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Bush Taps Adams For Tech-Policy Transition
Tim Adams, former managing director of the Washington-based G7 Group and a policy consultant for Texas Gov. George W. Bush's presidential campaign, has been charged with leading technology policy for Bush's transition team, according to Bush spokesman John Akerly. If Bush prevails in the Florida election dispute and becomes president, Adams, who helped craft the campaign's high-tech council, will help fill lead technology positions within a new administration. He currently is talking with many different high-tech leaders across the country about candidates for positions.
Jobs that will have a profound effect on the industry include the chairmen of the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, the Commerce Department and the Justice Department. On the campaign trail, Bush also discussed the possibility of creating a chief technology czar. During President Clinton's reign, the National Economic Council, the White House's Office of Management and Budget and Office of Science and Technology Policy also played lead roles on high-tech policy.
Executives Bankroll Gore's Legal Battle
Steve Kirsch, founder of Infoseek and a Silicon Valley mega-philanthropist, and Ed Black, president of the Computer and Communications Industry Association, are among those who are helping to fund Vice President Al Gore's legal bills as he challenges the certification of Florida's 25 electors to Bush. Kirsch wrote a $500,000 check to the Gore-Lieberman Recount Committee — 500 times the legal amount Kirsch could contribute to Gore's regular presidential campaign fund, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Other contributions: Integral Capital Partners Roger McNamee, a high-tech venture capitalist, gave $50,000; Learning Co. executive Michael Perik gave $10,000, Time Warner lead lobbyist Timothy Boggs gave $5,000; and Business Software Alliance Vice President of Global Operations Scott Van Howe gave $5,000.
Goss To Retire; Abraham Says Goodbye ... For Now
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Porter Goss, R-FL, will not seek another term in office after the 107th Congress finishes in 2002. Goss, a lawmaker since 1988, is a former CIA operative and said in a recent interview with National Journal's Technology Daily that he planned to take a higher profile on cyber-security issues in the next Congress. Goss has not said what he would do after retirement.
In his farewell floor speech, Sen. Spencer Abraham, R-MI, thanked his staff and Senate colleagues and noted he was proud that of the 22 bills he authored in the Senate, three aimed at boosting the high-tech economy, including two digital-signature bills and one to increase H-1B visas for foreign technology workers.
"These laws have laid the groundwork, I think, for continued growth and expansion of electronic commerce in the year's to come," Abraham said Dec. 7.
Though he had heavy financial backing from the high-tech industry, Abraham was defeated in his re-election bid by Rep. Debbie Stabenow, D-MI. Abraham may not leave Washington, however. If Bush becomes president, Abraham is said to be a candidate for either Transportation secretary or a high-tech policy position within the administration.
A Congressional Appetite For Napster
Manus Cooney, Napster's new vice president for corporate and policy development, suspects that, contrary to their Luddite image, several lawmakers and their staff have used Napster. "I would imagine that quite a number of members of Congress, staff and their families are among Napster's 44 million users," Cooney said in an interview with National Journal's Technology Daily last week, when asked about how steep he thought the learning curve might be on the Hill.
Napster, the online music-sharing service, will have a myriad of issues before Congress as lawmakers consider whether new laws are needed to protect intellectual property on the Internet. Cooney has spent the past 12 years on the Senate Judiciary Committee and currently serves as the committee's chief counsel and staff director, and hence has considerable experience to help Napster develop a lobbying strategy. Cooney said it is too early to talk about Napster's strategy, and plans to remain at the committee until the presidential race is decided.
EBay Exec Bids For Political Office
One of eBay's first employees has decided to leave the company with his fortune and spend it on politics. Steve Westly, who was vice president of business development and then in charge of eBay's international Web sites, left the company at the end of November. He is now considering a run to become California's secretary of State or controller in 2002.
Westly was an avid supporter of Gore's presidential campaign and a California delegate to the Democratic convention in Los Angeles. He is a California native and worked at Stanford University and the Energy Department before joining eBay in mid-1997. He also was a White House guest in September, when he attended a state dinner for India's prime minister.
Westly's replacement at eBay is Matthew Bannick, who will handle the company's international Web operations.
Commerce's New Export Enforcer
The Commerce Department has appointed Lisa Prager as deputy assistant secretary for export enforcement in the Bureau of Export Administration. Prager currently is the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
Prager will serve as the highest ranking career employee in the export enforcement arm of the bureau, fulfilling Commerce Secretary Norman Mineta's pledge to place highly qualified individuals in permanent, senior-level, policymaking positions, the department said. Prager will oversee efforts to detect, halt, investigate and help sanction violations of U.S. dual-use export-control laws as well as administer the anti-boycott provisions of the Export Administration Act.
Changes At The Top
The law firm of Harris, Wiltshire and Grannis will have three new partners beginning January 2001: Karen Gulick, Kent Bressie and Jonathan Mirsky.
Gulick joined the firm in February 2000 to advise clients on domestic and international regulatory and legal matters related to wireless telecommunications. She formerly served at the FCC. Bressie is an expert on submarine cables, fiber-optic networks and bandwidth. He currently is co-chairman of the Federal Communications Bar Association's Global Telecommunications Development Committee. Mirsky advises telecom service providers on structuring corporate transactions and advises competitive carriers on issues related to the 1996 telecommunications law.
Elsewhere, Nancy Evans, co-founder of iVillage, has joined the board of directors of VIPdesk, an Internet concierge service based in Alexandria, VA. Evans will be an integral part of VIPdesk's further growth and development, the company said in a statement. Abraham Morris, formerly the senior vice president and chief financial officer of Teligent, also joined VIPdesk's board.
Mike McSherry, who has been the director of the Virginia liaison office in Washington, has been named executive director of the Republican Governors Association (RGA), The Washington Post reported. McSherry was the state's Capitol Hill lobbyist and became a prominent figure because of Virginia Gov. James Gilmore's role as chairman of the National Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce. He replaces Clinton Key, who will remain as a consultant to the RGA.
The Cato Institute has named Wayne Crews as its new director of technology studies. Crews will focus on social and economic regulation of the Internet, including open-access regulations, online privacy, copyright issues and free speech. He also will examine antitrust in the information age and regulation of the technology sector more broadly. Crews will join Cato after five years at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, where he was director of competition and regulation policy, concentrating on regulatory and antitrust reform.
Erick Gustafson, meanwhile, has been named the director of Citizens for a Sound Economy's (CSE) new Center for Consumer Choice. The center will advocate for limited government and free enterprise, and will promote market-based solutions on technology, health, education and regulatory issues. Gustafson spent two years as director of technology policy at CSE. Before that, he was a senior legislative assistant to Rep. Mark Foley, R-FL. Kent Lassman, CSE's director of technology and communications, was promoted to fill Gustafson's post.
 | - by Bara Vaida |
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