Regulatory capture occurs when governmental bodies created to act in the public interest instead advances the commercial or special interests that dominate the industry or sector it is charged with regulating. Regulatory capture is a form of government failure, as it can encourage large firms to exploit the public.
Former Sen. Chris Dodd Named MPAA Chief
Christopher Dodd, the former five-term Democratic senator from Connecticut is the head of the Motion Picture Association of America. He sat on the Foreign Relations Committee, headed the Banking Committee, and co-authored the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Among other things, he attempted to filibuster the legislation that immunized telecom companies from lawsuits over the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program.
As head of the MPAA, he’s likely to be a little less friendly to the average netizen. The MPAA has lobbied hard for the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.
It has pushed for the government to shutter websites suspected of hosting infringing material, and is responsible for using the American legal system to sue U.S.-based torrent search engines out of existence. A case against Canadian-based Isohunt is pending.
Facebook Prepares to Add Friends in Washington
Democrat Sheryl Sandberg, the former Clinton administration official is chief operating officer for Facebook. Ms. Sandberg, is the company’s No. 2 official behind co-founder and chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg.
Republican Ted Ullyot, a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is the social networker’s general counsel. Mr. Ullyot, was a White House lawyer and chief of staff for Alberto Gonzales, when he was attorney general in the George W. Bush administration. Facebook told the Los Angeles Times that Mr. Ullyot “has extremely strong connections with the Republican Party, and we think that’s a good thing.”
Facebook Adds to Its Public Policy Staff
Facebook increased its Republican credentials by adding Catherine Martin, who is the site’s first director of public policy. Previously, Ms. Martin worked for President George W. Bush, serving as deputy assistant to the president and deputy communications director for policy and planning.
Facebook May Hire Robert Gibbs, Former Obama Aide
Facebook is in talks to hire Robert Gibbs, President Obama’s former White House press secretary, for a senior role in helping to manage the company’s communications, people briefed on the negotiations told the New York Times.
Facebook Woos Washington
The Daily Beast points out that Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg’s company has 600 million members, making it about twice as big as the United States. The Daily Beast says that Facebook needs to get as cozy as it canwith the U.S. Government and Barack Obama. This company is gathering more personal information about more people than any other company ever, even more than Google. Suddenly it is dawning on everyone, including members of Congress, just how much power Facebook is amassing.
Co to counter the trend Facebook has hired two more former government officials.
- Elliot Schrage, worked at the Council on Foreign Relations and Google before joining Facebook.. Mr. Schrage, a lawyer by training, serves as Facebook’s head of global communications and public affairs.
- Chris Hughes, a Facebook co-founder, ran Obama’s 2008 social-networking operation via a website called My.BarackObama.com.
Guess Who Just Paid $35,000 For A Steak Dinner With Obama?
After President Obama’s love-in speech video at Facebook, another group of tech luminaries get a meeting with POTUS. The steak dinner at the home of Salesforce.com CEO Marc Beniof cost $35,000-a-plate. According to the Business Insider other Silicon Valley big-shots in attendance included:
- Drew Houston of DropBox,
- Jeremy Stoppelman of Yelp,
- Marissa Mayer of Google,
- Craig Newmark of Craigslist,
- Jonathan Kaplan of Flip,
- angel investor Ron Conway, and
- M&A king Frank Quattrone.
Related articles
- Facebook Prepares to Add Friends in Washington (nytimes.com)
- Chris Dodd shows how Washington works (salon.com)
[...] I have noted from my Bach Seat here and here, the revolving door between the federal government and the tech titans isn’t new. The tech titans [...]
[...] I have noted from my Bach Seat here and here, the revolving door between the federal government and the tech titans isn’t new. The tech titans [...]