues. The pair, who are each mothers of twins and have had parallel careers (hence the firm name), bring extensive experience to the new venture, including work with senior members of the House, Fortune 100 corporations, and managing independent lobbying practices. Ringley served as deputy chief of staff for Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va.; director of federal affairs for Internet auction site Amazon.com and was a vice president at the Bockorny Group in addition to running her own independent firm. Frazee was formerly legislative director and counsel for Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va.; director of government relations for the Walt Disney Company and vice president for America Online and AOL-Time Warner, as well as operating her own shop since 2003.
In other lobbying news, Randy Dove is heading the federal government affairs shop for Hewlett-Packard, according to a source speaking on background. Dove previously worked for former Sen. Charles McC. Mathias, Jr., R-Md. The technology giant has not yet announced who it will hire to serve as vice president for global government affairs and lead the company's government relations and public policy initiatives. In addition, the government affairs teams of both HP and EDS have begun operating out of the same office space on Pennsylvania Avenue. HP has been working on integrating the lobby shop of EDS with its Washington team since HP's acquisition of EDS closed in August 2008. In the meantime, HP has had some departures, including David Isaacs of HP and Bill Sweeney, the former head of EDS's global government affairs office. (Hat tip, Winter Casey).
463 Communications, the Washington PR firm that represents Cisco Systems, VeriSign, the Consumer Electronics Association and other technology clients has formally joined with polling firm Zogby International to form Zogby463 -- an initiative that will track public opinions on a variety of topics pertaining to technology and the economy. The companies have been collaborating since 2005 on a range of strategic communications and opinion research projects for clients including the Tech CEO Council, Symantec, Skype, Dell, and IBM. "At the heart of every successful strategy is insightful data," 463 CEO Tom Galvin said. The joint venture will offer what Galvin called "evidence-based communications" that guide strategy decisions and drive and define policy debates.
To launch their partnership, 463 and Zogby hosted a Monday luncheon with remarks about U.S. innovation by former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie, longtime tech lobbyist Chris Caine, and Democratic campaign veteran turned Silicon Valley entrepreneur Donnie Fowler. Caine, who recently started his own consulting firm after working for IBM, warned there is a "deep under-appreciation" in the United States about how extensively and rapidly the world is changing. "I don't think we've focused enough in the executive branch and legislative branch in being the most welcoming environment" for a new generation of global citizens, he said. Fowler noted the majority of venture capitalist money still comes from the United States and this country continues to offer the best universities and graduate programs in the world.
On Friday, the National Association of Broadcasters' president and chief executive officer will say goodbye to the trade group he has led for the past four years and on Monday will report for work at communications firm Crosby-Volmer. David Rehr announced his departure last month and will join the advisory council for the PR shop whose clients have included NAB and the National Beer Wholesalers Association, where he was previously CEO. Other clients include Lufthansa, Prudential, and Honda. "It has been an honor serving America's radio and television broadcasters and seeing NAB's growth as the broadcast industry's strongest advocate," Rehr wrote in his final CEO Update to members. "I hope our paths cross again in the future."
The association has had a string of defeats, including its failure to block the XM-Sirius satellite radio merger, and faces an uphill battle in seeking to stave off legislation that would force AM and FM radio to pay performance fees. The group has also been a key player in the nation's switchover on June 12 to digital television signals. "Fighting the performance tax continues to be NAB's top radio priority," Rehr wrote, noting that a majority of the House has signed on to a non-binding resolution opposing the bill. He called that "a great achievement" but stressed that more cosponsors are needed "to signal to the House leadership that members of Congress are opposed to this onerous tax." Rehr urged members to take the fight to the airwaves by "informing listeners that the music and stations they love are under attack by the record labels." On the DTV transition, Rehr touted NAB's $1.2 billion campaign to ensure all Americans are ready for the change. More than 700 stations have already made a smooth transition, he added.
Amid continued banking industry belt-tightening, the Financial Services Roundtable has acquired the Financial Services Technology Consortium, the groups announced Thursday. The consortium, which sponsors non-competitive collaborative research and development of interbank technical projects affecting the financial services sector, will become a division of the Roundtable, which represents 100 of the largest integrated financial services companies. The merger creates a Roundtable Technology Group that will allow the best practices and technology policy developed by the Roundtable's BITS division to be translated into technical solutions by the FSTC division, providing full stewardship to member companies, according to a press release.
"The total is greater than the sum of the parts," Roundtable CEO Steve Bartlett said. "Having BITS and FSTC under one umbrella will dramatically provide better resources for less overhead. We are pleased that FSTC's relationship with the vendor community will bring another unique element to the Roundtable." Historically, BITS and FSTC have collaborated while maintaining separate but similar memberships. By combining the organizations, the merger will eliminate redundancies and streamline resources within the financial services industry, as well as formalize the pipeline of BITS-developed business requirements into FSTC's technical development projects, the groups said. Neither group has planned layoffs but the Consortium will reduce its use of contractors.
Google's recruitment of Seth Webb, the House Financial Services Committee's second-most senior Republican aide, is the latest in a string of recent GOP hires by major high-tech companies in Washington. The trend, some policy watchers believe, demonstrates the tech lobby hasn't shied away from wooing Republicans even as much of K Street has augmented its Democratic workforce since President Obama took office. Webb, who is Financial Services ranking member Spencer Bachus' deputy staff director, served as chief of staff for Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Fla., and before that was a senior aide to former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill. He will join the ranks of recently hired Republicans at IBM and SAP. Also this spring, IBM brought on Chris Padilla, former Commerce Department undersecretary for international trade under former President George W. Bush to run its government affairs office. Padilla, who replaced veteran IBM executive Christopher Caine, spent three years at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and lobbied for AT&T. Caine opened a consulting firm, Mercator XXI. Read the full story in CongressDaily's AM Edition here (subscription required).
TechAmerica, one of Washington's largest high-tech trade groups, offloaded another staffer Wednesday bringing the total pink slip count to eight since the beginning of the year. The organization, officially formed in January by a merger of the American Electronics Association and the Information Technology Association of America, has also hired one individual in recent months bringing the total number of staff to 97. "Since TechAmerica was created, we anticipated and acknowledged that there would be elimination of some redundant positions in order to manage the association as efficiently as possible on behalf of its members," spokesman Charlie Greenwald said. "Over the course of the months since the merger we have identified some positions and taken appropriate action, primarily in areas of back office support."
Greenwald added that the group "will continue to manage this organization responsibly on behalf of its members and that means, among many other things, continuing to review the level of staff support in light of the merger and the economy." AeA was long known for its state lobbying efforts while ITAA has been a heavyweight at the federal level, particularly in the area of government procurement. ITAA previously acquired the Cyber Security Industry Alliance and the Government Electronics and Information Association. TechAmerica, which represents about 1,500 member companies, is led by former AeA President Chris Hansen and former ITAA President Phil Bond.
A pair of watchdogs on Wednesday urged the White House to halt the pending appointment of Google's top global public policy executive to the position of deputy chief technology officer under CTO Aneesh Chopra, saying it would violate the intent of President Obama's ethics rules. Although the choice of Google's Andrew McLaughlin for the position has been widely reported, it has yet to be announced. Consumer Watchdog's John Simpson and the Center for Digital Democracy's Jeff Chester, both vocal critics of the Internet giant, wrote that Google's Washington influence is not the primary reason for the objection. "We believe no special-interest connected person should assume a position of vital importance to the country's future," they wrote, noting it would be just as inappropriate for a Microsoft or Yahoo lobbyist to take the job.
"Appointing someone from a [sic] lobbying shop to this position sends the wrong message - that the well-connected can still make a quick trip to the White House through a special interest revolving door," they said in the letter. "The goal of the Obama administration to use new technology to improve how the government works requires someone whose background ensures they can make independent decisions that will benefit all Americans." The pair note that McLaughlin is "very good at what he does -- lobbying around the world for Google's interests" but that's not what the deputy CTO gig requires. "It should not go to any person whose most recent position has been advocating policy for a technology company," they said.
Before joining Google, McLaughlin worked at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, where his studies focused on the law and regulation of Internet and telecommunications networks. He also helped to launch and manage the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, serving as vice president, chief policy officer, and chief financial officer. In the late 1990s, he served as counsel to Rep. Henry Waxman, now chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. A Google spokesman would not comment on the letter but confirmed McLaughlin is departing. Rachel Whetstone, who has led Google's communications and public affairs efforts, will take his job (Hat tip, Winter Casey).
Washington will be crawling with high-tech executives Tuesday and Wednesday as the Business Software Alliance hosts a major fly-in for members to meet with movers and shakers on Capitol Hill and in the Obama administration. The timing and purpose of the gathering is critical given that a range of top policy debates have implications for the future of software and IT networks. Economic recovery and jobs, healthcare reform, tax reform, infrastructure investment, energy independence, workforce skills, openness in government, global cooperation and other topics have the potential to create new opportunities -- as well as risks and challenges -- for the software sector.
The fly-in also comes on the heels of President Obama's Friday remarks about his sweeping cybersecurity agenda and his view that the issue be treated as a top national priority. In March, BSA co-hosted a meeting of IT industry executives with Melissa Hathaway -- a top adviser to Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair who conducted a 60-day review of the federal cybersecurity posture -- and submitted detailed recommendations. BSA members who will be making the rounds include Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Adobe Systems CEO Shantanu Narayen, and Symantec Chairman John Thompson, who at one time was a rumored contender for Commerce secretary under Obama.
Business Forward, a new trade group backed by AT&T, Facebook, Hilton, IBM, Microsoft, Pfizer, Time Warner and others, is hitting the ground running with the launch of its Web site and radio advertisements this week in Indiana and Arkansas promoting health care reform. The ads encourage industry leaders in those states to work with the Senate to help shape the debate and underscore the need "to bring down skyrocketing health care costs, and protect a patient's right to choose his or her own coverage plan and physician," according to the organization whose goal is to promote President Obama's economic competitiveness agenda. Sens. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., "are leading the fight for health care reform, and Business Forward is encouraging business leaders in their states to learn more and get involved," said Jim Doyle, the group's executive director.
The ad buy marks the start of Business Forward's small business recruiting effort outside of Washington as it seeks to build business support toward major changes in health care, education, energy and the environment. The group plans to brief business leaders on key issues, hold conferences and press events, issue policy briefings and engage in other public advocacy initiatives, according to a press release. In addition to Doyle, Business Forward is led by former Viacom lobbyist David Sutphen, whose sister is Obama's deputy chief of staff and former Obama media consultant Erik Smith. Others involved include former Obama campaign staffer Julie Andreeff Jensen; and Hilary Rosen, former head of the Recording Industry Association of America.
The top executive at Bonneville International, which owns WTOP in Washington and a number of radio stations in other markets, will chair the search committee to find the National Association of Broadcasters' new leader. Other members of the NAB's executive committee will join Bonneville's Bruce Reese on the panel. It is unknown whether NAB will employ assistance from outside the organization. They hired search firm Spencer Stewart to find former NAB chief David Rehr, who stepped down earlier this month after three years on the job. Rehr joined the NAB in December 2005 from the National Beer Wholesalers Association, where he had been CEO. While the search committee does its magic, NAB Chief Operating Officer Janet McGregor has assumed day-to-day duties. The trade group is searching for its next captain amid choppy seas. The industry faces a number of critical and thorny public policy issues, including the digital television transition (slated for June 12) and a feud with the music industry over royalty fees for AM and FM radio.
