WebProNews

Bad news for Kerry supporters in the telecom field: they won't be allowed to come play at The Inter-American Telecommunication Commission.

What could be worse than having to participate in the very dry space of defining international telecom standards? How about not being allowed to participate due to your political contributions?

According to Time magazine, four of the US delegates to the Commission were bumped by the White House for supporting the presidential campaign of John Kerry. One of those barred from attending, an engineer who did not want to be named, gave $250 to the Democratic Party.

"We wanted people who would represent the Administration positively, and--call us nutty--it seemed like those who wanted to kick this Administration out of town last November would have some difficulty doing that," says White House spokesman Trent Duffy.

Others removed from the delegation at the request of the White House include employees of Qualcomm, Nokia, and a Maryland-based tech company.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.