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Democrats Land Telecom Lobbying Gigs
by Heather Greenfield
Nick Kolovos is going from wireless to wired. He is leaving the wireless association CTIA to take a job as vice president of government relations for the National Cable and Telecommunications Association starting next month.
Kolovos had been director of government affairs at CTIA since March 2006. He used to be a legislative assistant for Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif, specializing in telecom and technology issues. He also previously was an attorney adviser in the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.
"We're happy to have him on board," NCTA spokeswoman Joy Sims said. "His extensive experience with telecom issues will make him an excellent addition to our team."
Kolovos received his law degree from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago and his bachelor's degree from Pennsylvania State University.
Verizon Communications has added a Democrat to its lobbying team as well. Mark Keam will be the vice president for federal government relations.
Keam comes to Verizon after serving nearly six years on the senior staff of Assistant Senate Majority Leader Richard Durbin, D-Ill. Keam most recently held the position of Democratic chief counsel and staff director of the Senate Judiciary Committee Corrections Subcommittee.
"Mark Keam brings immense talent and unique experiences to his new role with the company," said Peter Davidson, Verizon's senior vice president for federal government relations. "In addition to his extensive Judiciary work on confirmations, antitrust, bankruptcy, civil litigation, terrorism and First Amendment matters, Mark has deep familiarity with telecommunications, technology, privacy and intellectual property issues."
Before his service in Congress, Keam was assistant chief counsel for the U.S. Small Business Administration's advocacy office and a staff attorney in the FCC's wireless bureau. Keam studied political science at the University of California at Irvine and earned his law degree from the University of California in San Francisco.
ITI's New Hire Focuses On Energy, Environment
Energy and environmental issues have been a priority for the new Congress, with plenty of hearings in the first few weeks, and now the Information Technology Industry Council has appointed a new director of technology and trade policy to tackle the issues.
Jeanette Tom will be responsible for standards, energy and environmental policy for ITI.
"Jeanette is smart, industry-savvy and knows how to achieve results," said Rhett Dawson, ITI's president and CEO. "Jeanette's skills are well-suited for ITI's global regulatory agenda, which is widely recognized as the high-tech industry's most effective regulatory organization with the deepest reach to foreign governments and other entities."
Before joining ITI, Tom was the manager of international affairs at the Telecommunications Industry Association. Before that, she was associate director of Southeast Asia issues at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and previously worked in the global government affairs office of EDS.
Movie Group Promotes Longtime Employee
The Motion Picture Association of America has cast Gregory Goeckner as executive vice president and general counsel for the trade association.
The assignment comes after more than a dozen years with MPAA. Goeckner has been acting general counsel since August 2006.
"As an MPAA executive for the past 13 years, Greg has played a central role in nearly every important issue we have faced as an organization and an industry," MPAA Chairman and CEO Dan Glickman said. "As our industry continues to work through an ever-changing landscape, Greg's legal expertise and sound judgment will be critical to our success."
Before joining MPAA, Goeckner was with the entertainment litigation practice of O'Melveny & Myers, which he joined in 1981. He also served for one year as a law clerk to U.S. District Judge Robert Kelleher.
"I have been proud to serve the MPAA and our member companies for more than a decade, and am thrilled to have the opportunity to continue to help the association navigate new challenges to the protection of our member companies' works in the future," Goeckner said.
The Best Award: A Broadband Strategy
Benton Foundation Chairman and CEO Charles Benton accepted an award for pioneering efforts in telecommunications and consumer access but at the same time outlined a strategy to do more.
Benton received the Susan Hadden Pioneer Award from the Alliance for Public Technology. During the presentation, Benton identified four steps to restore the nation's Internet competitiveness -- better data, a strategy for affordable, high-speed Internet access to all Americans, a restored Technology Opportunities Program at the Commerce Department, and changes to the universal service fund for ensuring communications access.
"As management gurus always say, you can't accomplish something if you can't measure it -- and the tools we are using today to measure our progress on broadband are about as sharp and refined as Fred Flintstone's hammer," Benton said.
He noted that the United States is the only industrialized nation without a comprehensive and coordinated national broadband strategy. Benton added that the universal service program can help advance broadband while improving competition.
Tech Advisory Council Gets New Chairman
Venkatapathi Puvvada will take over as chairman of the Industry Advisory Council next month. He has been the executive vice chairman of the group, an offshoot of the American Council for Technology that brings industry and government executives together to exchange information and improve communications.
Puvvada is the chief technology officer and vice president of strategic programs at Unisys Federal. The current council chairman, Bill Piatt, has accepted a job as chief information officer at International Finance Corporation, which is not a member of the council.
"It is with mixed feelings that I announce my resignation as IAC chair," Piatt said. "However, the opportunity to join the World Bank's International Finance Corporation and support their work building a vibrant private sector to alleviate poverty around the world is one I could not turn down." Puvvada will finish Piatt's term, which ends in June.
Quote Of The Week
"Our legal counsel and C-Span's legal counsel have each independently determined that C-Span video posted on the Speaker's blog is in the public domain and does not violate copyright law."
-- Brendan Daly, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, responding to Republican Study Committee claims about postings of floor video on Pelosi's new blog.
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