After more than a month of fine-tuning, a new trade group called Business Forward is launching with the goal of promoting President Obama's economic competitiveness agenda. The organization tried to woo big high-tech firms like Cisco Systems, Google, IBM, and Microsoft as members, a source involved in the effort told CongressDaily in March. The New York Times reported Thursday morning that initial members include AT&T, Facebook, Hilton, IBM, Microsoft, Pfizer and Time Warner. Rather than lobbying, Business Forward's initial aim will be hosting events around the country to focus on maximizing funds in the $787 billion economic stimulus package. "There are very few platforms for the administration and Congress to engage the business community," the official told CongressDaily.
It will be led by political operative Jim Doyle; former Viacom lobbyist David Sutphen, whose sister is Obama's deputy chief of staff; former Obama media consultant Erik Smith; former Obama campaign staffer Julie Andreeff Jensen; and Hilary Rosen, former head of the Recording Industry Association of America. Business Forward's founding members will pay up to $75,000 per year for a membership, while smaller firms will pay $1,500 in annual dues. One organizer rejected the notion that the group is the Democrats' answer to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business. It won't compete with progressive think tanks like the Center for American Progress or grassroots group MoveOn.org, the organizer said.
"You know what you get with all the existing organizations around town," the official said. "They all have a role to play. This isn't an 'either-or' endeavor. It's an 'and.' "
Caroline Fredrickson, the woman who shepherded the American Civil Liberties Union through a number of prominent battles in the nation's capital ranging from the U.S. government's warrantless wiretapping program to Internet free speech challenges, is leaving to become executive director of the American Constitution Society -- a center-left rival of the conservative Federalist Society. This is the second high-profile loss for the ACLU in recent months. Tim Sparapani, who was the group's senior legislative counsel, became public policy director for social networking site Facebook.
"Caroline will provide us with the vision and energy to deepen ACS's influence on legal and policy issues and to strengthen a diverse and dynamic progressive legal network," Goodwin Liu, chair of the ACS board and associate dean and professor of law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, said in a statement. Frederickson is replacing Lisa Brown, who joined the Obama administration as White House staff secretary. Before the ACLU, Frederickson was general counsel for NARAL-Pro Choice America, and prior to that worked for Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.
(Hat tip, Under The Influence)
TechNet's Washington-based fundraiser Meredith Simpson is leaving the association of CEOs of high-tech companies to join Lezlee Westine, who recently resigned as CEO at TechNet to take over as president and CEO of the Personal Care Products Council. TechNet is currently searching for its next leader and expects to hire additional staff in its Washington office this year, according to a source familiar with the organization. TechNet Senior Vice President Jim Hawley is serving as acting CEO. TechNet's Washington office is now down to Betsy Mullins, who serves as vice president of government and political affairs, and Nicole Dorris, who serves as director of political outreach, according to the source. A tech industry official also said that despite rumors that Information Technology Industry Council and TechNet could merge, such a union is not likely. The source added that TechNet is not financially unstable. TechNet, which was founded in 1997, is focused on attempting to shape the public policies that impact the technology industries. The association seeks to achieve it goals through political advocacy directed at both Democratic and Republican candidates and elected officials, meeting with government officials, and financial support of political candidates. -- Winter Casey
Update: A spokesman for TechNet said the group is "in strong financial position and has added a number of new members to its roster in the last few months." TechNet also had its largest fundraising cycle in the organization's history, its largest CEO fly-in ever, and celebrated a big win on economic stimulus provisions for green IT and broadband, he said.
An article in CongressDaily's AM Edition on Friday notes that Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., is an opponent of legislation intended to rework how patents are granted and litigated in the United States. Rohrabacher said at a House Science Committee hearing that the measures currently moving through the House and Senate have been driven by major high-tech firms that are "trying to destroy the patent system." The story points out that Rohrabacher's top 2008 campaign donor was Intellectual Ventures, a firm founded by Nathan Myhrvold, a former Microsoft executive who has been highly critical of changing the patent system. He also accepted money from manufacturers -- another sector that has panned portions of the legislation.
On the flip side, it is worth noting that backers of the bills -- House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., and Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy -- have each benefited from the generosity of companies that have been lobbying for the legislation's passage. Conyers has accepted money from News Corp.; Berman has received funds from News Corp., Time Warner, Warner Music Group and others; and Leahy has benefited from TechNet, Time Warner, Microsoft, Google, and Cisco Systems. The Senate bill passed Leahy's committee last month and is awaiting floor time. Conyers held a hearing on his bill in April.
Daniel Caprio, a former chief privacy officer and acting assistant secretary for technology policy at the Commerce Department, has joined the government affairs practice at McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP as managing director. Caprio, who has been consulting on various technology projects since serving as an unofficial adviser to Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, will provide guidance to clients, particularly in the areas of radio frequency identification, data and information privacy, and cybersecurity. Caprio left his Bush administration post for the job of executive vice president and senior fellow at the Progress and Freedom Foundation, a free market think tank. Prior to working at Commerce, Caprio served for six years as chief of staff to FTC Commissioner Orson Swindle, where he worked as principal technology policy advisor with specific emphasis on IT security, privacy, and global electronic commerce. Caprio will join a number of notables on MLA's government affairs team including former U.S. Ambassador to Canada Gordon Giffin; former Democratic presidential candidate Gov. Howard Dean; and others.
CongressDaily's AM Edition reports that House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers on Wednesday will try to calm broadcasters' fears that legislation he co-sponsored with Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Darrell Issa could harm local radio and diminish diversity on AM and FM airwaves. When Conyers' panel marks up the bill, which would end a long-standing copyright royalty exemption for over-the-air radio, he plans to propose slashing the fee small commercial stations would have to pay performers and record labels. Rather than paying the flat $5,000 annual royalty proposed in the current version, Conyers' potential amendment would require the smallest stations to offer as little as $500 per year while others that generate less than $1.25 million in annual revenue would pay based on a sliding scale.
Another possible amendment would create a two-year payment delay for a number of small stations with the hope that the economy will rebound, Hill sources said Monday. A third potential proposal would require AM and FM radio to be held to the same rate standard as cable, Internet and satellite radio, which currently pay performers under dissimilar fee structures. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., pushed the "platform parity" idea last Congress as a similar bill sponsored by Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy was being debated in his committee. Leahy reintroduced his measure in February but has been focused on patent legislation. Under Feinstein's January 2007 proposal, various platforms would pay a fair market value for the performance of digital music and would require the use of anti-piracy technologies that are technologically and economically feasible.
Meanwhile, broadcasters are complaining that the Conyers bill could harm local radio and diminish diversity on AM and FM airwaves. Radio One CEO Alfred Liggins argues his sector is in dire straits and they cannot afford to pay performers. Liggins, whose enterprise is the largest minority-owned U.S. media company, owns several stations in Conyers' congressional district and over the last 18 months has laid off 21 employees. As the legislation moves forward, Liggins said he would direct his on-air talent in Detroit to take to the airwaves in opposition. Read more in CongressDaily here.
The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Jesse Jackson's Rainbow PUSH Coalition and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law this week urged the House Judiciary Committee to delay any action on legislation that would end a longstanding royalty exemption for AM and FM radio until the panel holds a hearing to weigh the bill's impact on minority-owned broadcast radio stations. Noting "two significant voting rights cases" before the Supreme Court, the groups explained that "the chief remaining resource to ensure that African Americans can participate fully in the democratic process will be the continued engagement of minority radio broadcasters to drive turnout."
Passage of the Performance Rights Act, which was sponsored by House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers and Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, "would eviscerate this remaining, powerful resource," the letter from Rainbow PUSH and the Lawyers' Committee said. LCCR sent a separate letter to Conyers expressing similar concerns. The letters raise "important questions regarding the negative impact of the performance tax on minority broadcasters, niche programming formats and media diversity," said Dennis Wharton, a spokesman for the National Association of Broadcasters, which is leading the lobbying effort against the legislation. He added that "minority broadcasters often serve as the only voice for African-American and immigrant communities."
From the May 9 issue of National Journal magazine...
Google is rising fast. It has a near-monopoly on Internet searches, holds a commanding share of the growing online advertising market, and is expanding into myriad online services now dominated by its politically wired corporate rivals. That trajectory matches Microsoft's, but with a major difference. Microsoft spurned Washington and was subsequently humbled by a 1998 antitrust lawsuit backed by its rivals. Google has carefully cultivated friends and political clout in Washington, particularly on the Democratic side of the aisle, to help it withstand the inevitable pushback from aggrieved competitors.
Google's influence is illustrated by reaction to the book deal that it signed with publishers and authors last year. The agreement gives Google 37 percent of any revenue derived from the company's digitizing of an estimated 7 million "orphan" books whose copyright owners can't be found and makes it difficult for other companies to get any revenue from those works. "Google is the huge, 2-ton gorilla, with resources from here to kingdom come," said former Rep. Pat Schroeder, D-Colo., the former president of the Association of American Publishers. Executives in publishing and other media industries are nervous about the Google's expansion, she said, but "mainly feel [that the company's executives] have contributed a tremendous amount to the culture by this tremendous search engine, and everybody is using it. That builds goodwill."
Read the full story in National Journal magazine here (subscription required).
Trade groups representing Internet music providers, e-commerce firms and electronics manufacturers fired back this week at an attempt by composers, songwriters and performance rights organizations (PROs) to persuade House and Senate Judiciary Committee leaders to amend copyright law to extend the "public performance right" so that it will apply to digital downloads of audiovisual works. The Digital Media Association, the Consumer Electronics Association, TechAmerica and others claim the request by ASACP, BMI, the Harry Fox Agency and the Songwriters Guild of America, would "impose a licensing obligation and potentially significant royalties on activities that are unequivocally unrelated to public performance."
This debate could complicate an ongoing examination by both committees of bills sponsored by House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers and Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy that would bring AM and FM radio in line with Internet, cable and satellite music platforms that pay performers for their works. Groups like the Recording Industry Association of America, SoundExchange and the American Federation of Musicians are carrying the torch for that effort while over-the-air broadcasters who have long been exempt from the fee argue it should remain that way. The National Association of Broadcasters claims the bills could bankrupt local radio.
David Rehr, president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, is stepping down after three years on the job, a source confirmed. Other news outlets are also reporting on his departure. NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton declined to comment. Rehr joined the NAB in December 2005 from the National Beer Wholesalers Association, where he had been CEO. He is departing as the industry faces a number of critical and thorny public policy issues, including the digital television transition and a battle with the music industry over royalty fees. We'll update this story as we have more information.
