Capitol Hill

Don’t Ask, Don’t Poke: What’s Next for House Proposal to Keep Employers From Demanding Your Facebook Password

Mike Isaac in News on April 30 at 1:57 pm PT

Your future employers could face steep fines if they ask for your Facebook password.

The Full Valenti: Dodd Trades His Olive Branch to Tech for a Howitzer, After SOPA/PIPA Gets Delayed

Kara Swisher in Media on January 20 at 11:32 am PT

What would Jack do? (And would it work anymore?)

Voices

Travel Sites Ally to Block Google Deal

Thomas Catan, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on October 26, 2010 at 12:00 am PT

Several popular online travel companies are joining forces to oppose Google Inc.’s proposed $700 million purchase of ITA Software Inc., the leading provider of flight data, saying the deal would give it too much sway over the travel sector.

A “Do Not Call The FTC About Facebook Privacy” Registry? Great Idea, Tim.

John Paczkowski in News on May 10, 2010 at 10:50 am PT

Perfect. Facebook has enlisted a former senior Bush administration regulator to defend its privacy practices in Washington. Tim Muris, who served as chairman of the Federal Trade Commission from 2001 to 2004 and created the popular U.S. Do Not Call Registry, is advising the company, whose privacy disclosures and fast and loose handling of user data are increasingly drawing scrutiny on Capitol Hill.

Blue Mountain Arts' Polis of Web 1.0 and His First Year as a Congressman in Web 2.0

Kara Swisher in News on March 22, 2010 at 5:18 am PT

While in Washington, D.C., last week, one of BoomTown’s last stops was at the office of Colorado Democratic Congressman Jared Polis on Capitol Hill. Although I usually try to avoid politicians at all costs, it was terrific to check in with Polis, who was one of the more interesting players in the Web 1.0 scene. Here’s the video.

"My Life on the D List" Meets All Things D

Kara Swisher in News on March 19, 2010 at 12:15 am PT

While in Washington, D.C., this week, BoomTown got to go to a dinner for comic Kathy Griffin. Griffin’s reality television show is called “My Life on the D List,” and we’re proud to share the same terrific letter. The former paramour of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak also has a very choice word for tweeting on Twitter in this very funny video.

Sale of iLike to MySpace–$13.5 Million in Cash, $6 Million for Talent Retention–Delayed Over Tax Issues (Really!)…Plus, the List of Other Suitors!

Kara Swisher in News on August 17, 2009 at 11:25 pm PT

The board of iLike planned a meeting earlier tonight to go over a buyout offer by MySpace, several sources close to the situation said. But it was suddenly canceled because of some thorny tax implications related to the talent-retention part of the deal to purchase the social music start-up. This does not mean the pending acquisition is in jeopardy, sources said, and it could be on track to be signed as early as today, barring any more complications. What’s also been unclear is the actual price the social networking giant is paying for iLike, which has been reported as about $20 million. In fact, only $13.5 million will be paid in cash, with $6 million slated for forward payments to retain key talent.

Good Effort, Moral Pygmies…

John Paczkowski in News on October 28, 2008 at 8:09 am PT

Yahoo’s public shaming before the House Foreign Affairs Committee last November apparently had quite an effect on Internet companies cooperating with Chinese government censorship and demands for information on dissidents. Less than a year after that brutal Capitol Hill humiliation, during which Committee Chairman Tom Lantos (D., Calif.) lambasted Yahoo’s leadership as moral “pygmies,” Yahoo, along with Microsoft and Google, is introducing a code of conduct that will govern their business practices in repressive countries.

Yahooglesoft Lawyers Speak!

Kara Swisher in News on July 16, 2008 at 5:59 am PT

Yesterday, BoomTown went to Washington, D.C. to see lawyers from Microsoft, Yahoo and Google face off in Senate hearings about the controversial search advertising outsourcing deal recently struck between Yahoo and Google. Here’s a video of BoomTown chatting up Google’s Chief Legal Officer David Drummond, Microsoft’s General Counsel Brad Smith and Michael Callahan, general counsel for Yahoo, right after the Senate hearings were over.

Kara Visits the Senate Hearings on the Yahoo-Google Ad Search Deal

Kara Swisher in News on July 15, 2008 at 9:21 am PT

Sitting at the Senate hearings about the Yahoo-Google ad search deal this morning in Washington, D.C., let it first be said that BoomTown is deeply dubious of whether that it is a good thing for consumers and advertisers, as both Internet companies have asserted. But this was my most certain conclusion: The worst case scenario is actually for politicians to meddle in the Internet space with their largely Web-ignorant mitts. But that’s just me!