It could’ve been a techno-libertarian love-fest, but the Koch-funded Liberty Hackathon made an immediate bad impression on Silicon Valley. Even after switching venues, it looks like even some of the participants decided not to take making apps for "economic freedom" seriously.
A small-ish (so far) group from San Francisco environmentalism cabal 350 Bay Area just arrived outside the Westin San Francisco Airport Hotel. Inside, Zuck and anxious Facebook investors talk shop. Outside, the 350 crew decries the shady lobbying tactics of FWD.us.
The NASDAQ Prince is making it clear he'll do whatever it takes to push through his version of immigration reform: Zuck's FWD.us lobbying giant is now bankrolling ads on the Rush Limbaugh show.
Bill Allison, the editorial director of the Sunlight Foundation, looks at the lobbying and campaign finance records relating to Apple as its CEO, Tim Cook, appears before a Senate Committee.
FWD.us is playing an old Washington game: hit both sides of the aisle to get what you want. In this case, it's buying ads for right-wing candidates who happen to also support "immigration reform" of some kind. Billionaire investor Elon Musk has had enough.
Cnet reports Twitter's top counsel, Nicole Wong, will be the White House's new (and first!) Chief Privacy Officer. If Obama wanted to reach into the private sector, this isn't a bad pick: Twitter's privacy record is generally good.
The backlash against Silicon Valley's covert right wing boosterism just picked up a little more speed: Josh Miller, the young chief of Twitter chat system Branch, is calling Zuck out.