Update: "I have enjoyed leading America's broadcasters through this time of change and challenge," Rehr said in a press release. "Our efforts to educate America about the digital television transition have been enormously successful, and our effort to reinvigorate radio through the Radio Heard Here campaign is positioning radio broadcasters well for the future." "I am looking forward to building on these experiences and working with the broader Washington community to further advocacy efforts through marketing, communications and education," he continued. Rehr will continue in his role during a transition phase and during the interim period, NAB Chief Operating Officer Janet McGregor will work closely with Rehr and assume day-to-day duties.
Update: The MusicFirst Coalition, which has been battling with NAB over AM and FM copyright royalty legislation issued a statement saying: "While we wish Mr. Rehr well, we look forward to working with new leadership at the NAB -- one that is more responsive to the bipartisan request from Congress to create a Performance Rights Act that is fair to artists, musicians and labels, and one that is fair to other radio platforms and to radio."
A handful of major high-tech companies wrote to House Transportation Chairman James Oberstar and ranking member John Mica on Wednesday to voice their opposition to a proposed ban on the usage of wireless telecommunications on U.S. commercial flights. The Consumer Electronics Association, CTIA-The Wireless Association, the Satellite Industry Association, Technology Association of America, and the Telecommunications Industry Association joined passenger rights and business groups that recently complained about a legislative rush to prohibit the activity as part of a Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill without meaningful public input. Rather than eliminating the option of using devices on airplanes, CTIA Vice President Jot Carpenter called for a study to determine whether there is consumer demand.
Their letter was also sent to House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman and ranking member Joe Barton. "Legislation prohibiting the use of technology is as problematic as legislation mandating the use of technology," CEA lobbyist Michael Petricone said. "An outright ban slipped into an authorization bill is not warranted for a technology that is as safe and widely accepted as voice communications." "An outright ban leaves too many benefits for society on the table without a serious weighing of the facts," TechAmerica lobbyist Joshua Lamel added. The groups point out that airplanes have been equipped with mobile phones for decades and for 18 months, 16 commercial carriers have offered in-flight wireless services on three continents. Those systems have been launched successfully in Europe, Asia and the Middle East and have not posed safety concerns, they wrote.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., have claimed the title of "High-Tech Defenders" for their voting records and leadership roles on technology issues in the 110th Congress. The distinction bestowed by the Computer and Communications Industry Association is part of the trade group's congressional scorecard, which was released on the eve of its annual member meeting in Washington. CCIA represents Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other tech firms. Wyden and Lofgren, who are both slated to speak at CCIA's Wednesday summit, were given scores of 100 percent and 95 percent, respectively. Wyden was joined at the top by Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. while Lofgren outdistanced her closest scoring House colleagues by 6 percent.
"It comes as no surprise that Senator Wyden and Representative Lofgren finished on top of our high-tech scorecard," CCIA President Ed Black said in a statement. "They are proposing forward-looking legislation, raising the prominence of technology issues in the press and pushing hard to get high-tech issues included in the often cramped legislative agendas of their respective chambers." Twenty-two senators scored above 80 percent on tech and innovation votes during the second session of the 110th Congress. In the House, 32 members scored in the top tier with a score of over 84 percent. The top tier scorecard included four presidential candidates - Sens. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and John McCain, R-Ariz., as well as former Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Fans and foes of legislation that would end a longstanding copyright royalty exemption granted to AM and FM radio are each hoping to win the support of Hispanic members of the House and Senate. The Free Radio Alliance and the National Association of Broadcasters, which believe the proposal would slap a "tax" on local radio, held a Tuesday briefing on Capitol Hill with Eddie "Piolin" Sotelo, host of a popular morning show on Univision Radio and radio executives from Salem Communications, Entravision Communications, Top Line Broadcasting and others. Panelists discussed how the legislation would impact diversity in voice and thought in the Spanish-language radio market and broader problems they have with the bills, which were sponsored by House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers and Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy.
In a same-day press release, the MusicFirst Coalition pointed out that the National Hispanic Conference of State Legislators recently approved a resolution that calls on Congress to pass the Performance Rights Act. In its resolution, the organization that represents Hispanic state legislators noted that broadcasters enjoy a "unique government-created exemption from having to compensate creators" and that AM and FM radio stations are the only "radio platform that does not compensate creators." MusicFirst Executive Director Jennifer Bendall, whose group is backed by record labels, unions and other industry stakeholders, said grassroots Hispanic policymakers are "strong supporters" of the legislation and their voice is an essential part of the debate. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus has not formally weighed in but the Spanish Broadcasting Association has urged opposition.
Tim Sparapani has joined social networking Web site Facebook as its new director of public policy. Sparapani is a former senior legislative counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union and associate at Dickstein Shapiro Morin & Oshinsky. He has also served as a legal intern for the Senate Judiciary Constitution Subcommittee, where he assisted Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and volunteered for the ill-fated presidential campaigns of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C. Sparapani has degrees from the University of Michigan Law School and Georgetown University. Meanwhile, Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Chris Kelly is reportedly considering a run for California attorney general. Kelly, a Democrat, touted his work across the country to make the Internet safer for youth. -- Winter Casey
The National Association of Broadcasters is ratcheting up its lobbying blitz against legislation currently moving through the House and Senate that the trade group believes would cost jobs and kill off local radio stations' offerings. The bill, which would end AM and FM stations' exemption from paying copyright royalty fees to performers of the songs that grace their airwaves, is being targeted in a series of new advertisements in the Washington Metrorail system. Their 45 banners are plastered across the Capitol South metro station, which is located two blocks from the U.S. Capitol. The NAB also recently launched NoPerformanceTax.org to beef up its campaign to defeat the bill, which is championed by music industry interests like the Recording Industry Association of America, the American Federation of Musicians, and the Recording Academy.
"Every week, radio airplay reaches 235 million Americans, promoting both new and legacy artists and generating more than a billion dollars in CD and download sales for record labels annually. By contrast, artists routinely sue their record labels for cheating them out of royalty money," an NAB spokesman said in a press release. "We welcome an honest debate over which side has been a better friend to recording artists: America's hometown radio stations or foreign-owned record labels." An official with the MusicFirst Coalition, which supports the bill, said: "No amount of advertising can right a wrong. Corporate radio earns billions without compensating the artists and musicians who bring music to life and listeners ears to the radio dial. Satellite radio, Internet radio and cable music stations pay a fair performance royalty, as so radio stations throughout the world."
The Entertainment Software Association's head of government relations, Jennifer Manner, is out the door after just a month. ESA announced on Feb. 18, 2009, that Manner would be the group's new senior vice president for government affairs and would head the association's federal and state government relations team. Manner, a long-time Democrat, didn't appear to have extensive Capitol Hill or administration experience. Her background included stints as a vice president of regulatory affairs at Skyterra Communications, chair of the Satellite Industry Association, and senior counsel to former FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy. She has also worked for Worldcom, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, and taught as an adjust professor of law. ESA is not advertising any new job openings on its Web site. An association spokesman confirmed that Manner had departed but gave no further information.
In 2007, ESA brought on former Motion Picture Association of America executive Rich Taylor, and in 2008, it wooed Recording Industry Association of America lawyer Kenneth Doroshow. Both are also Democrats. The group's executive director is Michael Gallagher, a former assistant secretary of Commerce under President George W. Bush. A recent CongressDaily story (subscription required) reported that ESA spent $980,000 per quarter in 2008 on lobbying-related activities. Efforts focused on a range of issues from media violence and parental control technologies to industry ratings and videogame sale regulation. Lobbyists also spent time advocating for increased intellectual property protection. -- Winter Casey
Just in time for Earth Day, Web watchers at Google are seeing an abundance of search advertisements from advocacy groups and energy companies on terms like "smart grid" and "renewable energy." This comes as searches on Google for terms related to climate change and alternative energy reach an all-time high. A search for "greenhouse gas" or "clean energy" turns up paid ads from companies like BP and Chevron as well as the Environmental Defense Fund, Alliance for Climate Protection, Clinton Global Initiative, and American Farmland Trust. At least one group is using search ads to encourage constituents to schedule a meeting with their congressional representative to express support for a particular energy proposal.
These ads are part of a growing trend of lobbying dollars moving online. Peter Greenberger, Google's team manager for elections and issues advocacy, said searches for "cap and trade" are up 30 percent in 2009 compared to 2008 in the United States and searches for "smart grid" are up 53 percent. Similarly, searches for "renewable energy" are up 14 percent. To coincide with Earth Day and a push on Capitol Hill for global warming legislation, groups are buying "green" buzzwords that have popped up in the media and in Washington. "These online ads signal a new style of public affairs campaign. They allow issue groups to bypass traditional media filters and take their message directly to interested voters and lawmakers," Greenberger said in an email.
When Andrew Noyes and I worked on this week's National Journal story about the lobbying battle between the music industry and radio broadcasters over royalty fees, first quarter 2009 lobbying figures weren't available yet. Under the Lobbying Disclosure Act, neither side was required to make their lobbying numbers public until the April 20 filing deadline. Now we have those numbers so we can shed some light on one of the arguments in the battle: Both sides accuse the other of trying to win by outspending their opponent.
SoundExchange, the non-profit group that is funding the music industry's lobbying battle, reported that it spent $540,000, double the $200,000 it reported spending in the first quarter of 2008. The Recording Industry Association of America, which is a member of SoundExchange, reported spending $1.8 million in the first three months of 2009, up from the $1.54 million the organization spent during the same period a year ago. The National Association of Broadcasters, which is battling the music industry on behalf of radio broadcasters, reported spending $2.6 million, up from $2.49 million they spent in the first quarter of 2008.
Both sides are racking up big lobbying fees in roughly equal measure. -- Bara Vaida
From Thursday's CongressDaily PM Edition...
When movie-studio executives meet in Washington next week, their message to the Obama administration and Congress will be straightforward: Hollywood contributes heavily to the U.S. economy, and policies friendly to movie and television production and distribution can help the country rebound. Unlike executives from other industries, members of the Motion Picture Association of America are not seeking handouts, the trade group's top lobbyist told CongressDaily. "We're coming to D.C. to highlight the positive impact of our industry and show that we're part of the solution," Michael O'Leary said. At the MPAA's Business of Show Business symposium Tuesday, speakers will underscore the millions of jobs and billions of dollars in wages they produce across the nation, much if it from off-camera work from local crews and catering to costumes and special effects.
Read the full story here (subscription required).
The National Association of Broadcasters has given lobbyist Douglas Wiley the boot. Wiley was hired by NAB in 2006 to lead the government relations team as executive vice president of government relations but his position was latter shifted to executive vice president in charge of the administration and agencies. A source familiar with NAB's team said Wiley's position was eliminated last month.
Prior to joining NAB, Wiley served as a senior vice president of government relations for the Electronic Industries Alliance, director of government relations for Alcatel, a vice president at the Telecommunications Industry Association, and director of legislative affairs for the Competitive Telecommunications Association. He also spent time on Capitol Hill as a senior legislative assistant to the former chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Thomas Bliley, R-Va. He holds a master's degree in business administration from George Washington University.
NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton said the group "does not comment on personnel issues." NAB's lobbying team is currently being headed by Laurie Knight, a Democrat who formerly worked as the legislative director for Rep. Jim Turner, D-Texas. Prior to joining NAB, she spent more than five years with the National Beer Wholesalers Association. -- Winter Casey
From NationalJournal.com's Under The Influence blog...
