Lobby

Washington -- Greg Simon, who spearheaded the cable open access effor=
t here for America Online Inc. after leaving the Clinton White House, has s=
igned up to lobby for Enron Corp., the Houston-based energy trading company=
with close political ties to the Bush administration. Simon, a top media =
and telecommunications adviser to Vice President Al Gore who founded his ow=
n lobbying firm called Simon Strategies, filed a lobbying registration form=
with the clerk of the House of Representatives on June 18. He also regist=
ered Simon Strategies assistants Kristan Van Hook and Ann Morton as Enron l=
obbyists. On the registration, Simon said he planned to lobby the White Hou=
se, Congress, the Commerce Department and the Federal Communications Commis=
sion 'in furtherance of national policies that support competitive access b=
y content providers to broadband communications networks.' Simon declined =
to discuss his Enron duties, except to say he was lobbing for the company d=
irectly, indicating that Enron was not joining Simon's OpenNet coalition, t=
he group once funded by AOL to pressure the FCC and Congress to impose open=
Internet access mandates on the cable industry. 'I am not registered to d=
o [Enron's] press for them. You have to talk to them about what they want t=
o say to the press. That's not what they want me to do unless they give me =
the go-ahead to do that,' Simon said in a phone interview. Enron is a $100 =
billion energy services company with a broadband services division. The com=
pany signed a video-on-demand deal with Blockbuster Inc., but the deal coll=
apsed in March with both sides blaming the other for the venture's failure.=
Enron chairman Kenneth Lay is longtime informal adviser on energy issues =
to President Bush. He was one of 212 individuals who each raised $100,000 f=
or the Bush campaign and Enron provided corporate jets for Bush campaign of=
ficials, according to U.S. News and World Report. Wendy L. Gramm, wife of S=
en. Phil Gramm (R-Texas), is an Enron board director, according to Enron's =
company web site. U.S. News also reported that Enron empolyees gave $1.3 m=
illion to the GOP last year. It also stated that three Bush administration =
officials - senior adviser Karl Rove, Vice President Cheney's chief of staf=
f I. Lewis Libby, and top economic policy adviser Lawrence Lindsey - each o=
wned at least $50,000 in Enron stock, though Rove has moved to sell the sha=
res. Sources said Simon is planning to revive the open access issue on beh=
alf of Enron and the Walt Disney Co. and perhaps expand the effort to inclu=
de nondiscrimination by cable operators against unaffiliated interactive te=
levision providers. Enron did not return phone calls seeking comment. A Dis=
ney official has said repeatedly that the company has made no decision abou=
t joining any open access or ITV coalition. A source who recently met with=
Simon said Simon indicated his Enron job would deal with open access to ca=
ble facilities. 'What he said suggested to me that he has had conversations=
with [Enron and Disney] and it does seem that those companies have somethi=
ng in common on open access,' the sources said. Another source said Enron,=
which owns an 18,000 mile global fiber optic network, was looking to deliv=
er content from its network to end users over the last mile controlled by c=
able and phone companies. 'Their interest is, essentially, access to the l=
ocal loop,' the source said. Cable industry sources said they were puzzled =
by Simon's latest move and didn't have a clear sense of where he would begi=
n to apply pressure. One cable industry wag quipped: 'Enron is a major con=
tent provider -- of oil, gas and electricity.' All Simon would say is that=
he is 'representing Enron Broadband directly. Anything more you have to t=
alk to Enron about. I make it a habit not to put words in my client's mouth=
.' =09