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The Cowboy In The Tauzin-Dingell Ads
by Bara Vaida
Steve Mossbrook, the founder and CEO of Riverton, Wyo.-based Contact Communications, said he relishes being in the middle of the ongoing broadband advertising spat between phone companies. "I love it. The more controversy there is, the more attention is paid to this," he said in an interview with National Journal's Technology Daily.
It all began several weeks ago when the Competitive Telecommunications Association (CompTel) started running ads featuring CEOs of member companies that criticize the Tauzin-Dingell broadband bill, H.R. 1542. Mossbrook, in jeans and a cowboy hat, was featured in one ad that said, "Tauzin-Dingell means Rock Springs, Wyoming, may lose its high-speed Internet access" and then went on to make other criticisms of the bill.
Verizon shot back with its own ad that featured a copy of the CompTel ad under the phrase "Just not true." The Verizon ad went on to say, "When CompTel asked Steve Mossbrook to be in this ad, do you suppose they warned him that it wasn't true?"
In response, CompTel ran another ad with Mossbrook. It included a copy of the Verizon ad and Mossbrook saying, "I'm here to tell you, Verizon is intentionally misleading the public." Russell Frisby, the president of CompTel, said Verizon does not even operate in Wyoming and believes the tone of the Verizon ad "makes me think Verizon is desperate."
Susan Butta, a Verizon spokeswoman, said the company was trying to demonstrate that CompTel was "trying to distort what the bill does." Mossbrook said Verizon just gave CompTel "another opportunity to explore their point of view" with members of Congress.
The PR Shuffle
After two-and-a-half years as the press secretary for the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), Matt Frankel is leaving his job at the end of July. Before working at the DLC, Frankel was the press secretary to Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., when she was in the House. He also handled press issues for House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., for three years. Frankel is moving to New York to join his fiancée, who also works in the media world.
Michelle Semones, meanwhile, is leaving her job as press secretary to Rep. Robert Goodlatte, R-Va., to become the associate director of technology policy at Dittus Communications. Janet Polarek, who has served on Goodlatte's legislative staff since April, will replace Semones. "I thought this would be a good opportunity to round out my public relations experience," Semones said of her move to Dittus.
And Mark Brailov, the press relations director for the electronics trade group AeA, also is changing jobs. He will head public relations for northern Virginia-based MicroStrategy. "Their technology is well regarded, and so there is a reason to be optimistic about" the company's future, Brailov said of MicroStrategy. Over the past year-and-a-half, the company has faced tumultuous times because of its declining stock price and a forced re-assessment of its financial statements.
Who's Steering Now?
Senate Democrats have yet to replace Eric Olson, who had been deputy staff director of the Senate Democratic Steering Committee and chief policy analyst on high-tech issues. Olson left in late May to become chief of staff to Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif.
Democratic sources said Olson's previous boss, Jodi Grant, left her job as the panel's staff director last week. Until she is replaced, Olson's position will not be filled.
In Search Of The Next Bond ... Phil Bond
Gary Fazzino, Hewlett-Packard's vice president of government and public affairs, said he plans to replace Phil Bond, the company's director of government affairs in Washington. President Bush last week announced that he intends to nominate Bond to head the Commerce Department's Technology Administration, which oversees the government's Office of Technology Policy, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Technical Information Service.
"It's a huge loss," Fazzino said in lamenting Bond's decision to leave. "In a short period of time, he's done a wonderful job for us." Fazzino said Hewlett-Packard intends to be active in several policy issues, including the privacy debate, and hence "this is too important a position" not to fill.
Tapping The Tech Well
In other administration news, Bush said he intends to nominate Clifford Sobel to be the U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands. Sobel is the chairman of Net2Phone, a provider of Internet telephone service. Sobel donated about $166,000 to Republican Party committees and candidates in the 2000 election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Bush also appointed nine people to the President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC), which meets to work on securing the nation's communications infrastructure. The appointments include: Raytheon Chairman and CEO Daniel Burnham, who will head NSTAC; Qwest Chairman and CEO Joseph Paul Nacchio, who will be the panel's vice chairman; Rockwell Collins President Clay Jones; Computer Sciences President and CEO Van Honeycutt; David Michael Cote, the president and chief operating officer of TRW Aerospace; Duane Ackerman, the chairman, president and CEO of BellSouth; Northrop Grumman President and CEO Herbert Anderson; Donald Obert, the executive vice president of Bank of America Technology Solutions; and WorldCom President and CEO Bernard Ebbers.
National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, meanwhile, appointed Mary Sturtevant as her special assistant to the president and the senior director for the National Security Agency's intelligence programs. Sturtevant previously was at the Central Intelligence Agency, where she served in senior positions in the Directorate of Operations and the Directorate of Science and Technology, and also served as the agency comptroller.
In recent years, Sturtevant played a key role in developing the CIA's information operations program. Earlier in her career, she was an analyst with the CIA's Directorate of Intelligence and worked at the company BDM on technology transfers and arms-control issues.
Manufacturing Trade Policy
The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) has added two new members to its international economic affairs team -- John Lawrence as the director of international trade policy and William Primosch as the director of international business policy.
Lawrence will be responsible for working with NAM member companies to develop and advocate NAM trade policies. Before joining the NAM staff, Lawrence was the president of the Hudson Group. Primosch will focus on strengthening NAM's efforts to reform U.S. sanctions policy and address regulatory barriers to trade.
North Carolina's Tech Candidate
Next year could be the year that the tech community makes its mark in North Carolina politics, according to National Journal's Hotline. Democratic state Sen. Eric Reeves, who has "been a point man for the sector," has announced his bid to run for the Tar Heel State's Senate race.
Reeves, the son of Texas millionaire Stuart Reeves, has the "resources to bankroll a strong statewide campaign," Hotline reported. All North Carolinians are waiting to see if the state's current senator, Republican Jesse Helms, will seek re-election.
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