On the campaign trail, President Obama promised to increase the transparency of government. Among the pledges he made was to create a centralized database on lobbying. The Sunlight Foundation has proposed something similar, saying the executive branch should create and administer a website aggregating disclosures of meetings between government officials and lobbyists. Under the Sunlight vision, meetings between executive branch political appointees and lobbyists would be posted on the site after each meeting is held. In the filings would be the names of the agency, the employees that attended the meeting, the lobbyist whom the government official met with and any clients the lobbyist represents. The site would also allow the public to track the meetings by lobbyist, subject matter, agency and official.
"We think the president is headed in the right direction: more real time, online disclosure of lobbying activity," said Sunlight Foundation Policy Director John Wonderlich in a statement. "Imagine having this sort of information from across the federal government right now -- being able to track who lobbying, and what each of those discussions is about." Sunlight is also urging both Congress and the administration to expand the legal definition of a lobbyist to include anyone paid to engage in direct issue advocacy with lawmakers, staff and executive branch officials. Currently, the law only requires individuals who spend more than 20 percent of their time lobbying for a client, and who also make more than two contacts with executive branch or congressional officials to register to lobby. Anyone who is below that threshold, doesn't have to register.
Continue reading Sunlight Proposes Online Lobbying Registry.
TechNet CEO Lezlee Westine is leaving the high-tech group to head up the Personal Care Products Council, according to a number of industry sources. Before joining TechNet in 2005, Westine was director of the White House Office of Public Liaison under President George W. Bush. She will be replacing Pamela Bailey, who left the Council to lead the Grocery Manufacturers Association last year. The Personal Care Products Council position is one the top paying jobs in Washington. Bailey received total compensation of $1.5 million, according to National Journal's 2008 salary survey.
Jim Hawley, general counsel at TechNet will be acting CEO of the organization until a replacement is found. Though there has been speculation that Westine's departure may result in the group merging with other high tech associations, a person familiar with the organization said the executive board isn't interested in a merger and will be looking for a new leader. TechNet's founding members include Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers, Silicon Valley venture capitalists John Doerr and Floyd Kvamme and former Netscape CEO James Barksdale. --Bara Vaida
The National Association of Broadcasters broadened its sphere of Internet influence Tuesday by launching NoPerformanceTax.org, an online hub for the organization's campaign to fight legislation that would end a longstanding royalty exemption for AM and FM stations. The Web site gives radio stations the ability to download, air, and share radio spots opposing what NAB has deemed a "performance tax" as well as online banner ads for use on station Web sites and sample letters to members of Congress. The site also provides users with background information on the issue, video clips from congressional hearings and Capitol Hill events, and NAB news releases.
The front page of NoPerformanceTax.org boasts an interactive graphic made up of hundreds of gold and platinum albums on display in local radio stations across America. The albums are customarily presented by record labels to local radio stations as a sign of appreciation for promoting their music and propelling album sales. "Olympians aren't the only ones who bring home the gold," the Web site says. "Local radio stations provide billions of dollars in promotional value to artists and record labels. In appreciation, the record labels bestow upon radio stations 'gold' and 'platinum' albums to show their gratitude."
Marty Machowsky, a spokesman for the MusicFirst Coalition, which supports the fee, called NAB's Web attempt "so 2007." "NAB's witness at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing said a fair performance right on radio is not a tax. A new Web site can't save an old, discredited argument," he said. Companion bills were introduced by Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy and House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers earlier this year. A resolution in opposition was introduced by Texas Reps. Gene Green, a Democrat, and Republican Mike Conaway a short time later. Sens. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and John Barrasso, R-Wyo., introduced a similar resolution last month.
Sens. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and John Barrasso, R-Wyo., have joined more than 150 members of the House in supporting a resolution opposing the introduction of "any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge" on local radio stations. The nonbinding Senate measure introduced Monday mirrors one sponsored earlier this year by Texas Reps. Gene Green, a Democrat, and Republican Mike Conaway and comes as roughly 500 local members of the National Association of Broadcasters arrive in Washington for their annual state leadership conference.
Legislation offered by House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers and Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Darrell Issa and Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, would bring over-the-air radio in line with Internet, cable and satellite music services that pay artists for use of their work. Broadcasters have long argued that the promotional value of airplay and the resulting album and concert ticket sales make up for the disparity. NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton said the "performance tax" would threaten thousands of jobs, reduce music diversity, and hamstring a new artist's ability to reach radio's 234 million weekly listeners.
Supporters of the House and Senate radio royalty bills, however, sent a press release pointing out that the legislation now enjoys the support of seven committee chairmen in the House. In addition to Conyers, the Performance Rights Act is cosponsored by Foreign Relations Chairman Howard Berman; Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman; Rules Chairwoman Louise Slaughter; Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson; Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Edolphus Towns; and Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson.
Microsoft has hired David Pryor Jr. as director of government affairs, where he will lobby the Senate. The company's newest lobbyist has family ties to the Senate. His father, is former Sen. David Pryor, D-Ark. and his younger brother is Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark. who was elected in 2002. Previously, Pryor was senior federal affairs representative for FedEx, where he worked on transportation and aviation issues. Pryor says Microsoft and FedEx share policy interests such as free trade and innovation in the workplace. Pryor says he has never lobbied his father or brother, nor will he in the future.
Before FedEx, Pryor was deputy chief of protocol at the State Department between 1997 and 2000. Pryor has also served as principal of Pryor and Associates, a boutique consulting firm, and as a senior account executive with Hill & Knowlton Public Affairs. Pryor said that having a child with special needs has made him appreciate the power of technology and helped shape his perception of Microsoft. His 13-year-old son, Hampton, attends St. Coletta of Greater Washington where Pryor is president of the board of trustees. He said he has learned about technology by watching how his son, who cannot walk or talk, reacts to assistive technologies and interactive computer software. -- Winter Casey
The word on K Street is that former Department of Commerce Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Christopher Padilla will soon be heading up IBM's government affairs office in Washington. Padilla spent three years at the U.S. Trade Representative under President George W. Bush. Padilla has previously lobbied for AT&T. He has also served as vice president for international affairs at Lucent Technologies and director of international trade at Eastman Kodak.
Padilla is expected to replace Christopher Caine, who we previously reported would be stepping down to start his own company, Mercator XXI. Caine spent 25 years working for IBM. IBM spokesman Chris Andrews said the company does not comment on rumor or speculation about executive hiring decisions. In other news Tracy Schmaler, Yahoo's senior director for public affairs will leave the Internet firm later this week for a job at the Justice Department. The former spokeswoman for Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy will be deputy director of the agency's press shop.
Meanwhile, Carly Fiorina is now chair of the board at the Technology Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank. TPI was founded in 2007 and has a number of former employees of Progress & Freedom Foundation on staff. After being ousted from Hewlett Packard, Fiorina became heavily involved in the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. -- Winter Casey & Andrew Noyes
As Eliza Newlin Carney reported in National Journal's State of Lobbying issue this week, the advocacy industry is increasingly using social networking tools to promote their issue of the day. The Sunlight Foundation is using Twitter to directly lobby senators to co-sponsor the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act that NationalJournal.com's Under The Influence blog mentioned Monday. Sunlight courted bill supporters to lobby senators' BlackBerrys directly via a 'Tweet Lobby'.
"[We] believe this will be the first organized direct lobbying of members of Congress over Twitter," Sunlight Communication's Director Gabriela Schneider told National Journal. Two senators, Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., tweeted about their support of the bill. Both of these lawmakers supported the bill in previous sessions of Congress so their position is not necessarily a reflection of the Twitter lobby. It will be interesting and telling if the Twitter lobby generates a response from a greater portion of the 17 senators on Twitter, especially those who haven't voiced support of the bill in the past. We'll be paying attention -- Eliza Krigman
Members of Congress and the Obama administration can anticipate a high-tech lobbying blitz as the boards of both the Information Technology Industry Council and TechNet converge in Washington next week. ITI represents heavyweights like Apple Computer, Cisco Systems, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell while TechNet's leadership consists of investors in, and CEOs of, top Silicon Valley firms. This is the first time the organizations have united in such a purposeful way, ITI lobbyist Ralph Hellman said.
Together and separately, representatives from ITI and TechNet will meet with Democratic and Republican leaders of the House and Senate as well as key members from the Judiciary, Commerce, Finance, and Ways and Means Committees. They will also sit down with cabinet secretaries and top administration officials from a range of agencies and departments, Hellman said. "These two organizations work very well together and we'll continue to work together," he told Tech Daily Dose.
Areas of focus include making sure technology-related economic stimulus dollars are spent wisely, patent legislation and trade issues. They will also urge lawmakers to reject attempts to enact changes to tax law that would be harmful to the high-tech community. Obama has proposed such a provision, known as deferral, which tech leaders believe gives companies an incentive to move jobs overseas. "By coordinating our efforts with the administration and Congress we get to reach that many more people," Hellman said.
Giants of the $120 billion U.S. microchip business are united in their message to Congress on topics from the need for industry-friendly tax policies to greater federal investment in research and development, but they are divided over legislation that would bring sweeping changes to the patent system. Intel Chairman Craig Barrett and Qualcomm CDMA President Steve Mollenkopf acknowledged the friction Wednesday during a roundtable that was bookended by visits with lawmakers. The split is over language in a bill sponsored by Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, that would dictate how damages are calculated in patent infringement lawsuits.
Qualcomm believes altering the damages regime could disadvantage entities that rely on patents, particularly small high-tech companies, Mollenkopf said. Barrett argued the opposite, pointing to what he believes is a patent system that has not kept pace with innovation. "We are a big industry that has a lot of different business models and perspectives and we cannot agree on everything," said Mollenkopf, whose company is part of a lobbying group that launched in 2007 to represent the interests of small tech and patent-licensing firms as similar bills moved through the House and Senate. The House passed its version, but the Senate measure stalled in the spring when Leahy and Judiciary ranking member Arlen Specter could not reach agreement on damages language.
Read the full story in CongressDaily's AM Edition here (subscription required).
More of this week's coverage of the patent debate:
Businesses Lead Charge Against Patent Challenge Language
Senators Ask Leahy, Hatch For Caution On Patent Reform
Specter's 'Gatekeeper' Language Gets Backing
High-tech trade association COMPTEL announced Wednesday that its president, Matt Salmon, has resigned and will join Policy Impact, whose clients include General Motors, Prudential and T-Mobile. COMPTEL CEO Jerry James will continue to provide leadership over the group's public policy initiatives and will assume the day-to-day responsibilities. James, a former president of Grande Communications, and Salmon, a former Republican congressman from Arizona, both joined COMPTEL in 2007. Salmon also notably lost a 2002 gubernatorial race against Janet Napolitano, who now serves as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. "It has been a pleasure working with Matt over the past year," James said in a press release. "We appreciate his hard work and dedication and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors." James affirmed that the nearly 30-year-old association remains strong and will continue advocating for its members before Congress, the FCC and the courts.
