Thread by @nimkef

Who is Tech Executive-1?

Feb 2015 (aprox.)
TE-1 retains Sussmann for assistance with a USG agency

Internet Company-1 used Sussmann as outside council and was a significant source of income for [Perkins Coie]

H/T @DawsonSField @FOOL_NELSON

Nov. 2014
Sussmann was working for

Leonard J. Kennedy
Scott M. Deutchman
J. Beckwith Burr
Richard L. Fruchterman, III
Aaron N. Goldberger

execs of Neustar, a Virgina based telco. that was trying to win the FCC's wireless and text routing contact, worth about $1B

Neustar is the domain name registry for a number of top-level domains, including .biz, .us (on behalf of United States Department of Commerce), .co, .nyc (on behalf of the city of New York), and .in (on behalf of the National Internet Exchange of India).

2017 Revenue of $1.2B

1997
Under Lockheed Martin, Neustar wins first contract to be a North American Numbering Plan Administrator on behalf of the FCC. The contract was to handle routing of call and text for 650M+ US and Canadian numbers

1998
Neustar is incorporated (spun-off of Lockheed Martin)

1999, 2004 & 2012
NANPA contract renewed

21 July 2016

FCC has decided to make a European-owned company the clearinghouse for routing billions of cell calls and texts across the US, despite claims by critics that the plan poses national security risks

nytimes.com/2016/07/22/bus…

FCC’s approval will give a New Jersey subsidiary of Ericsson, the obscure but critical job of operating a sprawling national system to track and route wireless calls and texts among hundreds of service providers.

The routing system began in the 1990s as a way for people to keep their cellphone numbers when they switched carriers, but intelligence and law enforcement agencies have come to rely on it to track and trace phone numbers in investigations.

The contract, worth around a billion dollars over 7yrs, has been held since 1997 by small Virginia Co., Neustar. As part of an intense bidding process, the Ericsson subsidiary, Telcordia, told the FCC it could do the work much less & it earned the backing of many large carriers

Some current and former intelligence officials have expressed concern that handing the contract to a foreign-owned company could leave the system more vulnerable to an attack.

Illustrating that point, evidence emerged several months ago that Telcordia had improperly used a small number of foreign nationals, including one Chinese citizen, to do computer coding for early work on the system after Telcordia was given preliminary approval for the job.

Only “vetted U.S. citizens” were supposed to work on the project, and as a result, the FCC forced the firm to scrap the extensive computer work it had done and start over.

The FCC’s three Democratic-appointed commissioners, led by Tom Wheeler, the chairman, voted earlier this month in a closed setting to give the final go-ahead to Telcordia. The two remaining commissioners, both Republicans, voted to concur with that approval in part.

Neustar waged a furious effort to hold on to the job, and it criticized the FCC over a bidding process that it said was deeply flawed, suing last year in federal court.

2014
hired Michael Chertoff [Covington & Burling?], former DHS secretary, as a private consultant to assess the possible risks posed by the plan to change administrators. He concluded in a 45pg report that there were security concerns w/ turning the job over to Ericsson

The controversy echoes earlier disputes over the role foreign companies should play in American infrastructure systems.

In 2006 a $6.8B deal that would have allowed a company in the UAE to manage 6 US port terminals set off outrage in Congress & was eventually killed

David G. Simpson, a retired rear admiral who leads the FCC’s public safety bureau, said that he and other officials from the FCC and FBI had received a “detailed walk-through” in April of several of the sites that Telcordia plans to use for the phone database.

Mr. Simpson said that his team had examined a range of security steps planned by Telcordia, including digital security defenses, computer coding practices, whistle-blower programs, guards and visitor screenings.

In a separate letter to the FCC last month, FBI said it was important for LE and national security agencies to get accurate, confidential and secure phone-routing information under the contract. It said that it had no indication that Telcordia was unable “to meet those needs.”

2017
Neustar bought by Golden Gate Capital

(GGC was founded by former Bain partner David Domink)

Perkins Coie & Sussmann have worked for Neustar as far back as 2014.

And from the looks of that work it involves a USG agency (FCC) and would rack up lots of billable hours.

