10 posts and columns on Secretary of State

If You Get the Muppets to Sign On, Hillary’s In

I was delighted to read about your interest in sharing the big screen with me. As you can imagine, I am a little occupied at the moment, but perhaps someday I can help you forget Sarah Marshall … again. My only condition is that there be Muppets involved, and that is non-negotiable.

– Hillary Clinton, in reply to Jason Segel’s joking remarks to Jimmy Fallon and Us Weekly about the Secretary of State starring in a movie with him

Will Secretary of State Clinton's "Internet Freedom Agenda" Finally Get Traction?

in News on February 16, 2011 at 7:09 am PT

Yesterday, in a major policy speech in Washington, D.C., Secretary of State Hillary Clinton jumped on the Internet bandwagon again, unveiling a $25 million government investment for entrepreneurs to allow dissidents to thwart “thugs, hackers and censors.” Since that’s about the amount a third-string social photo-sharing site gets while walking down University Avenue in Palo Alto, Calif., from venture capitalists with bags of money to spend, let me just say the money is, well, underwhelming. Clinton’s speech, thankfully, was much better.

New Motion Control Patent Could Shake Up Smartphone Industry

in Mobile on March 24, 2010 at 5:00 am PT

Here’s a potentially noteworthy development in the patent litigation-riddled mobile device market. Last week, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a very broad patent on motion-based smartphone control, one that could have significant implications for the industry.

Internet Access Viewed as Fundamental Human Right

in News on March 8, 2010 at 1:31 pm PT

Is unfettered Internet access a fundamental human right? Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton believes it is and said as much during a speech on Internet censorship earlier this year. And it appears that this belief is widely held. The BBC put the question to more than 27,000 adults in 26 countries and got a yes from four out of five, which is nice to hear.

China on “Google Farce”: Our Internet Is Open

in News on January 22, 2010 at 7:06 am PT

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s speech on Internet censorship Thursday and her call for an investigation into charges that Chinese-backed hackers attacked Google have met with a bristling and indignant response from Beijing. In a statement posted to China’s Foreign Ministry Web site, Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said the United States should “cease using so-called Internet freedom to make groundless accusations against China.”
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Clinton Calls on China to Probe Google Hack

in News on January 21, 2010 at 8:06 am PT

China has denied involvement in the recent cyber attacks against Google, but U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would like it to investigate them anyway. “Google’s review of its business operations in China has attracted a great deal of interest,” Clinton said during a speech this morning on Internet freedom at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. “We look to Chinese authorities to conduct a thorough investigation of the cyber intrusions that led Google to make this announcement.”
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Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? Eric Schmidt and the Technorati Visit the State Department.

in Media on January 7, 2010 at 12:29 pm PT

Sick of CES news? Are you in Washington, D.C., tonight? Feel like some ambitious party-crashing? Here’s a dinner to get yourself into: The one Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is hosting for Google CEO Eric Schmidt and a group of digital doers and thinkers.

Meet AOL’s BOD: Tim Armstrong May Be Youthful, but His Directors-To-Be Aren’t

in Media on October 26, 2009 at 6:52 am PT

AOL continues to prep for its impending spinoff from Time Warner. Today’s step: Announcing the board of directors for the company-to-be. Boldface names of note include William Hambrecht, former head of tech investment bank Hambrecht & Quist; Michael Powell, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission; and Jim Wiatt, former head of William Morris. Notably absent: Anyone from Google, Tim Armstrong’s favorite recruiting ground, and any whippersnappers, unless you count 46-year-old Powell.
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Viral Video: Clinton's Diplomacy in the Conan-Newark Mayor Feud

in News on October 12, 2009 at 7:15 am PT

It looks like Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will have her hands full with pretty dicey nuclear and terrorism issues in North Korea and Pakistan this week, but she managed to find time last week to try her diplomatic hand at working out the state of emergency between late-night television talk show host Conan O’Brien and Newark Mayor Cory Booker. Here are the videos.
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For Shame: The Congo Nightmare Continues

in News on August 11, 2009 at 9:09 am PT

Eve Ensler, playwright, activist and creator of V-Day, appeared at the the seventh D: All Things Digital conference in late May to talk about the links between what goes into making mobile phones and human rights violations. There, she shed much needed light on the dire situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where some of the worst atrocities are now being committed on the population in a terrible civil war. She predicted it would get worse without massive international intervention. Tragically, she was right.
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