lobbyist

Google Loses Longtime Lobbyist (Updated)

John Paczkowski in News on November 7, 2011 at 4:15 pm PT

Alan Davidson, Google’s longtime director of public policy and government affairs, is taking a sabbatical to “explore other opportunities.”

Voices

Former FCC Chairman to Be Top Cable Lobbyist

Amy Schatz, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on March 15, 2011 at 12:00 pm PT

Michael Powell, the former top U.S. telecommunications regulator, will become the cable industry’s top lobbyist. Mr. Powell is joining the cable industry’s trade association from Providence Equity Partners, where he was a senior advisor, and Broadband for America, an industry group which pressed for less regulation on Internet lines.

Google Puts More Cash Toward Capital Clout

John Paczkowski in News on January 31, 2011 at 4:30 pm PT

“I’ve never seen a tech company ramp up faster than they have in the last year or two,” tech lobbyist Ralph Hellmann once said of Google. “They’re using all the tools in the lobbying tool kit.” And evidently buying some new ones as well.

Google Buzz Exposes White House Deputy CTO (And Ex-Googler)

John Paczkowski in Social on March 30, 2010 at 12:18 pm PT

This is pretty funny. Among the many Gmail subscribers to have their private contacts exposed in the Google Buzz privacy fiasco was Andrew McLaughlin, the Obama administration’s deputy chief technology officer and Google’s former head of global public policy.

If It's Tuesday, It Must Be the National Broadband Plan–If Your Connection Isn't Too Slow, You Can Tune In Online

Kara Swisher in News on March 11, 2010 at 11:33 am PT

Finally, after much advance leakage, the Federal Communications Commission will unveil its National Broadband Plan on Tuesday, March 16. The two key questions about the effort to get the United States up to speed, so to speak, with decent digital access: Will it be toothless or not and will there be any money to pay for it, given the cash-strapped federal government? And, of course, will the greedy telecoms quash the plan if it is too helpful to consumers?

Turnabout Is Fair Play: BoomTown Decodes Rupe's Journalism-Is-Not-a-Free-Cow Op-Ed!

Kara Swisher in News on December 14, 2009 at 9:05 am PT

Last week, BoomTown translated an opinion piece written by Google CEO Eric Schmidt and published in The Wall Street Journal that focused on defending the search giant from criticism that it was, well, killing journalism. One of the louder critics, in fact, has been Rupert Murdoch, chairman and CEO of News Corp., who has leveled a series of high-profile verbal attacks on Google. Last week, Murdoch published his own piece in The Journal, in which Google was never mentioned by name. So in the interest of equal-opportunity balloon-pricking, I must also render Murdoch’s post through my decoding machine, because it’s only sporting!

Kara Visits Facebook's Washington, D.C., Office and Talks Policy!

Kara Swisher in News on November 17, 2009 at 5:02 am PT

Yesterday, BoomTown paid a visit to the Washington, D.C., office of Facebook to meet its reps in the nation’s capital. Perhaps not surprisingly, the social networking site has a very small staff–for now, just a trio of on-the-young-side dudes–battening down the hatches from a funky office in a funky section of D.C., Dupont Circle, far from the tonier and lobbyist-rich K Street corridor.

The Weekly "Screw Google" Meeting? It's Between the "F@%! Linux" Luncheon and the "Ream Apple" Social.

John Paczkowski in News on August 28, 2009 at 1:19 pm PT

Get this: Microsoft has been holding secret “Screw Google” meetings in Washington at which the company schemes to undermine Google and prevent it from subsuming the businesses that took it decades to build. Those ruthless, conniving bastards. Strategizing to thwart a rival.

The Weekly “Screw Google” Meeting? It’s Between the “F@%! Linux” Luncheon and the “Ream Apple” Social.

John Paczkowski in News on August 28, 2009 at 1:19 pm PT

Get this: Microsoft has been holding secret “Screw Google” meetings in Washington at which the company schemes to undermine Google and prevent it from subsuming the businesses that took it decades to build. Those ruthless, conniving bastards. Strategizing to thwart a rival.

Obama, Schmidt, Mundie: The Fellowship of the Pings

John Paczkowski in News on April 28, 2009 at 4:55 am PT

Back in 2005, Google was represented in Washington by a lone staffer. The company’s political innocence was something of a joke among seasoned beltway players and it didn’t much seem to care. Google was far too busy organizing the world’s information to pay attention to Washington. How quickly things changed. By 2007, the company’s Washington lobbyists numbered about 12. And now, two years later, Google CEO Eric Schmidt has been named by President Obama to his Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.