On the eve of a House Judiciary Committee hearing to examine legislation that would terminate a longstanding royalty exemption afforded to AM and FM radio, the National Association of Broadcasters slammed the music industry-led effort as being "founded on an incomplete and therefore misleading comparison of U.S. and international copyright law." Proponents of the bill have argued that in every other democratic free market country, radio stations compensate musicians when they play their music. The countries, however, do not compensate artists and musicians within the United States because the United States does not provide a performance right for their artists.
"The record labels have devised a lobbying strategy that relies on cherry-picking international examples that paint a distorted picture of copyright law," NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton said in a press release. "The U.S. protects sound recordings for 45 years longer than Canada and many countries in Europe and elsewhere; if it's 'international parity' that RIAA is looking for, they ought to examine the entire landscape," he said. NAB's analysis also points out that other countries' broadcasting systems are or were government-subsidized while the U.S. business was built by private commercial entrepreneurs.
But the MusicFirst coalition, which supports the legislation, bit back by claiming the analysis is suspect and stale. According to the coalition, the NAB's Canadian counterpart submitted the same study to support its claim that radio play promotes album sales in a proceeding before the Copyright Board of Canada. In November 2008, the board threw it out because the underlying data was destroyed. The same analysis was released by NAB last June and again Monday, officials said. Wharton scoffed at the notion that NAB destroyed data and added: "MusicFirst should get its facts straight before making unfounded allegations." Read more in CongressDaily's AM Edition (subscription required).
Surf on over to CongressDaily's TechCentral for a new "Issue of the Week." Here's a taste:
Longtime Democratic-leaning Time Warner bet big with its campaign money when it gave $544,601 to the Obama campaign in the 2008 election cycle, compared with only $29,676 to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. And now, the media conglomerate has at least five people with ties to the company in key administration positions, not counting former Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons, who served as an economic adviser for the transition.
From the lobbying community, Obama has named Dana Singiser, a former Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld lawyer to be his special assistant for legislative affairs. According to Senate lobbying records, at the firm she registered to lobby for AT&T, Time Warner, Universal Music Group and the Motion Picture Association of America, among others. Ronald Klain, chief of staff to Vice President Biden, also formerly had Time Warner listed on his rolodex. When Klain worked as lobbyist at O'Melveny & Myers, he had the firm as a client.
Also in the White House, Dan Turton, deputy director of legislative affairs for the House, once lobbied for the Entertainment Software Association. A spokesman for ESA -- a group whose members include Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Inc., a division of Time Warner, Microsoft and Sony -- confirmed Turton once did work for the association. While employed by Timmons & Company, Turton's clients included ESA, the National Association of Manufacturers, Micron Technology and Cox Enterprises, according to lobbying records.
Former lobbyist Bruce Andrews will be starting as general counsel of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on March 9. He previously worked for the lobbying firm Quinn Gillespie & Associates, where he focused on technology policy, telecommunications, judiciary, commerce and financial services issues. Clients of his included AT&T, Sony, Microsoft and Verizon, according to OpenSecrets.org. Andrews has also worked on public policy and telecommunications matters for Arnold & Porter.
"I am excited for the opportunity to return to public service to work for Chairman Rockefeller and the Committee," wrote Andrews in an email he circulated to his contacts. Andrews has seven years of experience working on Capitol Hill including three years he spent serving as the legislative director for Rep. Tim Holden, D-Pa. He last served as a vice president of government relations at Ford Motor Company. His replacement at Ford has not been been named. -- Winter Casey
Two of D.C.'s biggest entertainment trade associations, the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America, are facing budget and staff cuts, according to news sources. The RIAA recently let go 20 to 25 people, or about 20 percent of its staff. It also declined to fill positions that have been vacated, according to CNET News. In all, the RIAA has reduced staff by 31 people -- or just under 30 percent -- to about 75 people. The association's current CEO, Mitch Bainwol, will remain at the helm.
A spokesman noted that the job cuts follow the decline in the recording industry's revenue, as a result of piracy, the economy and a steep decline in CD sales. He noted that in 1999, the industry's revenue was $14.5 billion. By 2008, revenue had fallen to $8.5 billion. The MPAA is also facing cuts. The association's six-member board clipped the group's budget by $20 million this year and laid off about 20 percent of its staff and consultants in Los Angeles and Washington, the Hollywood Reporter writes. The story also says that the MPAA extended CEO Dan Glickman's contract through the summer of 2010, rather than extending it for multiple years. Glickman's current contract expires this June.
In National Journal's 2008 biannual salary survey, which is based on 2005 and 2006 tax information, we reported that MPAA's annual revenue was $82.1 million and the RIAA's revenue was $46.8 million. -- Bara Vaida
Surf on over to CongressDaily's TechCentral for a new "Issue of the Week." Here's a taste:
Videogame lobbyists are pushing for government policies that encourage affordable, accessible, and faster high-speed Internet service as the agendas for the new Congress and the Obama administration come into focus. Michael Gallagher, the head of the industry's main trade group and former assistant secretary of Commerce under President George W. Bush, believes broadband is the "connective tissue" that his member companies need to survive in a turbulent economy.
Opportunities to play games online and download games and game-related content from a range of legitimate download services help drive demand for broadband, the Entertainment Software Association said in a briefing paper sent to President Obama's transition team. "We're the only form of entertainment online that's interactive -- movies and music are linear." Gallagher told CongressDaily. "We're very pleased with the president's strong embracing of broadband deployment as a high value goal for our country." The $6 billion-plus in broadband funds in Obama's stimulus package was a good start, he added.
Gallagher's group also supports efforts to free up wireless spectrum as gaming moves from PCs and plasma screens to handheld devices. "The administration and Congress have a huge amount to contribute to make sure that resources are available and make sure that rules of the road encourage investment and give companies and customers access to it at reasonable prices and terms," he said.
As lawmakers and lobbyist prepare to do battle over legislation that would make sweeping changes to the U.S. patent system, one group backed by small and mid-sized companies hoping to influence the process has hired an executive director to coordinate its efforts in the 111th Congress. The Innovation Alliance announced Friday that it had brought on Brian Pomper, former international trade counsel for Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus. After leaving Capitol Hill, he co-founded consulting firm where he worked with clients on international trade and intellectual property.
The alliance's members, which include well known names like Dolby Laboratories and Qualcomm as well as lesser known firms, "understand that American ideas and innovation have been a critical part of our economic success and will be even more important in our economic recovery," Pomper said. He vowed to fight for a strong patent system that protects the rights of American inventors and drives our economy toward recovery. The Innovation Alliance, however, was a loud critic of patent bills introduced last Congress and complained that the proposals would have done more harm than good.
Michael O'Leary, who once served as counsel to then-Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., is being promoted from senior vice president to executive vice president of government relations at the Motion Picture Association of America. O'Leary will oversee all federal and state legislative and regulatory strategies and work with CEO Dan Glickman on government policy priorities. "Michael has been integral to many of the MPAA's legislative and regulatory achievements over the past several years and in his new, expanded role he will continue to lead our U.S. government affairs team to success in its advocacy efforts," Glickman said in a statement.
MPAA also announced that Greg Frazier, who worked in the Clinton administration, will become executive vice president and chief policy officer. He will be responsible for the association's annual operating plan and coordinating its implementation across departments. Frazier will continue to manage MPAA's U.S. trade policy and to work on international affairs issues. In other lobbying news, the Association of American Publishers has chosen former Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, as its new president and CEO. Allen will replace another former Rep. Pat Schroeder, D-Colo. He'll start the first week in April.
-- Winter Casey & Jeannette J. Lee
Christopher Caine, the head of IBM's worldwide programs based in Washington, D.C, is stepping down, National Journal has confirmed. Caine, vice president for governmental programs at IBM, has led the company's offices and teams in 35 countries for the past 13 years. He has worked for IBM for 25 years but will be retiring at the end of March to start his own company, Mercator XXI. The firm will focus on navigating the global economy.
In other lobbying news, former Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology Robert Cresanti will soon be heading up the Washington office of SAP America, a business software company. Cresanti most recently worked for Ocean Tomo, a bank specializing in intellectual property. While at Commerce, Cresanti served as the head of the Technology Administration, where he oversaw policy analysis staff and worked closely with the National Institute of Standards and Technology and National Technical Information Service.
At SAP, he will be filling the old position of Mary Arnold. Cresanti may have been drawn to the German-based company in part because he was a military brat who grew up in Germany with a German mother and an American father. -- Winter Casey
Update: Arnold has been named vice president of business development and is no longer lobbying for the first time in years. She has been reporting to Rick Knowles, senior vice president of operations for SAP America, since 2008. Prior to lobbying for SAP, Arnold was a lobbyist for AT&T.
A battle between Internet giant Google and a Santa Monica, Calif.-based group that has been pressuring the company to enhance the privacy and security of its various Web applications appears to be getting bloodier. Earlier this month, Bob Boorstin, director of Google's corporate and policy communications, wrote to the head of the Rose Foundation, which funds Consumer Watchdog, complaining the group launched "totally fictitious" attacks on his company. Most recently, Consumer Watchdog accused Google -- absent any evidence and referencing "a rumored lobbying effort" in a press release -- of trying to obtain permission to sell patient medical records.
"I am hoping that as you consider the activities of your grantees and whether to renew your commitments, you will take these kinds of activities into account and consider whether there might be better groups in which to place your trust and resources," Boorstin said in an email to Rose Foundation Executive Director Tim Little. Boorstin also asked Little's permission to write to his board of trustees to highlight Consumer Watchdog's activities. Little replied that his foundation "welcomes feedback and comment on all of its grantmaking programs" but noted the philanthropy has a longstanding policy of not interfering in its grantees' work. He added that the foundation "believes that Consumer Watchdog is raising very fundamental questions about privacy over the Internet."
Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court wrote to Google CEO Eric Schmidt Monday arguing that his top executives must "have more important priorities than defunding a consumer group critical of your lack of privacy protections." In the letter, he laid out some observations about Google's perceived "less than open corporate culture, its opaque public policymaking division and some suggestions for change and moving forward." Read previous posts about Google and Consumer Watchdog here and here as well as the email exchange between Boorstin and Little here and Court's letter to Schmidt here.
Behind the glitz and glamour of this weekend's Oscar extravaganza, there's an economic story that the Motion Picture Association of America wants told. Brad Pitt, Anne Hathaway and Mickey Rourke are all nominated for one of Hollywood's biggest awards, the trade group said in a Friday press release, but all three were also a part of an "on location" shoot that helped bring jobs and revenue to states not necessarily known for red carpet events. "Some of the biggest winners already are the workers and small businesses in states where several of the nominated flicks were filmed," said the MPAA, which frequently laments the huge financial price its members pay when their products are pirated.
An estimated $225,000 per day is added to the economy where film production occurs, officials said. In Illinois alone, "The Dark Knight" provided a boost for Chicago when production of the Batman movie injected $35 million in jobs, taxes and other revenue over two months. Louisiana benefitted from "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" while New Jersey and Pennsylvania were featured in "The Wrestler." "Revolutionary Road" and "Rachel Getting Married" were filmed in Connecticut, "Tropic Thunder" was filmed in Hawaii, and "Iron Man" shot in Nevada.
