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"Tough Nerd" Snyder wins Michigan GOP gubernatorial primary

Former Gateway executive and venture capitalist Rick Snyder beat a crowded field to win the Republican nomination for governor of Michigan on Tuesday. Snyder, who served as interim CEO of Gateway in 2006 and has founded two venture capital firms, touted himself as a job creator and "one tough nerd" in TV ads that blanketed the state this election season. The Ann Arbor Republican (a phrase seldom used in Mitten State politics), overcame his more-established rivals by pouring $6 million of his own money into the campaign and positioning himself as a political outsider in the state most affected by the prolonged economic downturn. With the political winds in Michigan heavily favoring the GOP this November, Snyder looks likely to defeat fiery Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, who rode the support of organized labor to rout centrist House Speaker Andy Dillon in the Democratic primary.

Recovery Board chairman says prosecutions are coming

Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board Chairman Earl Devaney said Tuesday that there are more than 350 ongoing criminal investigations into potential cases of fraud and abuse concerning Recovery Act investments. When pressed by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) at a Senate hearing on using technology to transform the government, Devaney said none of the investigations have resulted in convictions or plea agreements yet,  but that he expects to see some action on that front in roughly six months.

Afterwards Devaney told Hillicon Valley that the amount of fraud he has seen in the Recovery Act is significantly below what he would expect on a program of its size. He argued that the transparency inherent in the program has acted as a deterrent to scam artists, keeping fraud down to a minimum. He said the RATB uses software to identify risk factors associated with particular awards, contractors or grant recipients, then refers the information to specific inspector generals for further investigation.

Gowalla aims for political audience

Gowalla, a location-based social networking application similar to the popular Foursquare, is teaming up with politicians including Govs. Rick Perry of Texas and Charlie Crist of Florida to give voters a new way to interact with their favorite candidates. The site now allow users to follow candidates and receive a special custom stamp in their Gowalla "passport" when they attend campaign events or fundraisers.

Can't-miss news

Hill notes

New York congressional delegation backs NBCU-Comcast merger. Eleven members of New York's congressional delegation wrote to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski on Friday expressing their support for the proposed merger of NBC Universal and Comcast. Ten Democrats and one Republican signed the letter, which urges the FCC "to conclude the regulatory review process in a timely manner and approve the merger." The letter details the FCC's efforts to ensure that all public comments have been heard, and argues that legitimate concerns about media consolidation and diversity of content have been addressed.

Rockefeller says rural residents "shortchanged" on telecom and broadband access. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) had some strong words on universal access in a letter sent Monday to all five members of the FCC, lambasting the commission for failing to provide adequate wireless and broadband coverage for rural residents in his state and across the country. Rockefeller said the existing system has failed to comply with the law that requires ubiquitous service, and cited the April explosion at Upper Big Branch coal mine, where family members and rescue workers were hampered by the lack of available wireless communications.

Senate votes to clean up federal copyright laws. The Senate unanimously approved a series of fixes to federal copyright laws late Monday night. The changes are mostly designed to improve operations at the Copyright Office, ease the transition to digital recordkeeping and allow filers to submit documents electronically. The bill also asserts that dramatic or literary works were not "published" when included on a record album, allowing their original owners to retain their rights. Sponsors Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) expressed hope that the House would follow suit expeditiously.

Industry notes

Saudi Arabia bans Blackberry services, RIM pushes back. In response to the news that Saudi Arabia has ordered local cell phone providers to halt Blackberry services, Ontario-based Research In Motion released a statement denying that it gives preferential treatment to any government. "There is only one BlackBerry enterprise solution available to our customers around the world and it remains unchanged in all of the markets we operate in," RIM said in a statement. "RIM cooperates with all governments with a consistent standard and the same degree of respect. Any claims that we provide, or have ever provided, something unique to the government of one country that we have not offered to the governments of all countries, are unfounded."

The company made headlines this week when the United Arab Emirates announced it would block some Blackberry services over the weekend, citing the government's inability to monitor messages on RIM's secure servers. While some reports have indicated that UAE, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states are merely trying to secure the same sort of access as their Western counterparts, Research In Motion argues that it is unable to provide access to any customer's encryption key by design, meaning users can be confident in their device's security. India, Kuwait and the European Union have also indicated their need for access to the device's messaging capabilities.

Who, Where

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz will announce a settlement Wednesday morning between the FTC and Intel regarding the latter's use of anticompetitive tactics to stifle competition and harm consumers in the market for microprocessors. The event will take place at FTC headquarters at 10 a.m.; stay tuned to Hillicon Valley for complete coverage.

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke will visit NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Wednesday to tour the Space Life Sciences Lab at Exploration Park. He will be joined by Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-Fla.), U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development John Fernandez, NASA Associate Deputy Administrator Charles Scales, and Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana.

Said

"It's difficult, quite frankly, to measure prevention. Ask me how much fraud we've prevented and I have no idea, but I know we've prevented some."

—Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board Chairman Earl Devaney on the amount of waste his team has prevented through the use of technology.