Made a $250 donation to Kerry? Blacklisted from industry events

Time Magazine is reporting The White House has excluded at least 4 of the two dozen US delegates for this week's The Inter-American Telecommunication Commission meeting in Guatemala City, because they have made campaign donations to the Kerry Campaign. Individuals barred from entering the meeting by The White House include people from Nokia and Qualcomm, arguably the two most important companies in the telecommunications industry in the US.

It's unclear from the article under which authority The White House has barred these people from entering the meeting. The White House spokesperson had the audacity to comment on the issue by saying The White House thinks people that made campaign donations to John Kerry "..would not represent the administration favorably". I guess telecommunications industry innovation and standards are now a partisan effort as well. What next? The Republican GSM spec?

Looks like Nokia's and Qualcomm's competitors' campaign donations to George W. Bush are REALLY paying off now.

-TPP