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TechnologyDaily Mobile
Strong-Arm Tactics To Register Voters
by Heather Greenfield
He has the right name for politics, but for 2006, "Mr. Kennedy" of World Wrestling Entertainment is encouraging supporters to register to vote for others.
Kennedy, the WWE's U.S. champion, is one of several wrestlers who launched a voter-registration drive directed at young adults. The wrestlers are gently asking fans to make themselves heard by ringing friends via text messages and encouraging them to text-message their voter application information.
WWE is supporting the campaign with banner advertisement and video public-service announcements at WWE.com and SmackdownYourVote.com.
"WWE encourages all of its fans 18 years of age or older to participate in our democracy by registering to vote and voting on Election Day," Gary Davis, executive director of Smackdown Your Vote. "We feel mobile is the wave of the future and our future depends on these voters registering and getting to the polls on Election Day."
Software Group Adds Global Policy Position
After a couple weeks at Rehoboth Beach, Del., Jason Leuck will be ready for his new job as senior director of international public policy at the Software Information Industry Association. It is a new position SIIA created.
Leuck has been at the Telecommunications Industry Association for the past six years, starting as the director of Latin American Programs and becoming vice president of global policy. He said he liked working with a wide variety of member companies and seeing how different countries handled key issues like convergence of voice, video and data.
"It's been a great experience at TIA," Leuck said.
As for the new job, he is looking forward to "helping SIA expand their international activities and get to meet some new and interesting companies."
BSA Member Lands Job At The Association
Franck Journoud was a member of the Business Software Alliance; now he has joined it to manage BSA's information security policy.
Journoud was the manager of government and industry affairs for BSA member-company RSA, the security division of Boston-based EMC. "I used to be a member of BSA, so I know everyone here," Journoud said.
Journoud will coordinate BSA's cyber-security policy initiatives and work with entities such as the Commerce, Homeland Security and State departments, Congress, and the White House.
"He brings a level of professionalism and depth of knowledge that's valuable to our members," said Karen Knutson, vice president of government relations at BSA.
Until 2001, Journoud served as a European Union government affairs consultant specializing in e-commerce policy in Hill & Knowlton's Brussels, Belgium, office, where he provided political, regulatory and lobbying support for international clients.
Journoud did not get any quiet time at the beach before the new assignment. He was home helping take care of his 7-week-old son, Leo. But then coming to work is quieter and no doubt easier, he acknowledged.
FBI Thanks Microsoft Workers On Worm Patrol
For cunning, cooperation and no-doubt long hours fighting a prolific computer worm, nine Microsoft employees received honors from the FBI.
James Finch, assistant director of the FBI's cyber division, presented certificates for "exceptional service in the public interest" to nine Microsoft employees for their assistance in the swift resolution of the 2005 "Mytob/Zotob" worm investigation.
"The Microsoft employees played a vital role in the investigation, which ultimately led to the capture of three individuals responsible for authoring and controlling the Mytob/Zotob computer worm that adversely affected more than 100 U.S. companies," Finch said.
He presented awards to: Tim Cranton, senior director; Simona Long, investigator; Stirling McBride, senior manager of investigations; Val Saengphaibul, technical analyst; Steve Santorelli, senior manager of investigations; Brad Smith, senior vice president; Scott Stein, senior attorney; Frank Swiderski, security software engineer; and Rob Vucic, security software engineer.
Smith called the collaboration between the FBI and his company "an excellent example of how the public and private sectors can and should work together to fight cyber crime."
Those arrested for perpetrating the worm did not fare as well. Two of them, Farid Essebar and Achraf Bahloul, were arrested in Morocco; the third, Atilla Ekici, was arrested in Turkey.
Essebar and Bahloul since have been convicted and sentenced by a Moroccan court for conspiracy, theft, using forged credit cards, and illegal access to computer systems. Essebar was sentenced to two years in prison and Bahloul to one. The charges against Ekici are pending.
Experts In The Three IPs Of Technology
Public Knowledge is acknowledging the work of professors and tech entrepreneurs in their annual IP3 Awards, which are granted to people advancing the public interest in intellectual property, information policy and the Internet protocol. One of the awards goes to a professor who wrote a book arguing that new information flow means a new economy.
Yochai Benkler, a law professor at Yale University, won that award for his work on information policy. His most recent book, "The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom," was published with collaborative "wiki" software on his Web site. It examines how decentralized information production has spurred revolutionary economic changes.
Brothers Blake and Jason Krikorian are the winners in the Internet protocol category. Public Knowledge said their company, Sling Media, "has revolutionized the television industry through the Slingbox device, which allows consumers with a broadband connection to watch hometown TV from anywhere in the world."
And Jessica Litman, a law professor at the University of Michigan, has won the intellectual property award. She is a top U.S. scholar on copyright and an advocate for protecting consumer rights to personal use of media. Her most recent book is "Digital Copyright."
The judges for the contest were Gary Shapiro, president of the Consumer Electronics Association, and Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va.
Deloitte Notes Capital Area's Tech Growth
Rain nearly obscured the view of the Potomac River at Sequoia's Thursday evening, as Deloitte named its 50 fastest-growing technology companies in Maryland and Virginia.
But then again, so did the pair of screens that counted down the top 50 companies for each state in reverse order.
The average revenue of the Maryland winners grew 663 percent, and Nextone Communications topped the list.
The award rounded out an unusual day for Nextone which signed its first deal with China earlier in the day. Nextone Chief Financial Officer Ken Nelson said the company that provides software for Internet-based telephone calls probably will add 50 to 100 more people this year.
The news of GlobalLogic being the fastest-growing tech company in Virginia, meanwhile, came as the firm bought a company in the Ukraine this week, according to Tony Surak, vice president of worldwide sales. The company helps software production companies outsource work to other countries. "A lot of people do it because they can't grow talent teams here," Surak said.
GlobalLogic, which recently changed its name from Induslogic., has grown 19,210 percent over the past five years.
Quote Of The Week
"A plumber operation that would make Richard Nixon blush."
-- Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., describing Hewlett-Packard's internal investigation of press leaks.
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