The odds that any privacy group – or even the government – will be able to back Facebook into a corner appear to have plummeted. Facebook’s hired Tim Muris, former Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, to represent its interests in Washington.
Muris has an impressive list of accomplishments to his name. In addition to just holding the highest position at the FTC between 2001 and 2004, he created the National Do Not Call Registry while there, and last week, was named the 2010 recipient of the Miles W. Kirkpatrick Award for Lifetime FTC Achievement.
What’s more, Muris has served as a professor at George Mason University for over 20 years, and worked for O’Melveny & Myers (a respected international law firm) for about six years.
Muris should prove to be quite an asset as Facebook confronts protests from some users and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Plus Senators Mark Begich, Michael Bennet, Al Franken, and Charles Schumer. And who knows who else as the social network continues to add features, revise policies, and expand its user base.
A hat tip goes to Stephanie Kirchgaessner and David Gelles, who noted, "Earlier this year, [Muris] appeared before the Senate commerce committee to testify against a legislative proposal that would give the FTC far greater authority to pass regulations, including on privacy matters."
