AllThingsD » Alberto Gonzales http://allthingsd.com Fri, 25 May 2012 20:50:05 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://allthingsd.com/theme/images/logo-rss.jpg All Things Digital http://allthingsd.com/ 144 22 Cue Anti-Ullyot Facebook Groups in 3 … 2 … 1 http://allthingsd.com/20081001/ullyot/ http://allthingsd.com/20081001/ullyot/#comments Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:52:38 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=6024 “Ted has extremely strong connections with the Republican party, and we think that’s a good thing.” That’s what Elliot Schrage, Facebook’s vice president of communications and public policy, had to say about Ted Ullyot, who joins the company as its vice president and general counsel this month. A former chief of staff to former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Ullyot handled the government’s response to the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity. He’s the latest high-profile addition to the company’s management team–which now includes a handful of Google (GOOG) veterans, one of whom once served as chief of staff at the Treasury Department during the Clinton administration. Ullyot “has an extraordinary combination of private legal practice and public sector experience,” Schrage told the Los Angeles Times. “So many of the legal issues we face touch on both of those arenas. He is equally comfortable helping us expand internationally as he is in helping us navigate complicated legal issues we may face in Washington. Ted’s arrival really demonstrates we’re a little more grown up.”

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20081001/ullyot/feed/ 1 We Refer to It Internally as the Crimethink Act of 2007 http://allthingsd.com/20070515/crimethink-act-of-2007/ http://allthingsd.com/20070515/crimethink-act-of-2007/#comments Tue, 15 May 2007 14:29:40 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20070515/crimethink-act-of-2007/ crime.gifCould it be that Winston Smith, the protagonist of George Orwell’s novel “1984,” was right, “thoughtcrime is the only crime that matters”? Hard not to reach such a conclusion when the Justice Department is pressing Congress to approve proposed legislation that for the first time would criminalize intent to infringe copyright.

In a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce yesterday, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said this provision in the Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2007 was needed because intellectual-property crimes continue to harm the economy. “IP theft is not a technicality, and its victims are not just faceless corporations–it is stealing, and it affects us all,” Gonzales said. “Those who seek to undermine this cornerstone of U.S. economic competitiveness believe that they are making easy money; that they are beyond the law. It is our responsibility and commitment to show them that they are wrong.”

I suppose, but does that really require criminalizing attempted, and not-for-profit, copyright infringement and punishing it with a prison sentence of up to 10 years? Or permitting wiretaps in investigating intellectual-property offenses? Or creating a new crime punishable by life imprisonment for using pirated software?

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