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CapNet Leader Eyes Industry Partnerships
by Bara Vaida
Now that the Washington-region high-tech lobbying group CapNet has established itself as a fundraising organization, the group is looking to expand its influence by building partnerships with other high-tech organizations, said Lisa Nelson, CapNet's newest co-chairwoman.
Nelson, who is vice president of external relations for AOL Time Warner, last week replaced founding CapNet co-Chairman George Vradenburg, AOL's former executive vice president for global and strategic policy. "We have been more political in nature ... and our goal is really to develop relationships with other technology groups ... to grow our influence in and around D.C.," Nelson said of her vision for CapNet.
Nelson said the group hopes to work with other associations on specific issues "where our interests converge." She declined to comment on which associations CapNet may be approaching but said that trade, intellectual property and broadband issues are likely to remain on the forefront of CapNet's policy agenda this year.
Last year, TechNet CEO Rick White expressed interest in combining with CapNet, but neither organization pursued the option.
Morphing The Morpheus Image
Ellen Stroud, a former press secretary to Congressional Internet Caucus co-Chairman Robert Goodlatte, R-Va., and former communications director at TechNet, has been hired by StreamCast Networks to represent the company on Capitol Hill.
StreamCast is the maker of the Morpheus software that uses a peer-to-peer (P2P) operating system to share computer files. Napster, a site that enabled computer users to exchange digital files of music, first popularized the P2P approach. But Hollywood studios have pushed Congress to develop legislation that would make it impossible for computer users to exchange copyrighted material through P2P, something that technology companies say is impossible.
Stroud is trying to recast Morpheus into a "positive household name" by explaining to lawmakers and staff how the technology works and its benefits. This week, StreamCast founder and CEO Steve Griffin is accompanying Stroud on her Hill visits.
High-Tech Comings And Goings
Hilary Rosen has been promoted from president to chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and Cary Sherman has been named to replace Rosen.
Rosen has been RIAA's president since 1998, and Sherman has been with the group since 1997 and most recently was its chief legal counsel and senior vice president. Sherman previously worked with the group as outside counsel through the Arnold & Porter law firm.
In other moves, the RIAA promoted Michael Huppe to vice president and anti-piracy counsel of operations, Stanley Pierre-Louis to vice president of legal affairs, Brigette Tenor to vice president of administration, and Jonathan Whitehead to vice president and anti-piracy counsel of the Internet and new media.
Elsewhere within industry, the Higher Education Technology Alliance, a consortium of higher education institutions and library associations, has hired Hilary Goldmann to coordinate advocacy on high-tech issues on the Hill. Cyber security at universities, broadband access to rural and underserved areas, and workforce development are among the group's top policy priorities.
After two years as a policy analyst at eBay, Marc-Anthony Signorino has left to join the national policy staff at the electronics group AeA. Signorino is to be counsel for technology policy and will analyze and provide legal counsel for several tech issues, including Internet privacy, broadband deployment and intellectual property. Previously, he worked as a legal and regulatory law clerk for the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and as vice president and general manager of Forum Provision, a family food-distribution company based in Boston.
After three years, Jill Nolton has left WorldCom's public affairs and policy office to focus on technology public relations at Burson Marsteller.
Jeff Modisett, the former head of Democratic outreach for TechNet, has left the Los Angeles office of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips as a partner to head up a new government practice at the Santa Monica, Calif., office of Bryan Cave. Modisett, who is also a former attorney general for Indiana, will assist clients with issues related to state regulations, with an emphasis on high-tech policy.
John Flannery, former chief of staff to Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif. has joined George Washington University as a visiting executive at the graduate school of business and public management. Flannery left Lofgren's office in January, after five years on the Hill and working on tech issues.
And the National Science Foundation has named Peter Freeman as its new assistant director for computer and information science and engineering. Currently, Freeman is dean of computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He chaired the Sam Nunn NationsBank Policy Forum on information security in 1998, which led to the creation of the Georgia Tech Information Security Center, one of the first comprehensive centers to focus on information security.
And Is This Your Lovely Wife?
John Tritak, director of the Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office, went to the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee last Wednesday to testify on the need for an exemption from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to boost information sharing on cyber security, but he did not anticipate questions about his wife.
Committee member Thomas Carper, D-Del., left Tritak temporarily speechless when his first question to Tritak was, "How's your wife?" Several lawmakers laughed and committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., joked, "Mr. Tritak, you have the right to privacy."
Carper then explained that he understood that Tritak's wife, Kathy, works in the Senate legislative clerk's office and calls the roll on the chamber floor. "I just wanted to thank you for sharing your wife with us. She does a great job," Carper said, and then asked Tritak more about the legislation the committee was considering.
Washington Pols To Visit Silicon Valley
TechNet will host a Thursday lunch for James Rogan, a former Republican House member from California and currently the director of the Patent and Trademark Office, and Rogan will discuss patent reform and the patent office.
The group also has scheduled a May 28 fundraiser for Illinois Rep. Gerald Weller, leader of the New Economy Republicans, and a meet-and-greet reception with House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y.
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