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On his LinkedIn page, Pinette says that he was director of communications for Microsoft between 1996 and 2007. That means that he was in the hot seat for Microsoft's big antitrust battle – a years-long political and legal confrontation very similar to the one FB is now facing.
— Laurence Dodds (@LFDodds) April 22, 2019
There's more out there, but that is enough for now. As many have observed, Microsoft in 1997-2001 was in a very similar position to Facebook today – assailed from all sides – and Pinette was in the thick of it, raising the shield and swinging the sword for his employer.
— Laurence Dodds (@LFDodds) April 22, 2019
How did Zuck characterise FB's position in a meeting with employees? "War". So congratulations to Mr Pinette, whom I imagine, based on his acceptance of this job, must be looking forward to getting back into the fight.
— Laurence Dodds (@LFDodds) April 22, 2019
August 1999 sees a return to the sharp end. Ken Auletta, tech biz journalist extraordinaire (and a star of HBO's recent Theranos documentary), writes a New Yorker piece (we'd call it a "long read") today about the travails of Microsoft... https://t.co/VmSTp58Uqm
— Laurence Dodds (@LFDodds) April 22, 2019
Who is John Pinette. the veteran PR man that Facebook has just hired as its VP of global communications? A brief dip into his past tells us a lot about Mark Zuckerberg thinks of Facebook's position right now. https://t.co/sTku9wtRNt
— Laurence Dodds (@LFDodds) April 22, 2019
For those keeping score at home, today Facebook announced it hired a surveillance-friendly lawyer (who had a hand drafting the Patriot Act) as its General Counsel. And comms head who did PR for Microsoft during its anti-trust battles. Says a lot about the company's state of mind.
— Alex Kantrowitz (@Kantrowitz) April 23, 2019
Sure enough, here's Pinette in 1997 defending Microsoft against a claim that it's breaking a court order.
— Laurence Dodds (@LFDodds) April 22, 2019
"We'll be happy to make our case to the judge," he says. "We were asked to build a car with part of the engine stripped out." https://t.co/PY7PJzjA4l pic.twitter.com/rDGsrxzLtQ
May 1998, however, found Pinette in a more relaxed position. Amidst the conflict, Bill Gates hosts his second "CEO summit". But why isn't Al Gore invited? "We're not doing policy stuff," says Pinette. "It has much more of a business focus this year." https://t.co/mmlr3EMYSZ pic.twitter.com/8P1PZipzaG
— Laurence Dodds (@LFDodds) April 22, 2019
Facebook’s new head of comms John Pinette will have a steep learning curve moving from philanthropy to repping something widely hated https://t.co/VEznnJzxFV pic.twitter.com/YZfdi8Fkxb
— Josh Constine (@JoshConstine) April 22, 2019
Zuck calls for Facebook to be regulated, Sheryl hires the author of the Patriot Act to help write the regulations https://t.co/ieAmnAepIK
— nilay patel (@reckless) April 23, 2019
Facebook really is gonna do whatever they wanna do https://t.co/gO7pH675bt
— Gene Park (@GenePark) April 23, 2019
A message I got from a former FB employee on the co's new general counsel:
— Ryan Mac (@RMac18) April 23, 2019
"How fucking perfect. The platform — with its tentacles in every last aspect of people's lives — is now receiving legal counsel by the woman who authored much of the Patriot Act."https://t.co/81QCn0cRpP
Btw, the intro to this story is highly instructive. "After weeks of being battered by politicians, pundits, competitors and antitrust attorneys, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates..." Sound familiar?
— Laurence Dodds (@LFDodds) April 22, 2019
And here's CNBC on incoming Facebook GC Jennifer Newstead: "Newstead helped draft the Patriot Act, which granted law enforcement agencies greater surveillance power over ordinary Americans." https://t.co/boA1dJ30XO
— Alex Kantrowitz (@Kantrowitz) April 23, 2019
Will be interesting to see what the folks that FB hired away from privacy advocacy institutions like EFF and Access Now will do when they have to work with Newstead.