Nearly 1.5 million film industry workers -- from truck drivers to set designers and caterers to animators -- earn more than $30 billion in wages annually, the MPAA said. Plus, more than 40 states have enacted tax and other incentives to lure Hollywood productions to their cities and towns. The industry came close to being handed even more economic encouragement when the Senate Finance Committee's tax title of the economic stimulus legislation included a tax break worth up to $246 million over 11 years for investors in bigger-budget movie projects that don't necessarily qualify for incentives currently. That provision was eliminated before the bill passed Congress.
The Coalition for Patent Fairness, a group backed by major high-tech and media firms who want Congress to pass substantial overhauls to the U.S. patent system, is refocusing its message this year to highlight what its member companies argue would be the positive economic impact of updating the patent regime. "Deficiencies in our patent system are holding our economy back by dampening innovation and job creation. Congress needs to pass a bipartisan and comprehensive patent reform bill to modernize and reduce uncertainty in the current system," the group said in a Wednesday statement. Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy plans to introduce patent legislation in the near term and the House will follow suit.
The coalition has also revamped its Web site and introduced a new blog called "The Better Mouse Trap." The blog is named as a nod to America's tradition of innovation and will be updated regularly to track legislative and regulatory developments and highlight member company activity, the group said. CPF will have plenty of challenges in the 111th Congress. Manufacturing giants recently launched the Manufacturers Alliance on Patent Policy in hopes of influencing the debate. They join the Innovation Alliance, whose small and medium-sized firms oppose many of the modifications; and the Coalition for 21st Century Patent Reform, a multi-industry entity that has called for limited changes that pertain primarily to patent quality.
Intel CEO Paul Otellini roamed the halls of Congress on Tuesday meeting with members about the importance of investing in U.S. innovation. He held an afternoon briefing with lawmakers whose districts and states are home to the high-tech company's facilities. See a related post on Otellini's visit to Washington here. Pictured (left to right): Rep. David Wu, D-Ore., Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., Otellini, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Rep. Ben Luján, D-N.M.
Hewlett-Packard has been looking to hire a vice president for global government affairs that would lead the company's global government relations and public policy initiatives. The company's Washington, D.C., office has been in need of some unity ever since HP's acquisition of EDS closed on Aug. 26. NationalJournal.com's Under The Influence blog reported in December that HP was still working through the integration of the government affairs teams for the two companies.
According to an Internet advertisement that links to an HP job Web page saying "the job is no longer available," the firm has been on the hunt for a person to lead the government affairs team for HP on a global basis. This person would also "oversee development of legislative and regulatory strategies to advocate public policy goals before national and state government entities" and "develop strong relationships with key public officials and other decision makers." The new hire would lobby and report on legislation and regulation with an impact on HP and develop relationships with tech sector trade groups.
David Isaacs, former director of government affairs at Hewlett-Packard, left the company at the end of 2008. -- Winter Casey
Information is the coin of the realm in the nation's capital, and a nonpartisan group is offering a new Web site, LittleSis, that discloses the connections among people in the world of Washington politics, policy, and advocacy, writes Eliza Krigman in this week's National Journal magazine. The site, www.littlesis.org, is described as an involuntary Facebook for government. Read the full story here.
Google has brought on McBee Strategic Consulting to lobby on energy efficiency and renewable resource issues in the 111th Congress. Steve McBee, a former senior aide to Rep. Norm Dicks and Sen. Maria Cantwell -- both Washington State Democrats -- and Rob Chamberlin, who most recently worked as chief counsel on the Senate Commerce Committee under Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., will do some of the Internet company's bidding on Capitol Hill, according to a lobbying registration form filed last month.
Google's philanthropic arm has recently been investing in efforts to develop electricity from renewable energy cheaper than from coal. In August, the firm devoted more than $10 million in a breakthrough energy technology called enhanced geothermal systems as well as funds for researching next-generation geothermal resource mapping and a policy agenda for geothermal energy. Google has set a goal to produce one gigawatt of renewable energy capacity -- enough to power a city the size of San Francisco -- in years, not decades. Google's energy team has been studying a number of ways to reduce fossil fuel use by 2030.
McBee has also registered to lobby this year for financial services giant JP Morgan Chase; property and casualty insurer Chubb Corporation; and Time Warner Cable, a division of media conglomerate Time Warner. In 2008, Google worked with a range of outside firms including Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck; Dutko Worldwide; Franklin Square Group; Hispanic Strategy Group; King & Spalding; the Podesta Group; Van Ness Feldman; and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr.
The high-tech community is pretty pleased with New York Gov. David Paterson's announcement Friday that Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand would fill new Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's Senate seat, officials tell Tech Daily Dose. The two-term Democrat had an 86 percent voting record on tech topics, with her vote against the financial rescue package last fall as the only bad mark, according to the Information Technology Industry Council's scorecard for the 110th Congress. She voted in line with ITI's interests on a range of topics including patent, Internet taxation, competitiveness and energy legislation.
Gillibrand also helped co-found the House High Tech Task Force with Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas. During Paterson's news conference with Gillibrand, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., praised her appointment, saying that she will be "a great partner, a great colleague, a great senator." He noted that they have already fought side by side to bring high-tech jobs to Saratoga County. "She has a reputation as a go-to person. Go to Kirsten Gillibrand and she will get it done," Schumer said.
Microsoft's announcement Thursday that it plans to eliminate up to 5,000 jobs across the company is not going to have an immediate impact on its Washington, D.C., office, according to a company representative. The firm's policy shop has undergone a number of changes in recent months; it currently has two lobbying slots that have yet to be filled. "The majority of today's job eliminations are in Redmond, consistent with the high concentration of employees based at our headquarters in the Seattle area," Microsoft spokeswoman Catherine Collins said in an e-mail.
The high-tech giant announced earlier in the day that "in light of the further deterioration of global economic conditions... Microsoft will eliminate up to 5,000 jobs in R&D, marketing, sales, finance, legal, HR, and IT over the next 18 months, including 1,400 jobs." The company said the cuts should reduce its annual operating expense run rate by about $1.5 billion and reduce fiscal year 2009 capital expenditures by $700 million. The company also noted that because of the "volatility of market conditions going forward" it cannot "offer quantitative revenue and EPS guidance for the balance of this fiscal year."
Microsoft spokeswoman Ginny Terzano said the company is in the process of hiring a lobbyist to fill the position of outgoing Barry LaSala who is joining the government-relations firm Elmendorf Strategies. LaSala served as a liaison between the company and Senate Democrats. The company also has not yet filled a House Democratic lobbyist position that was opened when Matt Gelman was promoted to senior director for congressional affairs. Fred Humphries, who had been leading Microsoft's state government affairs team moved to Washington recently to replace Jack Krumholtz as managing director of federal affairs. -- Winter Casey
It's been musical chairs in the government affairs office of The Information Technology Industry Council. Josh Ackil, the lead Democratic lobbyist, left ITI more than a year ago to start his own lobbying shop, the Franklin Square Group. Others to leave ITI in the past year include Jonathan Hoganson and Brian Peters. Now Kara Calvert, a Republican, is the latest ITI lobbyist to jump ship. She has joined Ackil at Franklin Square.
Long time Republican lobbyist Ralph Hellmann, ITI's senior vice president of government relations, says he is "in the process of interviewing a lot of great candidates" and plans to fill the positions formerly held by Hoganson and Calvert and to bring his staff up to five full time lobbyists. Hellmann views the turnover "as a positive development," he says, because "we have kind of become a great proving ground for good lobbyists who go on to our companies. In the end the companies and some of these [lobbying] firms just have more money and more resources and that is something that is hard to compete with from an association perspective."
Hellmann notes that ITI has "lost 12 lobbyists over the past 5 or 6 years but to our member companies and they are great because when they get to their companies they are big advocates of ITI and of the broader tech agenda." The result is, ITI just has a "bigger family," says Hellmann. "Franklin Square is almost like an adjunct office of ITI," Hellman adds jokingly. -- Winter Casey
The trade group that represents the adult entertainment industry is expanding its mission in 2009. The Free Speech Coalition said it will remain the first line of legal defense against what it believes is "burdensome anti-adult legislation and litigation" but will also move forward with projects to address issues that affect members, including content piracy, workplace safety and better business practices. The changes will better position the industry "in a challenging and ever-changing business environment," FSC Executive Director Diane Duke said in a press release. Her group is in Las Vegas this week -- but not for the Consumer Electronics Show. The AVN Adult Entertainment Expo takes place at the same time, in some of the same venues around Sin City.
"The industry is evolving so that creates an opportunity for the FSC to expand its focus," FSC Membership Director Joanne Cachapero said. "The time is right to update the image and focus so that people in the industry have a better understanding of what the FSC is all about, as well as the importance of having an industry trade association." The coalition is overhauling its Web site and a page on popular social networking site Facebook. Both are scheduled to go live at the end of January. Meanwhile, CNN reported Wednesday that Hustler magazine's Larry Flynt and Joe Francis (the brains behind Girls Gone Wild videos) will lobby for a $5 billion economic bailout for the adult industry.
The Computing Technology Industry Association is undergoing some changes with the exit of head lobbyist Roger Cochetti and new CEO Todd Thibodeaux moving in. Thibodeaux, a former senior vice president of industry relations at the Consumer Electronics Association, assumed the role of president and CEO of the group on Sept. 1. Thibodeaux succeeded John Venator who is currently running CompTIA's Educational Foundation. Cochetti is returning to his consulting practice, RJC Associates.
CompTIA spokesman Mike Wendy said Cochetti's position will not be filled for the time being and Chris Katopis, who is director of intellectual property, will take over Cochetti's federal responsibilities. CompTIA remains financially strong thanks to revenue from its IT skills certification programs, Wendy added. The public policy group plans to become more streamlined and focus more on workforce issues, green IT, and small business. CompTIA's federal government affairs team currently includes four other lobbyists: Robert Kramer, Trista Roehl, Ted Bush, and Lamar Whitman -- Winter Casey
Progressive grassroots group MoveOn.org will focus on four key topics in 2009 -- universal healthcare; economic recovery and job creation; building a green economy and stopping climate change; and ending the war in Iraq. The group asked its members recently what issues they wanted to make a priority in the new year under a new presidential administration and hundreds of thousands responded via the Internet.
"The agenda you set is bold, ambitious -- and it is exactly the change America needs.
Of course, these aren't the only things we'll work on together -- we'll work on other issues as they come up, too," MoveOn said in a letter to supporters. Rounding out the top 10 most requested agenda items were: improving public schools; restoring civil liberties; holding the Bush administration accountable; gay rights/LGBT equality; increasing access to higher education; and reforming campaigns and elections.
The Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse welcomed two Wall Street mainstays to its membership ranks this week -- Goldman, Sachs & Co. and New York Life Insurance Company. The additions top off an 80 percent increase in membership in 2008, which the group says is proof that more businesses recognize the need to fight cyber-squatting, phishing, and domain name tasting. CADNA held its strategic planning meeting for 2009 last week where experts in the areas of Internet technology, intellectual property, legislative policy, and international relations met with brand representatives.
