Chris Nolan

Measuring political success can often be an elusive and difficult task. One reason: Reaction is often as important, sometimes more so, than action. We got a demonstration of this maxim this week in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Regardless of political orientation, pretty much everyone agrees that the U.S. reaction was not what it should […]

Last week, this column spent a few moments discussing the attitudes and habits of folks in Washington, D.C., who make and enact laws that affect the tech business. It was inspired by a conversation I had with The Gillmor Gang about wireless Internet access that made me think a bit about the different attitudes coming […]

As summer ends and the fall legislative session begins in Congress, its worth taking a few minutes to consider the differences between two worlds: those who live and breathe on the network and those who think of online communication as more like a phone call or a TV show than a constant, reliable presence. This […]

Just when the dust from MGM v. Grokster was settling, here comes Google again stirring up the debate over copyright law. The latest round was fired last week when Google, which began life as a search engine but clearly aims to be much, much more, announced that it was changing the scope of its much-ballyhooed […]

When Congress returns from its August recess, the Senate hearings on the nomination of Judge John G. Roberts to the Supreme Court will be the most-watched event. Lobbyists for a wide variety of groups have already started warming up their arguments, rallying supporters and raising money. But another event in the U.S. Senate is going […]

Every big piece of legislation—omnibus bills like the 1996 Telecommunications Act—has a simmering issue that helps move it forward. Its usually a consumer-friendly issue, something that politicians can point to as a demonstration of how theyre looking out for voters. Sometimes, its a business issue, something an industry really wants as part of a business […]

Youd think, by listening to all the public worrying, that Washington, D.C. was expecting an attack by Martians: An invasion of strange creature intent on disturbing the Capitols treasured way of life. But, no, as reporters and lobbyists contemplate the confirmation hearings of Judge John G. Roberts, President Bushs nominee to the Supreme Court, its […]

Last week, when Silicon Valley venture capital powerhouse Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers announced that former Secretary of State Colin Powell was joining its firm, Silicon Valleys political maturation took a giant step forward. Much was written about the advice that Powell would be able to give Kleiner Perkins entrepreneurs. Almost as much was written […]

Think its easy writing columns on tax policy? Think again. Which is what I should have done before I wrote last weeks column on Internet sales tax. Boy, am I popular. Readers wrote in—some quite angrily—to say (inaccurately) that I must not have many dealings with state governments and that they hoped Id have to […]

Selling online? Think you may never have to charge a sales tax? Think again. State governments, tired of seeing an estimated $15 billion in revenue go uncollected, are organizing themselves. And that doesnt bode well for companies selling goods over the Internet. The latest salvo came last week when the Council of State Taxation (also […]

In the future, when the grey-haired historians of Geekdom choose the moment when the tech business was forced to grow up, chances are good it will be the Monday in June when Silicon Valley awoke to find out that its innovators and inventors could be held liable for their mischief. If the tech community wants […]

Want to know how heated the lobbying, arguing, positioning and maneuvering over copyright legislation is going to get this fall? Ask anyone whos ever published anything containing the words “peer to peer” for a look in their e-mail in-box. Chances are good it has filled up in the past few days with helpful messages from […]