ebay: Working to selling your conversations to the CIA

EBay One of Few Companies to Lobby CIA

By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER

WASHINGTON (AP) — Online auctioneer eBay Inc. spent almost $2 million lobbying various departments of the federal government in the past year, including an entity rarely named on federal disclosure forms: the Central Intelligence Agency.

According to a database maintained by the Senate's public records office, eBay is one of eight groups and companies to lobby the spy agency. The company listed the CIA on a form covering its lobbying activities for the first six months of 2007.

Hani Durzy, an eBay spokesman, said that listing was an error. But, he said the company did meet with CIA officials in the second half of 2006 to discuss amendments to a 1994 law — the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act — that required Internet phone companies to ensure their equipment can accommodate wiretaps.

EBay owns the Internet phone company Skype.

In a 2006 disclosure form, the company said it lobbied the CIA and other agencies on "law enforcement access to Internet communications."

A spokesman for CIA did not respond to a request for comment.

Only eight entities lobbied the CIA in the first half of 2007, according to the Senate's public records office, including the Alliance for Responsible Atmospheric Policy and the U.S. Awami League.

The Alliance is an industry group focused on the regulation of ozone-depleting chemicals, while the Awami League is a political party in Bangladesh.

Lockheed Martin Corp. and Sybase Inc. were the only other public companies to lobby the intelligence agency this year, according to the Senate's database.

By comparison, more than 1,100 companies and trade associations lobbied the Defense Department in the same period, while over 300 lobbied the U.S. Trade Representative's office, the Senate's database showed.

According to a disclosure form posted online Aug. 14, eBay lobbied Congress and many federal agencies in the first six months of this year, including the White House, U.S. Trade Representative, FBI, Federal Communications Commission, Internal Revenue Service and the Departments of Commerce, Justice, Defense, State and Treasury.

The company lobbied on a wide range of issues, including patent reform, copyright enforcement, data security, identity theft prevention, legislation intended to protect children from online predators, immigration reform, sales taxes, the Internet tax exemption and spectrum auctions.

The company spent $985,000 lobbying in the first half of 2007, and $890,000 in the last six months of 2006.

Under a federal law enacted in 1995, lobbyists are required to disclose activities that could influence members of the executive and legislative branches. They must register with Congress within 45 days of being hired or engaging in lobbying.

Original article posted here.