— Ryan Mac (@RMac18) April 23, 2019
Here's a piece that covers, among other things, FB's attempt to hire more privacy types.https://t.co/JU7tWiZpkU
Auletta describes Pinette as "a former Catholic priest" (?!?) who shadows him around MS's Redmond, WA headquarters. But later, he finds out that Pinette has circulated an intelligence dossier about him (!!!), wrongly claiming he's close to the lawyer leading the case against MS pic.twitter.com/EG7YOAYAn9
— Laurence Dodds (@LFDodds) April 22, 2019
FB lawyers up for future anti-trust battles by hiring Pinette. https://t.co/mYsgb2cnrm
— Richard Harper (@harpersnotes) April 22, 2019
Here he is again in January, 1998, as Microsoft attempted to bar Lawrence Lessig from testifying as an expert witness on the grounds of "extreme bias". "We will argue [Lessig's status] should be revoked on serious legal and procedural grounds," Pinette tells reporters. pic.twitter.com/1g8Fe7oL6Z
— Laurence Dodds (@LFDodds) April 22, 2019
Facebook’s new chief lawyer helped write the Patriot Act https://t.co/Cc72wSkBhz via @verge
— ????? (@TheChiIIum) April 23, 2019
‘Jennifer is a seasoned leader whose global perspective and experience will help us fulfill our mission,’ says Sheryl Sandberg
We already know (via @dseetharaman) that Mark Zuckerberg sought Bill Gates' advice after Cambridge Analytica last year, and that Bill Gates recommended he adopt a similar organisational structure to what Microsoft had (though Zuck eventually rejected this) https://t.co/B8NbS76kQH
— Laurence Dodds (@LFDodds) April 22, 2019
Facebook taps lawyer who helped write Patriot Act as new general counsel#GreatAwakening
— Amazing Polly (@99freemind) April 22, 2019
https://t.co/dCS2ooEhBL
Facebook has tapped a top State Department lawyer who was credited with helping to write the controversial 2001 Patriot Act as its new general counsel. https://t.co/nXat2MDODz
— Mikael Thalen (@MikaelThalen) April 22, 2019
Facebook taps lawyer who helped write Patriot Act https://t.co/St9vncM5kF
— Harper Neidig (@hneidig) April 22, 2019
One of the most eyebrow-raising elements of the latest Facebook appointee's CV is her significant role in drafting the Patriot Act. Via @siliconrepublic https://t.co/YXZzZqGTPI
— Eva Short ✨ (@evadiminutive) April 23, 2019
Tapping the architect of the Patriot Act in the midst of massive privacy criticism seems like a very dumb move https://t.co/oLPCqScWLO
— Tonya Riley (@TonyaJoRiley) April 22, 2019
Jennifer Newstead -- lawyer largely responsible for the "Patriot Act" -- is leaving the State Department to be general counsel for Facebook. https://t.co/dvoUVzRF9hhttps://t.co/TGs2XaiTGX
— Sam Husseini (@samhusseini) April 23, 2019
Facebook’s new head of comms John Pinette will have a steep learning curve moving from philanthropy to repping something widely hated https://t.co/VEznnJzxFV pic.twitter.com/YZfdi8Fkxb
— Josh Constine (@JoshConstine) April 22, 2019
Facebook hires new general counsel, comms leader https://t.co/dyqIIypD4K
— Tony Romm (@TonyRomm) April 22, 2019
New: Sec Pompeo announces the departure of State Dept Legal Adviser Jennifer Newstead---who is leaving to join Facebook: https://t.co/kbp2gaNt6S pic.twitter.com/oHRA2xOBO3
— Conor Finnegan (@cjf39) April 22, 2019
New comms head and GC at Facebook: https://t.co/exfO3TKXkJ
— Alex Kantrowitz (@Kantrowitz) April 22, 2019
Facebook appoints US state department lawyer as new general counsel https://t.co/5s2NRRxrCO
— Financial Times (@FT) April 22, 2019
Facebook appoints US state department lawyer as new general counsel https://t.co/bkUqRUadKu via @financialtimes
— toomas hendrik ilves (@IlvesToomas) April 22, 2019
Facebook appoints US state department lawyer as new general counsel https://t.co/gn7OBscT3N via @fastFT
— Rebecca MacKinnon (@rmack) April 22, 2019
.@Facebook Hires Top State Department Lawyer and Bill Gates’s Former PR Chief https://t.co/PmES9TcPfP
— Raju Narisetti (@raju) April 23, 2019
Interesting development; does t portend that Facebook’s next hedge against privacy will be national security? Let me explain. https://t.co/1k4JGPNQl5?
— Chris Hoofnagle (@hoofnagle) April 22, 2019
Facebook does not have a PR problem, it has a behavior problem. It continues to be a bad actor. No amount of spin will change that. If Zuck tells us 1 more time how he’s made mistakes & will try harder next time i’mma ?. Change your actions-not your words https://t.co/oQkIUFlfQp
— Marc Goodman (@FutureCrimes) April 22, 2019
Facebook Hires Top State Department Lawyer and Bill Gates’s Former PR Chief https://t.co/c7sipuCDkq
— Ken Yeung (@thekenyeung) April 22, 2019
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