Based on conservative projections, the three-year cost to business of registering new domains in the proposed new top-level domains to prevent loophole exploitations and combat significant harm caused by fraudsters could be more than $1.5 billion, CADNA said in a press release. However, challenges facing brand owners go beyond the cost of what the group believes is misguided efforts by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. CADNA cited efforts to pass the Anti-Phishing Consumer Protection Act in Congress and World Intellectual Property Organization dispute resolution issues as other topics of interest.
The Business Software Alliance, a trade group representing a number of major high-tech firms, has unveiled its 2008 Cyber Champion awards. The recipients include Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and John Cornyn, R-Texas; as well as House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers and Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va. During the 110th Congress, each of the lawmakers played an instrumental role in the passage of legislation to protect intellectual property and fight cyber crime, the BSA said. They were also champions of other pro-growth, pro-innovation measures.
"A strong tech industry is crucial to America's ability to address almost every economic and social challenge, from national security to the economy, healthcare, and the environment," BSA President Robert Holleyman said in a release. "Ensuring that IT will continue delivering solutions for America will require concerted efforts on many fronts, including economic policy, the workforce, innovation, security, trade, and intellectual property." He went on to say that partnerships between government and the private sector are essential to finding solutions to those challenges.
In other BSA news, the group's longtime PR chief has taken a job at FD Dittus Communications. Diane Smiroldo joined the firm last month after serving at BSA for more than 15 years. FD Dittus' Dale Curtis, who worked on the BSA account, has moved in-house to BSA.
A group of music industry interests that lobbied Congress this year to end a longstanding royalty exemption afforded to AM and FM stations sent broadcasters a holiday message Wednesday: "Radio, don't be a Scrooge." MusicFIRST coalition executive director Jennifer Bendall asked radio stations in a press release to "join us in creating a performance right on radio that is fair to artists and musicians." Stakeholders expect the issue to be a prominent one in the House and Senate Judiciary Committees in 2009 -- and if this flare-up is any indication, the gloves are coming off.
Holiday music can be found on nearly every music radio station, and although each artist's version is unique, they all have one thing in common: When their seasonal jingle (or any other performance) is played on AM and FM, the artist is not compensated, the coalition explained. Broadcasters, however, argue that the existing model serves the music industry by promoting artists over their airwaves. Terrestrial radio is the only platform that is exempt from the royalty -- satellite and Internet radio as well as cable TV pay.
As part of the changes in Microsoft's Washington office, Matt Gelman has been promoted to senior director for congressional affairs. Gelman will manage Microsoft's federal policy advocacy efforts before Congress and lead the company's team of lobbyists on Capitol Hill. He previously served as Microsoft's House Democratic lobbyist and took an unpaid leave from Microsoft in early 2007 to serve as a senior adviser to House Majority Whip James Clyburn. In the 1990s, Gelman spent ten years on the House Democratic leadership staff, including eight years as floor assistant to former Rep. David Bonior, D-Mich., when he served as Democratic whip.
CongressDaily reported last week that Fred Humphries was named director of federal government affairs, replacing Jack Krumholtz who launched Microsoft's federal government affairs activities in Washington in March 1995. Meanwhile at Microsoft, Ed Ingle will serve as managing director of federal government affairs, overseeing congressional and executive branch engagement and the tech giant's political action committee. -- Winter Casey
[Cross-posted from NationalJournal.com's Under the Influence Blog]
What happens to government affairs teams when two companies combine? That is yet to be determined in the case of the Washington lobby shops for EDS and Hewlett-Packard after HP's acquisition of EDS closed on Aug. 26. Hewlett-Packard spokeswoman Pamela Bonney said the company is still working through the integration of these government affairs teams -- and the structure of a new team is not finalized -- just as the company is working through the integration of the other parts of EDS.
Asked to respond to rumors that some staff could be leaving, Bonney said, "People are making decisions about the future of their careers. And we are unable to make any further comment on individuals." David Isaacs of HP said in an email that he is "leaving HP before the holidays." Bonney confirmed that the company has made no new hires on its government affairs team in the last two months. -- Winter Casey
From National Journal magazine…
Dale Curtis is no stranger to the D.C. policy world. He not only worked on Capitol Hill and in the White House but also spent time as a journalist. Most recently, Curtis has been immersed in the Washington technology sector. Having spent the past six years with FD Dittus Communications, he is now taking a job with one of that firm's longtime clients, the Business Software Alliance. Curtis worked on the BSA account for the last year and a half and is now moving in-house as vice president of communications.
Curtis, 46, hails from central Missouri and is just one generation removed from full-time farmers. He also lived in Amsterdam, N.Y., which is how he made a connection with his first boss in Washington, then-Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y. He spent five years with Boehlert in the 1980s before taking a position at the White House Council on Environmental Quality under President George H.W. Bush. During that time, Curtis was the editor of the president's annual report to Congress on environmental policy.
A merger of the American Electronics Association and the Information Technology Association of America will close by the end of the year, the high-tech trade groups said Tuesday. The organizations' boards have formally approved the pairing, which was announced in September. The group will be called the Technology Association of America and represent approximately 2,000 member companies. ITAA previously acquired the Cyber Security Industry Alliance and the Government Electronics and Information Association.
AeA Chairman Peter Boni, president of Safeguard Scientifics, said in a release that the merger will offer the industry a strong voice on Capitol Hill and extends to the incoming Obama administration "a united partner to foster innovation and address the challenges ahead." ITAA Chairman Hank Steininger, a managing partner at Grant Thorton, also praised the move. Read previous CongressDaily and National Journal coverage here and here.
Some images of Google's new office in Reston, Va. See related blog post here and additional photos after the jump.
Google's presence in the Washington area is growing with the opening of a new 15,000-square foot office in Reston, Va. The Internet giant christened its snazzy downtown D.C. hub, which houses its lobbying shop, last January. The Virginia facility [photos of which are forthcoming] will be managed by Mike Bradshaw and Vint Cerf, who head up the company's Federal Enterprise Sales and Internet Evangelism functions, respectively.
The sales team -- whose portfolio includes the Google Search Appliance, Google Site Search, Google Apps Premier, Google Earth Enterprise, Google Maps for Enterprise and Google SketchUp -- already works with a number of agencies. All 15 cabinet departments use Google technology to power the search on their public Web sites or Intranet. Some agencies that work with Google include the Food and Drug Administration, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Coast Guard, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and National Park Service.
The Reston office, which hosted an open house for press on Tuesday, is home to 30 Googlers. The conference rooms are named after famous Virginia natives, such as Patsy Cline, Booker T. Washington, and Lewis and Clark. The Ella Fitzgerald room contains a floor-to-ceiling photo of the singer. Employees enjoy a cafeteria for catered lunches, a game room, a massage chair and a "micro-kitchen" for snacks and drinks. Where possible, Google used products made from recycled materials, including furniture, chairs and counter tops.
The Coalition for Patent Fairness, whose corporate members include Apple, Cisco Systems, Google, Microsoft and Time Warner, has parted ways with its public affairs firm Chlopak Leonard Schechter and Associates after two years. Patent Fairness lobbyists Steve Elmendorf and Mark Isakowitz told CongressDaily last week they are optimistic that a bill their members can support will advance in 2009. It is unclear who will do their flacking in the new year. Read more on that topic here.
The group is a proponent of sweeping changes to the U.S. patent system and championed legislation sponsored in the 110th Congress by Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., who chaired the House Judiciary Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property Subcommittee. The Senate bill almost reached the floor in the spring but fizzled after talks with Judiciary ranking member Arlen Specter failed. The House passed its version in 2007.
Update: A source tells us that the coalition has hired Michael Meehan and David DiMartino of BGR Public Relations. Meehan previously served as chief of staff for Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and DiMartino was deputy chief of staff for Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb.
A well known FCC watchdog group is reorganizing with an eye toward adapting to President-elect Barack Obama's administration, a new Congress and the forthcoming departure of one of its senior staffers. Media Access Project CEO Andrew Jay Schwartzman announced the changes Monday in a press release, which also stated that MAP Senior Vice President Harold Feld will leave in early 2009.
Schwartzman, who has been at the helm for more than 30 years, will serve as MAP’s legal and policy director and has asked the group's board to hire a new chief executive to manage operations, planning and development. Feld has been with the public interest group for a decade -- heading up its spectrum and Internet freedom issues -- but recently signed a book contract and intends to focus on his writing.
Among MAP’s major pending cases are a challenge to the FCC’s deregulation of broadcast ownership rules and the defense of an FCC ruling that Comcast for unlawfully blocked customers’ Internet access. “Needless to say, the coming of a new administration enables MAP to go on the offensive for the first time in eight years,” Schwartzman said.
When Microsoft managing director Fred Humphries arrives in Washington, D.C. in January to run the high-tech giant's government affairs office, he will be returning to familiar territory, friends and former colleagues said Friday. Before moving to the West Coast, he spent a number of years as a Capitol Hill staffer and at the Democratic National Committee (see earlier blog post here) but his encore performance in the nation's capital will have him positioned on a new team within the political parlor game.
Humphries, according to House Majority Whip James Clyburn's chief of staff Yebbie Watkins, "has forged great relationships with members and staff and probably has one of the best professional networks of anyone I know." Watkins said he is glad that Microsoft picked someone to replace longtime lobbyist Jack Krumholtz who "comes from our ranks" and has a breadth of experience with federal and state governments. "He understands how the Hill works… Fred knows the politics and the policy," said Watkins, who serves with him on the board of the Congressional Black Caucus foundation.
Once Humphries settles in, "he needs to engage with those members and leadership who may be new to him because the Hill has changed a lot" since he left, Watkins said. There's no doubt that the larger Democratic majority in the 111th Congress and a soon-to-be elected Democratic president both bode well for him. "Fred's a strong Democrat and it’s a Democratic city nowadays," Watkins added.
Continue reading Staffer: Microsoft's Hired Gun 'Comes From Our Ranks'.
One of the National Association of Broadcasters' top policy experts is stepping down after five years on the job. Marsha MacBride, executive vice president of legal and regulatory affairs, will continue to serve as an adviser to the trade group on issues pending before the FCC and administration, according to an email circulated by NAB President David Rehr. Jane Mago, who joined NAB in 2004 after 26 years at the FCC, will assume the post.
"As you know, Marsha and Jane have been an incredible team leading NAB through many regulatory challenges in the past few years. In their new roles, they will continue to work closely together to advocate on behalf of the broadcast business before the FCC, administration and the courts," Rehr wrote. "As we begin 2009 with a new administration and new FCC leadership on the horizon, NAB’s advocacy efforts will be critically important to the future of broadcasting."
NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton said he was not at liberty to comment on McBride's departure but a broadcast industry source said the trade group "is in good hands with Jane Mago running the legal department." "She is a seasoned professional, a lawyer's lawyer, and a class act," the source said.
