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Inspectors On The Beat At The FCC
by Randy Barrett
The FCC now has a couple of temporary inspectors general to serve as interim watchdogs in place of Inspector General Horace Feaster, who retired Jan. 3.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has named Kent Nilsson as the acting inspector general and Jon Stover as acting deputy inspector general.
Nilsson formerly served as special counsel and deputy chief of the network technology division. Before that, he was deputy dog at the Network Services Division. Stover most recently served as special adviser to the director of the FCC's Office of Legislative Affairs after having served as senior counsel in the Wireline Competition Bureau and in the general counsel's office.
In other FCC news, Martin appointed 26 members to a panel that will review the impact of Hurricane Katrina on communications networks. The group will be chaired by former National Telecommunication and Information Administration chief Nancy Victory, who is now with the Wiley Rein & Fielding law firm.
The panel will include Joseph Booth, Stephen Dean, Ted Sexton, Edwin Smith, William Smith, Patrick Yoes and many others from the safety, utility, telecommunications, cable, satellite, broadcasting and telecom equipment industries.
The panel is scheduled to hold its first meeting Jan. 30.
At the Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman, meanwhile, Christopher Cox has appointed Susan Wyderko as acting director of the division of investment management.
Wyderko will oversee mutual funds and investment advisers. She has been with the SEC for 20 years and previously served as director of the office of investor education.
"Susan's dedication to the interests of individual investors is unmatched, which is especially vital considering more than half of American households own mutual funds," Cox said in a statement.
Earlier in her career, Wyderko held several senior positions within the agency, including director of the office of legislative affairs and acting director of public affairs.
At the Education Department, Nina Rees has resigned as the assistant deputy secretary for innovation and improvement. Her next career move is not known.
"Nina Rees has been an outstanding public servant, moving the ball forward toward the goal of a quality education for all Americans," Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said in a statement. "As director of the office of innovation and improvement, she was a catalyst for grassroots change and accountability-based reform."
Before joining the department, Rees was a deputy assistant for domestic policy in the office of Vice President Richard Cheney, where she worked on passage of the 2002 education law, which is known as the No Child Left Behind Act.
Earlier in her career, she served as the chief education analyst for the Heritage Foundation. Rees is fluent in French and Persian.
Software Group, Charter, ACLU Name Lobbyists
Three new lobbyists, including one at the Entertainment Software Association, have been tapped for technology-related work.
William Thomas has joined ESA in New York as the director of state government affairs. In Washington, meanwhile, Megan Delany is the new lobbyist for Charter Communications. She arrives from the Joseph Group, where she was a tech consultant.
And the American Civil Liberties Union announced that Llenda Jackson-Leslie has been appointed director of legislative communications. A prominent media relations professional and civil rights leader from Detroit, she will formulate media and communications strategies.
The ACLU also named Jeani Murray as its national field director. She was one the first hires to the 2004 presidential campaign of Howard Dean and earned acclaim as executive director of the Iowa Democratic Party for having overseen the creation of an Internet-based voter file and Palm Pilot canvassing techniques.
New Influence Expert Joins Software Association
The Business Software Alliance has hired Republican Karen Knutson as its vice president for government relations. She succeeds Robert Cresanti, who moved to the top post at the Commerce Department's Technology Administration late last year.
Knutson will coordinate BSA's policy activities in more than 80 countries and at nine foreign offices, the association said. She also will direct lobbying efforts on intellectual property protection, patent reform, cyber security, trade and e-commerce.
Knutson arrives from ML Strategies, where she was the top lobbyist. From 2001 to 2003, she was deputy assistant for domestic affairs to Cheney.
BSA President Robert Holleyman called the hire a "trifecta" for BSA, "combining extensive policy experience on the Hill, in the administration and well-respected legal abilities."
Public Knowledge Wins Legal Fees
The public-interest group Public Knowledge, which advocates the public's "fair use" of copyrighted material, was recently awarded legal fees stemming from a lawsuit against the FCC.
In May 2005, Public Knowledge joined the American Library Association, Consumers Union, Consumer Federation of America, Electronic Frontier Foundation and others in a suit to block the FCC from requiring broadcasters to include in television transmissions the "broadcast flag." The anti-piracy technology controls how and when viewers can copy incoming programming.
Late last month, Public Knowledge was awarded $250,000 by the federal D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to cover its legal expenses. "It certainly eases the pain," group President Gigi Sohn said.
The court agreed unanimously that the FCC had overstepped its authority in requiring the flag. Since her days working for the Media Access Project, Sohn said she has grown slightly more libertarian in her views. "I've come to believe the government isn't going to protect you," she said. "I'm disinclined to let the government fix most things."
Augustine Tapped for Science Medal
The National Academy of Sciences will bestow its 2006 Public Welfare Medal on Norman Augustine, a retired chairman of Lockheed Martin. The NAS said Augustine was picked because of his efforts to bring industry and government together around the need for expanded research and development.
"Our entire nation -- and its scientific and engineering enterprises in particular -- owes an enormous debt to Norm Augustine," Ralph Cicerone, president of the academy, said in a statement. "Acting on his strong personal conviction that sound national policy must embrace the very best in science and engineering, he has personally made a very real difference in our nation's life and to its welfare."
The medal will be presented during this year's NAS annual meeting in April.
Quote Of The Week
"People like you and groups such as yours twist the teachings of religion to meet your agenda. If you and your people do not approve of something ... turn it off, change the station, do not buy it, look away, do not listen. Leave my First Amendment rights alone!"
-- Anonymous e-mail to Bill Johnson, president of the American Decency Association, after he deemed the new swimsuit calendar of the Detroit Pistons cheerleaders "pornography."
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