Mike Seiman's Blog

Last week, I had the pleasure of taking part in the IAB Long Tail Alliance Fly-In. I joined with small publishers in an effort to explain to Congress how the new proposed legislation from the Boucher Bill would affect small business online.  A handful of small to medium sized publishers, along with some members of the IAB board, and a representative from Burst! Media, joined myself and a colleague in attending the meetings. 

We were split into about eight groups of people who would each petition 5-6 members of the Senate or House.  The process was very straightforward and interesting: our lobbyist walked into each office, confirmed the person we were meeting with was ready, and in we went. Ultimately, the reps were very personable and seemed very interested to hear what we had to say...and talk we did.  We explained why we believe cookies are beneficial, and the importance of the fact that IP addresses are non-personally identifiable pieces of information. 

It was clear that the staff of each congressperson had a different level of education on the matter.  Some understood the clear problems the bill would create, while others didn’t really understand cookies and how they worked at all.  In the end, they were all interested in hearing about the cause, and were happy to help in any way they could.  Although we are still far away from real legislation on these privacy concerns being enacted, it is still going to take a lot of work to convince everyone to be on the same page.  In the meanwhile, I hope that if you know someone in Congress, you can help us pass along this great video which clearly explains why a world without cookies would destroy the Internet as we know it.