[Ip-health] Amazon promotes essential facilities, reasonable royalty rules

[robert weissman]

[snip]

In Congress, Amazon.com seeks legislation on intangible patents, such as
business methods and other shopping-cart-like items. In Amazon's view,
anyone considering suing a company over copyright or trademark
infringement should have to warn it first and give the company the
chance to stop voluntarily. Misener said Amazon also proposes capping
damages at a "reasonable royalty" when a patent holder does not -- or is
not able to -- actually sell a product or service that relies on the patent.

[snip]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0307/3191.html

Amazon.com Lobbyist Has Full Cart of Issues

By: Jeff Patch
  March 19, 2007 06:38 PM EST

For a bibliophile like Paul Misener, working for one of the world's
biggest online booksellers is about as good as it gets. The top lobbyist
for Amazon.com has a library of antique documents that includes the
first publication of George Washington's papers in 1820 and 1,500 other
items. Mix in his strong interest in American political history, and the
gig sounds like the perfect fit.

"I like to think that I don't have the cynicism that so many people
involved in politics have," he said. "I never, ever want a policymaker
to do me a favor. I want the right policy adopted."

Misener, 44, oversees global government relations in North America,
Europe and Asia for the Internet retailer, work that has taken him to 40
countries on six continents. He also deals with the company's outside
counsel on congressional issues such as patent law, Internet taxes and
the huge controversy on Net neutrality, a battle over whether companies
and people should pay fees for faster access to some Web content.

He joined Amazon.com in 2000 after advising the company as a lawyer with
Wiley Rein & Fielding (now Wiley Rein). Richard E. Wiley hired Misener
as an aide-de-camp when Wiley was chairman of a government group formed
by the Federal Communications Commission to help create standards for
high-definition television. The 25-member panel and nearly 1,000-member
support staff consulted with major television companies on the project,
which the FCC approved in 1996.

"He really understood these people's business better than some of the
companies did," Wiley said of Misener.

Other former colleagues say the lobbyist is a Superman of sorts, whose
understanding of technology issues is bolstered by a degree in
engineering from Princeton University. Misener served as chief of staff
to Harold Furchtgott-Roth, an FCC commissioner from 1997 to 2001.

"He seems to thrive on little sleep," said Furchtgott-Roth, now
president of an economic consulting firm in Washington. "He would
sometimes go to meetings on the West Coast, take the red-eye back and
make a full day of meetings the next day in Washington. You wouldn't
even know because he wouldn't say anything."

Between meetings and red-eyes now, Misener works with two Amazon
associates in a 19th-century row house on C Street Northwest. His office
is furnished with drawerless desks topped with unfinished slabs of wood.
The desks typify Amazon's corporate style of fighting cost. Chief
Executive Officer Jeff Bezos initiated the policy in 1995 in an effort
to maintain low overhead and pass on savings to customers, Misener said.

In Congress, Amazon.com seeks legislation on intangible patents, such as
business methods and other shopping-cart-like items. In Amazon's view,
anyone considering suing a company over copyright or trademark
infringement should have to warn it first and give the company the
chance to stop voluntarily. Misener said Amazon also proposes capping
damages at a "reasonable royalty" when a patent holder does not -- or is
not able to -- actually sell a product or service that relies on the patent.

The fight over Net neutrality also weighs on Amazon. The issue devolved
into a partisan battle and stalled last year. Misener said Democrats are
more likely to support the company's position against preferential
Internet access, although he decries how partisan the issue has become.
"The Internet is not like traditional media," he said. "The Internet is
the opposite: Consumers decide."

Amazon has a bipartisan political action committee, which the company
started in 2000 when it opened its Washington office. In the 2006
election cycle, the PAC gave $88,500 to federal candidates (54 percent
to Democrats, 46 percent to Republicans), according to the Center for
Responsive Politics. At $4,000, Rep. Chris Cannon (R-Utah) was the
largest recipient on the House side; Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) got the most
in the Senate, $5,000. Misener donated $5,000 to the PAC in 2005 and
another $5,000 last year.

"Paul is a well respected and effective advocate for innovation and
technology in a competitive marketplace," Cannon said. "Amazon is lucky
to have someone of his caliber."