Neustar sounds like a good candidate for Internet Company-1.

Assuming Neustar is IC-1, TE-1 could be one of the following:

Leonard J. Kennedy
Scott M. Deutchman
J. Beckwith Burr
Richard L. Fruchterman, III
Aaron N. Goldberger

13 Sept 2021

TransUnion has agreed to acquire Neustar, a premier identity resolution company with leading solutions in Marketing, Fraud and Communications, from a private investment group led by Golden Gate Capital and with minority participation by GIC.

newsroom.transunion.com/transunion-acc…

The acquisition expands TransUnion’s powerful digital identity capabilities through the addition of Neustar’s distinctive data and analytics, enabling consumers and businesses to transact online with greater confidence.

Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, Neustar is expected to generate ~$575M of revenue [~50% of 2017] in 2021.

“We share a similar focus on ID-based solutions to enable trusted connections between companies and people,” said Charlie Gottdiener, Pres & CEO of Neustar.

Neustar’s OneID identity resolution platform will increase the speed and sophistication of TransUnion’s powerful identity-based solutions, strengthening TransUnion’s offers across industry verticals in the U.S., as well as global markets in the longer term.

Neustar’s security business, which is excluded from the transaction, will become a Golden Gate Capital and GIC portfolio company following close.

The transaction consideration is $3.1 billion in cash. The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2021

Neustar is an information services and technology company and a leader in identity resolution providing the data and technology that enable trusted connections between companies and people at the moments that matter most.

Neustar offers solutions in marketing, risk, communications, and security that responsibly connect data on people, devices, and locations, continuously corroborated through billions of transactions. Neustar serves more than 8,000 clients worldwide, including 60 of the Fortune 100

About Golden Gate Capital

Golden Gate Capital is a San Francisco-based private equity investment firm with over $19B in cumulative committed capital.

About GIC

GIC is a leading global investment firm established in 1981 to secure Singapore’s financial future. As the manager of Singapore’s foreign reserves, we take a long-term, disciplined approach to investing.

6 April 2020

GoDaddy announced it is acquiring Neustar Inc's Registry business. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. The deal is expected to close in Q2 2020.

prnewswire.com/news-releases/…

The Neustar Registry business features a high-performance backend registry technology platform and enhanced domain security systems that enable people and brands to seamlessly connect and transact online with speed, security and reliability.

The Neustar Registry business includes an extensive portfolio of TLD's, inc. .biz, .co, .in, .nyc and .us, and supports more than 215 TLDs & ~12M domains. Including its Managed Registry Services that provides end-to-end registry management for over 130 brand & 70 generic TLDs

18 Aug 2006
Michael A. Sussmann

B.S. Accounting, Rutgers
J.D. Brooklyn Law School

Admitted to practice in the DC, New Jersey, and New York.

Was an associate in Proskauer Rose LLP, NYC and was a co-counsel for federal and state trials.

pr.com/press-release/…

Litigated copyright infringement cases and drafted pre-trial motions, trial and appellate briefs & conducted pre-trial discovery.

1993-7
Special Asst to the AAG, Criminal Division, DoJ & assisted in supervision of 500+ Criminal Division attorneys & various matters in 93 USAO's

Conducted grand jury investigations & pre-indictment review for fraud, money laundering & public corruption prosecutions, drafted congressional testimony & commented on proposed legislation.

He served as Criminal Division liaison to Intelligence Community and maintained national security portfolio.

1995
Special Assistant USA, Eastern District of Virginia. He prosecuted felony jury trials and misdemeanor bench trials and represented United States before the District Court on motions, pleas, sentencings, and before the Grand Jury.

1997-2005
With expertise in Communications and IT, designated Senior Counsel to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section in DC

Currently [2006], he is a Partner at a top law firm, Perkins Coie LLP.

He investigated and prosecuted computer intrusions and other Internet-related crimes, copyright and trademark violations involving software piracy and other digital rights, and economic espionage.

He also provided counsel to FBI, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and other federal (and state) agencies on the Wiretap and Pen/Trap statutes, Electronic Communications Privacy Act, online privacy and information security.

