INTERNET GIANTS’ NEW LOBBY SHOP: Recent reports by Politico and Reuters have revealed that while most companies lobbied less in the second quarter of 2012, technology giants like Google and Facebook have ramped up their K Street operations. Add to that the fact that LinkedIn made its first-ever lobbying expenditure this past quarter, and it seems clear that online business has planted its foot in Washington.

This September, however, the Internet will take its lobbying to a whole new level with its first-ever trade group, the Internet Association.

Companies like Google, eBay, and Amazon are set to launch “the nation’s first trade association” representing “the Internet Economy and America’s leading Internet Companies.” The organization will be headquartered in Washington, D.C., and will advocate for policies that benefit online businesses.

Last Wednesday the Association announced its first major decision: the hiring of Capitol Hill veteran Michael Beckerman, the Deputy Staff Director of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Energy & Commerce Committee, as CEO and President. Beckerman had previously been legislative director for two lawmakers: Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) from 2007-2011, and Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Tex.), from 2005-2007. Beckerman was also a professional staffer for the U.S. House Science, Space, & Technology Committee from 2003-2005 and legislative correspondent for Rep. Upton from 2001-2003.

With a revolving door lobbyist at its helm and the Internet’s biggest companies lending their support, the Internet Association should make a big splash when it makes its K Street debut this September.

MITT’S VP APP: America is eager to find out who former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney will choose as his vice presidential nominee, and with the Republican National Convention mere weeks away, a decision should be coming in the near future.

But to be among the first to hear Mitt’s choice, all you need is a smartphone.

That’s right, according to Politco the Romney campaign has released an app entitled “Mitt’s VP” that will allow users to hear before anyone else who Mitt has chosen as his second-in-command. The app is already available on the Android market and at the iTunes App Store.

What this app does not do, however, is give Americans a better sense of who Mitt will choose. Here at Opensecrets.org we profiled the top contenders for the VP slot in our series “A Heartbeat Away?,” which looked into each possible VP nominee’s ability to attract campaign contributions as well as the status of their personal finances. The series featured the likes of Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), and Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), among others.

“Mitt’s VP” is the latest in a string of smartphone political apps released this campaign cycle, including the Shazam-type app for super PAC ads, which according to Forbes will soon allow anyone with the app to hold a smartphone up to the TV during a political ad and identify which PAC or super-PAC funded it.

FCC POSTS AD DATA: Despite fierce opposition from broadcasters, the Federal Communication Commission’s online political advertisement database went live this morning.

The database features information from four major broadcast companies’ local affiliates in the 50 largest television markets in the country about political ad purchases, which could potentially shed light on those funding the non-disclosing 501(c)(4) groups that are spending millions on the 2012 elections.

The FCC first passed the rule requiring ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox affiliates to post their political ad contracts online in April, but faced significant blowback from several House GOP members, who initially tried to squash the rule.

Additionally, the National Association of Broadcasters lobbied heavily in opposition the rule, arguing that requiring stations to post their ad prices would hurt competition. Once the rule passed, the NAB filed a lawsuit against the FCC, which is still pending, and asked a federal court to block implementation of the rule, a request that was denied last week.

Broadcasters’ political ad files were publicly available before the FCC’s decision, but could only be obtained in paper form by traveling to each individual station in person.

Although the database is now up and running, TV stations still appear to be in the process of uploading the ad files to the site, which you can explore here.

— Adam Wollner contributed this post.



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