Lunch at the Labs

Congressman Howard Berman.

Howard L. Berman, congressman from California, is the guy who is sponsoring the bill that makes it legal for music and movie companies to remotely hack into your computer if they suspect you are part of a file-sharing network (news story).

Here are Berman's top contributors for 2002 found at Opensecrets.org a site devoted to money in politics.

        Walt Disney Co                           $ 31,000
        AOL Time Warner                          $ 28,050
        Vivendi Universal                        $ 27,591
        Viacom Inc                               $ 13,000
        News Corp                                $ 11,750
        American Fedn of St/Cnty/Munic Employee  $ 10,000
        DreamWorks SKG                           $ 10,000
        William Morris Agency                    $ 10,000

What a coincidence :-). One thing I find amazing is how little money it takes to get a congressman to sponsor legislation for you.