Having chaired U.S. Delegation to G-8 Subgroup on High-Tech Crime (over 30 multilateral meetings), he focused on cross-border cyber investigations, critical infrastructure protection and network security, and computer viruses and worms.

He led DOJ cybersecurity consultations with European Union, and negotiated cooperative bilateral arrangements with China. He was also involved in Top Secret/SCI national security clearance.

About Perkins Coie LLP

The firm has more than 600 attorneys in 14 offices across the United States and in China and has historically represented market leaders in traditional and cutting-edge technology industries.

About The Global Knowledge Congress

The Global Knowledge Congress is an organization that produces teleconferences that examine regulatory changes across a variety of industries.

The press release is for an appearance Sussmann made at the Global Knowledge Congress where he spoke about FCC regulations, specifically CALEA

29 June 2010

Aaron Goldberger has joined Neustar as VP, Regulatory Affairs. His primary responsibility will be to represent Neustar and its subsidiaries before the FCC, industry organizations, public policy forums and associations and coalitions.

marketscreener.com/quote/stock/NE…

Goldberger most recently served as senior legal advisor to the Bureau Chief in the FCC's Wireless Telecoms Bureau.

Earlier, FCC Chair Kevin J. Martin's legal advisor, senior legal advisor to FCC Commish Deb Taylor Tate, & acting dep dir for FCC's Office of Legislative Affairs

Goldberger earned his undergraduate degree at Michigan State University and his law degree from Indiana [L Jean Camp?]. He is married and has two children.

Neustar was founded to meet the technical and operational challenges of the communications industry when the U.S. government mandated that consumers be able to keep their telephone numbers when they switched providers.

[2010], Neustar is one of the world's largest addressing and policy management companies, operating authoritative databases for virtually all telephone numbers and area codes for the US & Canada;

providing DNS solutions that play a key role in directing and managing traffic on the Internet and managing the authoritative directories for the .us and .biz Internet domains, as well as Common Short Codes used by the wireless industry to facilitate text messaging.

Neustar was recently chosen by the Digital Content Entertainment Ecosystem, a coalition w/ support from every industry involved in digital entertainment, to build the digital content locker so consumers can get access to the content they own on the device they choose

"Aaron Goldberger is one of the most widely respected attorneys in the communications industry, with deep insight into the future path of technologies that benefit consumers. He will be a strong advocate on behalf of Neustar and our industry partners" said Jerry Kovach, Senior VP

22 May 2012

J. Beckwith “Becky” Burr joins Neustar as its Chief Privacy Officer & Deputy General Counsel. Burr will be responsible for ensuring that Neustar maintains state-of-the-art privacy practices that always protect customer and consumer data.

home.neustar/about-us/news-…

She will work closely with Jonathan Coombes, Neustar’s Chief Information Security Officer, and will report directly to Scott Blake Harris, Neustar’s Senior Vice President and General Counsel. Her appointment is effective June 1st.

Burr is currently a partner at Wilmer Hale, practicing in the Communications, Privacy and Internet Law Practice Group. She also is a veteran of the FTC and the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Burr was responsible for competition and consumer protection policy in connection w/ electronic information infrastructure at the FTC. She participated in developing the FTC’s approach to competition, consumer protection, and privacy/data protection in the digital marketplace

Founding member of the board of directors of the International Association of Privacy Professionals

Certified Information Privacy Professional

Recognized as a leader in Privacy & Data Security in the 2007-12 editions of Chambers of USA: America’s Leading Lawyers in Business.

Burr is an internationally recognized expert on Internet governance issues. She has served as a member of ICANN’s Government Advisory Committee, country-code Names Supporting Organization Council, and legal counsel to domain name registries, registrars, and business stakeholders

Burr also will play an important role for Neustar on Internet governance, ICANN and domain name registry issues.

Neustar is a trusted, neutral provider of real-time information and analysis to the Internet, telecommunications, entertainment and marketing industries throughout the world.

Neustar applies its advanced, secure technologies in routing, addressing and authentication to its customers’ data to help them identify new revenue opportunities and network efficiencies, and institute cybersecurity and fraud protection measures

23 June 2011

Scott Deutchman will join Neustar as VP of Legal and External Affairs.

