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FCC Experts Reunite At Law Firm
by Randy Barrett
Rick Chessen has left the FCC to join the new communications practice at the Sheppard Mullin, Richter and Hampton law firm as a partner. Chessen was formerly a chairman of the FCC task force on digital television.
Chessen will join Ken Ferree, an FCC alum who led its Media Bureau. Ferree signed on at Sheppard Mullin only a month ago to launch the communications shop. He came from a gig as chief operating officer of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Sheppard Mullin has a strong client list of A-level movie studios, Ferree said, and his new group will try to build on some of those relationships. "The thought was we could create a D.C. communications and policy practice," he said.
Ferree was impressed with Chessen during their time together at the commission. "Rick is one of the brightest people with whom I worked at the FCC and the acknowledged expert on digital television," Ferree said.
The new communications practice includes Chessen and associates Erin Dozier and Chris Tygh. Ferree is on the lookout for more business. "I'm relentlessly selling and trying to get more clients," he said.
Tidbits From Trade Groups And Beyond
The Telecommunications Industry Association has elected Robert Casamento and Tim Krause to its board of directors. Casamento is the vice president and general manager for Bechtel North America Telecommunications, and Krause is a senior vice president for Alcatel.
Bob Doyle and David Hockman, meanwhile, have joined the directorship of the National Music Publishers Association. Doyle is with Major Bob Music, and Hockman is the CEO of SONY/ATV.
In other association news, Steven Berry will leave the National Cable and Telecommunications Association at the end of next month. Berry is NCTA's vice president for government relations. The association has started a search for his successor. There is no word on where Berry is going.
NCTA chief Kyle McSlarrow wrote in a memo to staff: "When I arrived at NCTA early this year, I asked Steve to assist in the leadership transition here and to help facilitate continued progress in our government relations activities. Steve graciously agreed to do so and has been a major factor in our ability to tell cable's story on Capitol Hill this year. Steve has indicated to me that he's now eager to move on to new challenges, and I hope he will maintain a close working relationship with NCTA and the cable industry."
Also heading for the door is Senate Judiciary Committee staffer Lisa Anderson, who has accepted a new gig as director of public policy for Time Warner. Anderson has been chief privacy counsel to Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, the top Democrat on the panel.
And in the executive branch, President Bush has nominated Michael Dominguez to be the next Defense undersecretary for personnel and readiness. He previously served as acting Air Force secretary. Earlier in his career, Dominguez served as assistant director for space, information warfare, and command and control in the office of the chief of naval operations.
Remembering The Memory Hole
The Project on Government Oversight on Thursday bestowed its annual Beyond the Headlines awards, tapping several senators and the publisher of a secrecy Web site that has regularly scooped leading news publications.
Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., were honored with a new bipartisanship award "for their efforts to make the government more open," POGO said. "Both men have worked together, across party lines, to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act."
But the biggest fuss of the evening went to awarding Russ Kick for his work as publisher of The Memory Hole, a site that became famous for posting hundreds of images of the flag-draped coffins of fallen U.S. soldiers on their way back from Iraq. Kick obtained the hitherto secret photographs through a FOIA request.
Kick is a computer specialist who runs a one-man shop. He said the coffin shots were so popular that he had to buy more bandwidth to keep the site from crashing. Kick accepts donations for his work at The Memory Hole.
The Queens Of Cyber Security
The Women's High-Tech Coalition has bestowed its 2005 Annual Women in Cyber Security awards to Rep. Mary Bono, a congressional staffer and a Homeland Security Department expert in cyber security.
The award is given to federal policymakers who assure the security of American cyberspace. Bono, R-Calif., was recognized for her role in pushing legislation to combat secretly installed computer spyware. The other two women to receive awards were Jessica Herrera-Flanigan, a Democratic staffer on the House Homeland Security Committee, and Liesyl Franz, who works for Homeland Security's national cyber-security division.
In other award news, the White House gave nine teachers the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. The awards are administered by the National Science Foundation and come with $10,000 grants.
The winners are: Alonzo Ashley of Stanford University; Sarwan Kumar Dhir of Fort Valley State University; Joseph Gardella of the State University of New York at Buffalo; Rosemary Gillespie of the University of California at Berkeley; Tanya Larson of Pennsylvania State University; Jong Pil Lee of the State University of New York; David Pagni of California State University; Ashok Puri of the University of New Orleans; Cheryl Schrader of Boise State University; and Sheryl Tucker of the University of Missouri.
The University of California at Irvine also won the organization award for its minority science program.
U.S. Attorney Falls Victim To 'Blognesia'
David Lat, an assistant U.S. attorney in New Jersey, recently found himself in trouble with his employer because of the racy Web log he had been publishing anonymously.
The blog, called Underneath Their Robes, dished salacious tales of the federal judiciary, including proclamations of the hottest judges, both male and female. It was written under a female pseudonym, Article III Groupie.
Lat blew his own cover in a recent article in The New Yorker. According to the story, Lat decided he wanted credit for the popular site. "I only hope that the judges I appear in front of don't read it," he told the magazine.
Apparently Lat should have been just as concerned about his supervisors at the Justice Department. They were not pleased to hear of his blogging and bade him kill the site pronto.
It is not clear whether Lat will face disciplinary action. U.S. attorneys are forbidden to talk to the public without notifying public affairs.
Lat is the latest employee to catch heat in the workplace for blogging in his spare time. A noteworthy case involved a worker for Google, which owns the free and popular Blogger.com blogging software, who was fired after writing about Google's internal business.
Perhaps it is time for a new medical term: "blognesia" -- a condition that causes bloggers to forget they have day jobs while potentially compromising their employers in cyberspace. The only known cure: six months of unemployment.
Quote Of The Week
"Putting out a press release is not going to reverse Democrats' consistent votes against reforms that would address junk lawsuits that hurt U.S. jobs, and against bringing money back to the U.S. where it can create jobs."
-- Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., blasting the House Democrats' new tech agenda.
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