Personnel Notes

A week after regaining its independence from Time Warner, AOL said it plans to open a government affairs office in Washington early next year.

The office will be led by Tekedra McGee Jefferson, who has been named senior vice president for government affairs. Will Castleberry, currently national director of state public policy, will service as vice president of government affairs, reporting to Jefferson.

In her new role, Jefferson will direct AOL's public policy strategy, working with lawmakers and regulators on issues including online privacy, intellectual property, child protection and online safety and protection. Read more...

Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) announced his retirement yesterday, beginning speculation about his successor.

As chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee, Gordon became the first full committee chairman in the House to call it quits this cycle, colleague Aaron Blake reports.

Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.), chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee, will not seek reelection next year.

He's served on the committee since 1985 and became chairman in 2007. Gordon, who just turned 60, said he is leaving to spend more time with family.

“When I was elected, I was the youngest member of the Tennessee congressional delegation; now I’m one of the oldest. In fact, I have members of my staff who weren’t even born when I took office. That tells me it’s time for a new chapter," he said.

Before leaving, he said he is committed to reauthorizing NASA and the America COMPETES Act, which in 2007 increased funding for math and science education and research..

The National Association of Broadcasters has hired Sue Keenom as senior vice president for state associations. Keenom most recently served as executive director of the International Women's Forum Leadership Foundation. At NAB, she'll manage outreach to state broadcast associations.

She'll report to NAB president and CEO Gordon Smith, former Republican senator from Oregon. Keenom, an Oregon native, worked in Smith's Senate office for 12 years.

Brian Peters, who's been director of government relations at RIM for the past year and a half, has moved to Franklin Square Group.

Before joining RIM, the Canadian maker of BlackBerry, Peters was director of government relations at the Information Technology Industry Council. He's a former legislative assistant for Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) where he worked on technology and telecom policy for five years. His duties at RIM included lobbying on patent reform--a big issue for the company.

Franklin Square represents technology clients such as Cisco and Google. RIM is also among its clients. Green technology policy will be a special area of focus for Peters, he told National Journal. The Hill's lobbying reporter Kevin Bogardus confirmed the news.

Former FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell and former Congressman Harold E. Ford Jr. were named honorary co-chairs of Broadband For America, a coalition of Internet service providers, content creators and commercial groups that are pushing for universal broadband access.

Powell and Ford appear in paid ads for the group that began airing during yesterday's morning talk shows. They'll also appear in ad spots on cable channels inside the Beltway.

An excerpt from the script:

Powell:  Our country is preparing a national broadband plan to bring high speed Internet to every corner of America.
 


Ford: Because even in these tough times, broadband provides new businesses the latest tools to compete and grow.
 


Powell:  And at home and in the classroom broadband gives every student the opportunity to succeed.

Ford: Our future’s at stake here

Powell: Government and the private sector need to work together to get this right.

The group's members include AT&T, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, Comcast and Verizon. Public interest groups such as Public Knowledge and Free Press, who are not members of the coalition, have criticized is at being a front group for the telecom industry. The group says its main purpose is to remind policy makers about the benefits of broadband as they develop a national broadband strategy.

Broadband for America has been running ads in Washington media outlets since its launch in September.

Jon Potter, who has been executive director of the Digital Media Association (DiMA) for the past 11 years, is announcing today that he is leaving his post.

Potter has handled DiMA's public policy activities, advocating for members including MySpace Music, RealNetworks, YouTube, Apple and MTV Networks.

He's worked in areas of interest to the entertainment industry, most notably copyright, digital rights management and music royalties. He most recently lobbied to reduce the royalty fees Web radio services were required to pay.

Potter said he does not yet know where he will end up, but said he will likely stay in the technology or entertainment fields. His phone has been ringing, he said.  DiMA's board will begin a formal search for his replacement.

"I can't imaging leaving it entirely--there's still a lot of work to be done," he said.

He said companies such as Napster were ahead of their time and licensing models and he's enjoyed watching applications created by Rhapsody, iTunes and Pandora "capture enormous consumer attention," has been rewarding.

"It's been a set of long battles and challenging issues and negotiations and royalty fights," he said. "But it's been gratifying to see companies turn their ideas into businesses."

The Senate Judiciary Committee this morning confirmed Victoria Espinel to be Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator in the White House. Next up, she'll appear before the full Senate

She was first nominated by President Obama in late September. Congress created the Copyright Czar position in 2008 to target the rise in pirated and counterfeited movies, music and software.

If confirmed, which is expected, she'll also play a key role in the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which several countries, including the U.S., are in the midst of negotiating. In 2005, Espinel was the top trade negotiator for intellectual property at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Here's some background from Wired.

One Economy CEO Rey Ramsey was officially named President of TechNet today.

Rumors of his appointment have been circulating for several weeks. In 2000, Ramsey co-founded One Economy, a nonprofit that focuses on bringing technology to unserved and low-income people. One Economy has been active in broadband initiatives and started the Broadband Opportunity Coalition, a collection of civil rights and minority groups. (One Economy was also a launching pad for co-founder Alec Ross, who is now senior innovation advisor in the State Department.)

Ramsey said he will leave One Economy at the beginning of 2010 and will remain chairman. Senior Adviser Moustafa Mourad will be acting CEO until a replacement can be found.

In a short phone conversation, Ramsey told me he would be infusing many of One Economy's values into his new gig. TechNet is a political network of technology executives. The group also announced today that Intel CEO Paul Otellini and Google CEO Eric Schmidt are joining the executive board. Facebook, Microsoft, Cisco, HP and Apple are also members.

"The questions is, how do we take this diverse array of CEOs and what they stand for and harness that to solve problems?" he said. He's most interested in the convergence of private innovation and public support. For instance, green technology helps solve a social problem, but also takes advantage of private innovation.

He said he is probably not the "traditional pick" for the position. He's interested in being active not just in Washington, but in tech corridors of California and Oregon, as well as states that aren't thought to be centers for innovation.

"I want to work with a governor who's state is struggling to create jobs," he said. "The jobs of the future are in this sector."

Broadband--the cause One Economy has championed--will continue to be part of his vision for the industry. He hopes the national broadband plan will involve the private sector, non-profits and governments. "It has to be broadband for a purpose," he said, for such things as education, healthcare and senior services.

"It's not enough that these technologies exist," he said. "How do we make sure people who need those technologies get to use those technologies? What policies do we need to put in place for that?"

TechAmerica is tapping a former recording industry lobbyist to handle state issues, a new area for the technology trade association.

Kim Allman, who began the state government affairs area for the Recording Industry Association of America, will now take over a similar advocacy practice at TechAmerica at a time when state laws regarding technology are, in some cases, moving more quickly than federal policies.