About Us
Capitol Valley is a multimedia venue for all things technology and policy, with a focus on how the two are connected. One major goal is to impress upon Silicon Valley, land of technology and home of the many startups that drive a massive economic engine, that what happens inside the Beltway matters to them. Of equal importance is demystifying the goings on of both so that the average citizen can see how the two, the Capitol and the Valley, impact their lives on a daily basis.
The people who write and read here really dig this stuff and hope that they successfully walk the tightrope of simultaneously entertaining and informing you on serious subjects while not taking themselves too seriously.
So, who are these guys, anyway?
- Andrew Feinberg has been around technology since receiving his first family computer in 1992 (and subsequently "customizing" it) and into tech policy since his stint as a Debian GNU/Linux developer during the Linux boom of the late 1990s. Eventually, Andrew figured out he couldn't code very well, but couldn't quite break that obsession with computers, networks, and how they affect law and society. In 2005, he graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where in addition to spending three years on the mens' Varsity Rowing Team, he wrote one of his two senior caps
tone papers on the history of technology with special regard to the chilling effects of poorly conceived intellectual property and copyright
law, particularly the Audio Home Recording Act. After founding Capitol Valley in early 2008, Andrew took a brief break from blogging to learn some real journalism at Warren Communications News as an assistant editor for Communications Daily and Washington Internet Daily. An avid (and allegedly capable) photographer, Andrew often supplements his writing and live-blogging with pictures, and his enthusiastic event coverage, once described by CongressDaily's Andrew Noyes as "snapping photos like a paparazzo who had just witnessed Britney's emergence from the psych ward" has been featured in National Journal's Tech Daily Dose as well as other popular publications and blogs. Most photos he takes can be found here for use under Creative Commons license terms.
Besides his technological and legal interests as an undergraduate, Andrew has taken graduate coursework in Public Affairs at American University in Washington, DC, with subjects such as the legislative process and public policy formation and implementation, including authoring a policy formation paper on the history of the FCC's print-broadcast cross-ownership rules. In addition, Andrew completed AU's 2007 Public Affairs and Advocacy Institute, and currently studies law at the Catholic University of America.
This base of knowledge acquired over a decade of hobby and study allows him to write and analyze the goings on of not only K Street, Capitol Hill and agencies like the FCC, but to also write about them in a way that the "geeks" out west can understand and hopefully spur better dialog between all parties. Andrew is always open to new ideas and projects, and would love to hear from you about anything that you think he might want to collaborate with you on. He can be contacted at 301-637-0219 and tries to answer every call, but rest assured he will also read and answer every email you send him. If you really want to get his attention, send your message directly to him by courier along with a cold case of Diet Coke, in 12oz glass bottles, if you can find them.