Fred Humphries, currently a managing director at Microsoft, has been promoted to the company's top lobby slot. He will replace Jack Krumholtz as managing director of federal government affairs. Since 2000, Humphries has led Microsoft's state government affairs team and overseen the company's policy outreach to governors, mayors and local elected officials. Humphries is currently based at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Wash., but will relocate to Washington in January. Humphries, a Democrat, does have D.C. experience. He served as a senior policy advisor for then Rep. Dick Gephardt from 1992 to 2000 and was also chief of staff for Democratic Rep. Sanford Bishop of Georgia. Humphries also served as the southern political director for the Democratic National Committee and as the executive director of public policy for U.S. West Communications in Washington. He also worked on the staff of four presidential campaigns including those of Michael Dukakis, Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson and Doug Wilder.
Continue reading Microsoft Selects New Top Lobbyist: Fred Humphries.
Jack Krumholtz -- who opened Microsoft’s Washington lobbying office nearly 14 years ago -- is leaving the company. A Microsoft spokeswoman said Krumholtz is not ready to announce his next career step, and wants to take a couple of months off. Krumholtz, 47, started up the Microsoft federal government affairs office in March 1995, and served as a one-man operation for the first year -- working out of the company’s Chevy Chase, Md., sales office.
To operate closer to Capitol Hill during that period, Krumholtz spent most of his time in his Jeep on conference calls and writing and checking e-mails on the side of the road-- garnering the moniker of "Jack in his Jeep." Since then, Krumholtz has overseen the growth of the Microsoft Washington office from one person to over 20 staffers. Krumholtz led industry efforts on high-skilled immigration reform and H-1B visa issues, along with seeking the passage of the Central American Free Trade Agreement and securing export control relief for encryption technologies. He also was involved in negotiations resulting in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Prior to joining Microsoft, the Democrat worked as attorney in private practice after earning his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He told National Journal that he has not ruled out a position in the Obama administration. -- Winter Casey
The boards of the American Electronics Association and the Electronic Components Association announced Tuesday that they have agreed to discuss a potential merger. The resulting trade group would represent thousands of member companies that would benefit from access to a wider variety of government and commercial programs, officials said in a release. The news comes on the heels of AeA's decision to merge with the Information Technology Association of America in September. If you're keeping score, ITAA also recently acquired the Cyber Security Industry Alliance and the Government Electronics and Information Association.
AeA Chairman Peter Boni said the move continues the trend started by ITAA and AeA "to consolidate associations into a national voice for the technology industry." "This partnership benefits the entire industry, whether large or small, electronics or software based," he said. "Whether focused specifically on the electronic component supply chain, government or commercial markets, technology companies should be able to come together in one place to advance the industry and help keep the United States at the forefront of innovation," ECA Chairman James Kaplan said. Read related coverage here and here.
The Information Technology Industry Council, which represents the public policy interests of Apple, Dell Computer, Hewlett Packard, IBM and other major high-tech companies, is expected to announce longtime president Rhett Dawson's successor in the next day or so. Dawson, who served in the Reagan administration as assistant to president for operations and was an executive at Potomac Electric Power Co., has led ITI since 1993. Sources originally thought the announcement would come on Wednesday but later said it would probably happen Thursday. One thing those sources were pretty confident about: Ralph Hellmann, ITI's top lobbyist who some thought would be a shoe-in, is not the heir apparent.
Update: We know who it is and we're pretty surprised!
The American Federation of Musicians, Recording Industry Association of America, SoundExchange, and other proponents of legislation that would abolish a longstanding exemption granted to AM and FM radio stations allowing them to play music without paying certain royalties are gearing up for a Wednesday lobbying blitz to coincide with a hearing on the bill by a House Judiciary Committee panel.
On the eve of the music vs. broadcasting industry showdown, I spent some time with Kristine W. (born Kristine Weitz) and Crystal Waters -- a pair of chart-topping, dance club divas who are sure to turn heads as they roam the halls of Congress with officials from the musicFirst coalition. Both were well-versed on the issue and were eager to discuss how it impacts their life and work.
Weitz, who had had almost a dozen tracks hit #1 on Billboard's dance chart, didn’t waste time taking terrestrial radio to task, arguing that radio stations in the United States attract listeners by playing music and they make money from advertising that accompanies those tracks -- yet they take creative content for granted. "People tune in to hear their favorite artist, not to hear their favorite commercial," she quipped. "Music is significant. If it wasn’t there anymore, the sound of silence would be pretty boring."
Waters, the great-niece of jazz vocalist Ethel Waters, said performance parity is something she takes personally because it took years for her family to recoup royalties owed to them after the elder Waters passed away. The artist, best known for hits in the 1990s such as "100% Pure Love" and "Say... If You Feel Alright," writes much of her own music but feels bad for those who do not, because they are not reimbursed when their songs are played on AM and FM radio.
Former Majority Leader Dick Armey came out swinging on Wednesday, offering the National Association of Broadcasters a good old-fashioned Texas butt-kicking over their opposition to a bill that he believes would put AM and FM radio on a level playing field with other music distribution platforms that pay royalties to artists and copyright holders.
At a briefing organized by the MusicFirst coalition, Armey (now employed by DLA Piper) said twin bills offered in the House and Senate would eradicate broadcast radio's longstanding exemption from paying performance royalties. He called the NAB's resistance to the bill "a sad testimony to their lack of professionalism and commitment to the arts and creativity."
First he called upon the Bible ("The holy script says a worker is worthy of his hire and should be paid"); then the nation's Founding Fathers ("The Constitution said people who are creators whether it be inventors or artists should have their rights to their work protected"); then on Howard Roark, the protagonist in "The Fountainhead" and then on William Shakespeare; to make his point.
My spirited colleague Brooks Boliek from The Hollywood Reporter asked Armey how he was a credible source given a story published that day that pointed out what MusicFirst did not -- that he's a lobbyist for the Recording Industry Association of America. Armey snapped: "I just think you're kind of annoying me. If you came in here to grind an ax, grind it somewhere else, because I frankly don’t care what somebody in Hollywood says about my credibility." He later apologized for "flying off the handle."
About 400 librarians from around the country have descended on Washington this week for their annual lobbying blitz. In fact, CongressDaily's AM edition includes a fun piece ("Librarians Have Catalog Of Issues To Share With Lawmakers") about their pilgrimage to Capitol Hill.
But before they began Wednesday meetings in the House and Senate, American Library Association President Loriene Roy hosted a press conference to discuss her group's joint effort with the Association of Public Television Stations and PBS to help educate citizens about the rapidly approaching digital TV transition deadline.
While awareness of the Feb. 17, 2009 analog shutoff date is growing, research also shows that many people are confused about what they can do to navigate the transition, the ALA said. As trusted community resources, libraries and public TV stations are uniquely positioned to help get people the information they need. Read more about ALA lobbying efforts here.
A New York Times story on Wednesday estimated that in 15 months, two dueling business coalitions have spent $4.3 million lobbying on legislation that would overhaul the U.S. patent system. Other than that little nugget, the story served as a pretty succinct look back at one of the biggest battles in the 110th Congress. The story introduces the players, examines the issues underpinning the call for reform and does a decent job of articulating the opposition. Of course, for the blow-by-blow, CongressDaily is a good place to turn -- but hey, we're a little biased. Read the full story here.
An article posted on The New York Times Web site on Wednesday evening calls into question Republican presidential hopeful John McCain's relationship with Vicki Iseman, a partner with Alcalde & Fay. Iseman is a seasoned telecommunications lobbyist who represented corporations before the Senate Commerce Committee, which McCain chaired twice.
According to her bio, Iseman worked on the landmark 1992 and 1996 communications reform bills and helped secure cable access for broadcast television stations. She also has worked on the digital television conversion; satellite regulation and telecommunications ownership.
The NYT story has more details about Iseman's work in the communications arena and her alleged dealings with McCain.
What do you do when Congress tackles a new issue that promises to be a hot topic among feuding industries? You start a grassroots group, of course. On Tuesday, local radio broadcasters, minority groups, non-profits and others formed the Free Radio Alliance to oppose what they see as a "performance tax" being pushed by the recording industry.
The announcement coincided with the House Judiciary's Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property examination of whether musicians should be paid when their songs are broadcast over AM and FM radio, which is the norm when their work is played on satellite, cable and Internet radio.
"More than half of the proposed performance tax would go to line the pockets of the record-label conglomerates, three out of four which are headquartered in other countries," said Free Radio spokeswoman Cathy Rought. "The record labels are desperately looking for financial help to support their failing business model, and they are doing so at the expense of local communities across the country."
Victims of the so-called tax would include smaller, specialized radio stations "that serve as the cultural lifeline to numerous religious, Hispanic, African American and other niche communities," Rought said in a press release.
Read more about the alliance here and read Technology Daily's coverage of the hearing here.
CleanMyRide.org, an energy policy project of the Center for American Progress, has posted its first bizarre video on its Web site and on YouTube. There's a weird cameo by Ben Affleck in a corn suit. Future installments will feature comedian Sarah Silverman, Matt Damon, Jason Biggs, and more.
Cable channel MTV has joined the crusade against the forthcoming Internet radio royalty hike, Tech Daily Dose has learned. The network is owned by media conglomerate Viacom and airs a variety of music, pop culture and reality shows aimed at young adults.
MTV has a prominent Web presence with news, podcasts, video clips and audio streaming services. The network's sister channels VH1 and CMT also offer online radio. Viacom owns Paramount Pictures, Comedy Central, BET and other valuable entertainment assets.
The network joins major firms like America Online, Yahoo and Microsoft; small commercial webcasters; and noncommercial giants like National Public Radio in protesting the March ruling by the Copyright Royalty Board. The rate increase will begin July 15 unless Congress or the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit block the decision.
A number of webcasters involved in SaveNetRadio, including MTV, will take part in a "day of silence" on Tuesday to protest the changes, which they say could threaten Internet radio's livelihood. Read more about that effort in Technology Daily's PM Edition.
In the next 18-24 months, McAfee analysts are anticipating "more challenges than we've seen in the last 20 years combined" when it comes to cyber security problems, CEO Dave DeWalt said at a breakfast with reporters on Wednesday. That means more viruses, more malware and more cybercrime, he added.
"We're on a pretty hard ramp in terms of challenges," DeWalt said, emphasizing the need for legislation and industry cooperation. He lauded a recently introduced bill, H.R. 2290, that would criminalize attacks by botnets -- software robots that remotely controls computers -- and broaden the criminal code on electronic data theft.
DeWalt was in Washington with a handful of other Silicon Valley honchos lobbying on behalf of the Business Software Alliance. Read more about their efforts in Technology Daily's PM edition.
Here's a new wrinkle in the ongoing lobbying blitz surrounding the proposed merger of XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. The Center for Public Integrity's Telecom Watch blog reports that the National Association of Broadcasters has hired lobbying firm Bluewater Strategies to combat the pending deal.
In a filing last week at the Senate Office of Public Records, lobbyists Tim Kurth, Andrew Lundquist and George Nethercutt, a former Republican congressman from Washington, said they would represent the NAB on the merger and other issues. NAB has led the crusade against the XM-Sirius union and officials have repeatedly testified that the merger would be harmful to consumers and the radio industry.
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