Elise Viebeck of The Hill reports that:
The CEOs of Google, Yahoo and Facebook have declined invitations to attend President Obama’s tech summit Friday at Stanford University. Though Apple CEO Tim Cook will be present along with the top executives from firms like Mastercard and Bank of America, the absence of leaders like Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Marissa Mayer of Yahoo is notable. Zuckerberg and Mayer were invited along with Google’s Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, but none will attend.
The boycott by lords and ladies of Techland is the result of:
… ongoing tensions between the Obama administration and Silicon Valley over privacy matters, particularly in the wake of news about National Security Agency spying.
The first-of-its-kind event is designed to highlight rising cybersecurity threats and give government officials another chance to plead for more data-sharing from tech companies.
The first-of-its-kind event is designed to highlight rising cybersecurity threats and give government officials another chance to plead for more data-sharing from tech companies.
The government will be represented at the event by:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security … along with [President] Obama, who is scheduled to deliver a key-note speech.
Evidently, the IRS will not be sending anyone.
Odd.
