On Fri, 12 Dec 1997, Declan McCullagh wrote:
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http://www.msnbc.com/news/129054.asp
Noted Net lobbyists form for-profit firm Two non-profit cyberspace advocates now look to market Internet strategies
By Brock Meeks
WASHINGTON -- This is a story of defection. Two well-known voices on cyberspace advocacy issues Jonah Seiger of the Center for Democracy and Technology and Shabbir Safdar of Voters Telecommunication Watch said Tuesday they're forming a company specializing in "Internet campaign strategies." Spin doctors for fun and profit. And along they way, they hope to help make the Internet safe for Democracy.
Maybe I'm dumb as a post (no pun intended), or maybe I'm just not up to speed on these advocacy issues, but - where's the defection? Why is starting a company, or the particular company in question considered a defection?
The move is a dramatic shift for the two. In four years they have been at the forefront of the most contentious issues in cyberspace. They've created and honed their Internet strategies in the bare-knuckle world of Washington politics with incessant digital lobbying. No more. "We aren't going to be walking around the halls of Congress lobbying on behalf of anybody," Seiger said.
What's so dramatic about it?
Seizer's own currency inside the Center for Democracy and Technology has been on a steady rise; he routinely is quoted on cyberspace issues. Now he's chucked all that for a start-up that depends on a medium that hasn't yet proven it can sustain a commercially viable site.
Is this a claim that nobody has made any significant money through the internet? ______________________________________________________________________ Jon Galt e-mail: jongalt@pinn.net website: http://www.pinn.net/~jongalt/ PGP public key available on my website. Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. ______________________________________________________________________