The Senate Commerce Committee posted its team roster this week. On the Communications Subcommittee lineup, headed by chairman Conrad Burns R-MT: Spencer Abraham R-MI, John Ashcroft R-MO, John Breaux D-LA, Sam Brownback R-KS, Max Cleland D-GA, Byron Dorgan D-ND, Bill Frist R-TN, Slade Gorton R-WA, Fritz Hollings D-SC, Kay Bailey Hutchison R-TX, Daniel Inouye D-HI, John Kerry D-MA, Trent Lott R-MS, Jay Rockefeller D-WV, Ted Stevens R-AK, and Ron Wyden D-OR. Frist will head up the Science, Technology, and Space Subcommittee, with members Abraham, Breaux, Burns, Dorgan, Hutchison, Kerry, Rockefeller, and Stevens.

    FCC International Bureau Chief Regina Keeney is leaving the agency to run Dell's Beltway office. Keeney started at the FCC in 1994 as chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, and then headed the Common Carrier Bureau before moving to international issues. She left her mark by steering the FCC's implementation of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, ending her tenure in triumph following the Supreme Court's assent to the FCC strategy. At Dell, Keeney replaces Ted Heydinger.

    Lisa B. Nelson is the new Director of Political and Public Affairs for AOL's Beltway lobbying office. Nelson has cut her teeth on the roughest field available -- she headed ex-Speaker Newt Gingrich's storied GOPAC political action committee before the move.

    Charles Gerhards is Pennsylvania's new deputy secretary for information technology, taking on most of the duties of ex-CIO Larry Olson.

    Former Senate Sergeant at Arms Gregory Casey has become president/CEO of the Business-Industry Political Action Committee. Before serving as sarge, Casey was deputy chief of staff to then-Majority Leader Bob Dole R-KS, and chief of staff to Sen. Larry Craig R-ID.

    The Netscape public relations shop is pretty empty these days, as AOL merger shakeups loom on the horizon. Chief Roseanne Siino has been off climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, while Jody Kramer is on maternity leave, Chris Holten is heading toward a sabbatical, and Andrea Cook Fleming has left altogether for the marketing and investor relations post open at Liquid Audio.

    Mike Roberts talked about why he's coming out of retirement to head up ICANN. "Why do it? You do it because the world needs good institutions and good outcomes." Right now, the group that will try to organize the Internet is working out of a decidedly disorganized back bedroom of Roberts' house near Stanford University. Still, many industry figures say Roberts is a fine choice to be the closest thing there is to president of the Internet. "Few people could grasp the nuances," says Cisco Systems' Steve Wolff. "But I'm confident Mike knows more about all the affected constituencies than anybody else does."

    AOL chief Steve Case visited Calvin Coolidge High School in the District last week, promising every student $500 toward college for each semester they maintain a 3.5 GPA. "This is the first time we've ever done this, the first school we've selected," Case said. If the scholarships work out, AOL will extend the program across the country. Every student in the program will be mentored by an AOL volunteer, and will receive free SAT preparation from the test gurus Kaplan Educational Centers.

    The White House has bestowed a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers upon University of Washington computer science professor Chris Diorio for his work on developing computer technologies that emulate the learning behavior of living creatures. National Science Foundation director Rita Colwell calls the Award, the highest honor the government gives researchers at the start of their independent careers, the "Golden Globe Awards for the Albert Einsteins and Marie Curies of tomorrow."

    AT&T Chairman and CEO Michael Armstrong will become more involved with the daily operations of TCI once their megamerger is complete. TCI's Leo Hindery Jr. will report to Armstrong as No. 2; Hindery takes the rank of president of AT&T Broadband Services.

    Zero Knowledge's Ian Goldberg offers a unique argument for online privacy: "When users don't see themselves as having privacy, they'll just lie and give totally false data, so a lot of the data that marketers get today is useless."

    Nevada cops are logging in to solve a Vegas murder. The victim's Internet files are thought to contain clues to his death, since he was an avid online chatter and may have met his assailant in a chat room. And there's more online crimefighting in Vegas, where private dick Steve Gudin offers his gumshoe services online, through not one but three Web sites. "The reason for the three different sites is to allow us to target different key words with each site. While the original site is targeted toward search words such as investigator, detective, investigation and Las Vegas, the second site is intended to attract visitors looking for investigation, surveillance, security, law enforcement, counterfeit detection and countermeasures equipment. These products are offered for sale by our agency under the business name Spy Technologies," Gudin says.

    Buzz? Rumors? Hate mail? Self-promotion? Fire it off to Peter J.M. Orvetti.