He's currently the Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Telecommunications at the Executive Office of the President’s Office of Science and Technology Policy

home.neustar/about-us/news-…

In his new role at Neustar, he will focus on a variety of Internet, telecommunications and innovation-related issues. Mr. Deutchman’s tenure at Neustar begins on July 5, and he will report directly to Executive Vice President of Legal and External Affairs, Scott Blake Harris.

Deutchman was responsible for advising the nation’s first U.S. Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and other Administration officials on legal, policy and legislative matters involving telecommunications, innovation and technology policy.

On behalf of the CTO and the OSTP, he worked on administration initiatives involving spectrum, public safety, and broadband.

Jan-July 2009
He served at the FCC as Acting Senior Legal Advisor on broadband policy to then-Acting Chairman Michael J. Copps.

April 2006
Joined Copps’ office as Legal Advisor for competition and universal service issues. He previously worked for the law firm of Hogan Lovells and for LMG, a public affairs firm.

He also served as a Democratic Counsel to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee.

BSc, with honors, from Cornell University, School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

University of Pennsylvania Law School (cum laude)

2 May 2013

Leonard (Len) Kennedy will join the company as Senior Vice President and General Counsel, effective May 13. In this position, Kennedy will oversee Neustar’s legal and external affairs efforts, including public policy and government relations.

home.neustar/about-us/news-…

Currently at the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where he served as Associate Director and General Counsel and, most recently, as Senior Advisor to the Director.

Previously, he served as General Counsel and Chief Government Affairs Officer at Sprint Nextel.

Kennedy has more than 30 years of experience advising clients and the federal government on telecommunications and media law, regulatory strategy and policy, and investment matters affecting wireless, wired, and Internet communications services and networks.

He oversaw the legal and regulatory completion of Nextel’s merger with Sprint, becoming General Counsel, Corporate Strategy & Chief Govt Affairs Officer of the combined Sprint Nextel.

Previously a partner at the law firm Dow, Lohnes & Albertson PLLC

1980-91
served at the FCC

Mr. Kennedy will replace Scott Blake Harris, who has been Neustar’s Senior Vice President and General Counsel since 2011. Mr. Harris is returning to private practice.

Neustar
Fransisco Partners
NSO Group

https://twitter.com/DawsonSField/status/1439257251018125314?s=20

More here

https://twitter.com/nimkef/status/1422045214429040642?s=20

26 Jan 2011

Len Kennedy will serve as General Counsel of the CFPB implementation team.

He most recently served as General Counsel, Corporate Secretary and Chief Government Affairs Officer for Sprint Nextel Corporation.

consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsr…

There he managed a legal department of 131 attorneys and advised the board of directors, CEO and senior management on all aspects of the company’s business and legal affairs.

During Kennedy’s tenure, he successfully oversaw the business and legal integration of a $35B merger [2005].

He previously served for five years [since Jan 2001] as General Counsel of Nextel.

In 2008, he was a recipient of Corporate Board Member’s America’s Top General Counsel Award.

[Pre-2001], he advised providers of communications and Internet services on all aspects of communications business and regulatory matters in Washington, D.C. as a partner of Dow Lohnes.

Kennedy twice served as a Senior Legal Advisor at the FCC. Kennedy has served on the board of many Washington-area non-profit organizations, including as Co-President and Co-Chairman of the Appleseed Foundation.

He presently serves as a member of the Cornell University Council and is a member of the Board of the Sidwell Friends School. He is a graduate of the Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences and Law School.

"Advised Sprint (including Nextel Communications prior to its merger with Sprint) on its multibillion dollar strategic spectrum rebranding initiative, over the course of a decade,

perkinscoie.com/en/experience/…

affecting public safety communications and commercial wireless operations before the FCC and other federal agencies, and in related transactions and litigation matters."

I wonder how far back Kennedy's relationship with Perkins Coie goes

TE-1 enlisted assistance of researchers at a US university who were receiving and analyzing internet data in connection with a pending USG cybersecurity research contract

https://twitter.com/nimkef/status/1439682202598617092?s=20

University of Illinois and the NSA

https://twitter.com/nimkef/status/1439689025888079874?s=20