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Lawmaker Quickly Ends E-Mail Sorting
by Heather Greenfield
A new program for sorting e-mail on Capitol Hill lasted about three weeks for Rep. John Dingell.
"We looked at it as something that could help us organize e-mail. It didn't work," said Adam Benson, a spokesman for the Michigan Democrat. "It was a sincere effort by those who put it together."
The program, which requires users to answer a "logic puzzle," has aroused controversy, and more than 100 interest groups worried that their mail would be identified as junk and blocked. Benson said the intent was never to curtail constituent mail.
"It's our business to respond to constituents," he said. "We get an enormous amount of e-mail. We hoped this might help us move faster and more efficiently, but we realized quickly that wasn't going to work out the way we hoped."
More than two dozen lawmakers have been using the device to deal with the volumes of mail traffic each day.
Kathy Mitchell, a Consumers Union spokeswoman, praised Dingell's decision to stop using the program. "From our perspective, this is like Congress saying we're not going to accept postcards anymore," Mitchell said. "This is legitimate mail. An individual sent the letter, personalized it, if they wanted to, and they sent it."
Consumers Union is one of the groups that sent a letter to Congress this month asking members to stop using the program. "We agree Congress does get a lot of e-mail," Mitchell said. "We want to work with them on ways to manage it. It's a lose-lose when mail is blocked."
Bad News For Would-Be Pirates
Assistant U.S. Trade RepresentativeVictoria Espinel has been tapped to lead a new intellectual property office.
"The creation of a new office at USTR enhances our focus on protecting intellectual property," U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said. "Since joining USTR in 2001, Ms. Espinel has been a driving force in advancing intellectual property protections through the World Trade Organization, our free trade agreements, and numerous other diplomatic channels."
Schwab added: "Americans are among the world's greatest innovators, in no small part because of the strength of our respect for intellectual property rights in the United States. In the global economy, maintaining protections for American innovations abroad is critical to advancing U.S. competitiveness."
The office also will gain a chief negotiator for intellectual property enforcement. Stanford McCoy will take on that role with a special focus on priority countries like China and Russia. Claire Reade will serve as chief counsel for China trade enforcement.
The Business Software Alliance welcomed the news. "The creation of this new office headed by Victoria Espinel is a significant step forward in the U.S. government's efforts to protect innovation around the globe," BSA President and CEO Robert Holleyman said.
"With their vast experience in dealing with intellectual property issues, Ms. Espinel and Mr. McCoy will continue to promote policies that strengthen our ability to protect intellectual property. We believe they will bring strong results-oriented leadership to these positions."
Key Hill Aide Jumps To Comcast
Comcast is hooking up with what it sees as a valuable ally. The company has hired Peter Filon as senior director of federal government affairs. He will be one of Comcast's senior lobbyists focused on Congress and the administration starting next month.
Filon comes straight from Capitol Hill, where he is now minority counsel for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over cable, telephone, Internet and broadcasting issues. He has worked with John Dingell of Michigan, the ranking Democrat of Energy and Commerce and the dean of House Democrats, since 1999.
Filon has been with the Committee since 2003. Before working on Capitol Hill, Filon worked as a policy analyst at Nortel Networks in Washington.
"Pete's expertise and relationships will add great value to Comcast as we navigate the evolving telecommunications policy environment in Washington," said Kerry Knott, Comcast's vice president of government affairs. "His experience with the Energy and Commerce Committee and particularly with Rep. John Dingell has given him a mastery of the complex issues our company and industry face today."
In other communications industry news, the Comptel trade group is calling on Karen Reidy to become vice president of regulatory affairs. Reidy has been an attorney for MCI for nine years. The company is rearranging its legal department.
Comptel also announced that Jonathan Lee has been promoted to general counsel. Lee has worked for the company since 1999 and most recently served as the association's senior vice president of regulatory affairs. Mary Albert has been promoted to assistant general counsel. Albert joined Comptel in 2004 as vice president of regulatory policy.
Moving To Manhattan
Technology Daily is losing senior writer Danielle Belopotosky to The New York Times' online edition, where she will be an online producer. The Times is expanding its online site to include more video coverage. Belopotosky will help the business desk translate its print stories to video, create reader forums and edit stories.
She started covering education and labor issues for Technology Daily two years ago and started the health beat for the publication. She also writes the weekly "International Roundup" and has focused heavily on Chinese trade issues.
Belopotosky said the move is a chance to return to New York, where she went to graduate school, and to be on the forefront of new media.
Mark Warner Gets 'Keys To The White House'
Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner got more than a handshake when he greeted American University college professor Allan Lichtman before a speaking engagement at an annual meeting for so-called "new Democrats."
Warner smiled as Lichtman handed him a copy of his new book, "The Keys to the White House." Lichtman's theory is that presidential winners can be picked according to a 13-part mathematical formula based on the performance of the incumbent president. Now all Warner must do is win the Democratic primary first.
Warner has formed a political action committee called Forward Together to explore a Democratic presidential bid in 2008. Before government service, he helped found Nextel and a venture-capital firm for technology companies.
Lichtman, meanwhile, was campaigning for the Democratic Senate seat left vacant by the upcoming retirement of Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md. Lichtman said he has lots of student volunteers who helped him become the first candidate to use the social-networking site MySpace.
Quote Of The Week
"If we spent on energy research what we spend every two weeks in Iraq, we can more than double our energy R&D. Of course that would require an administration that believes in science."
-- Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, joking about the Bush administration's stance on science versus creationism as he explained his competitiveness agenda to "new Democrats" last week.
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