Our Staff
The Internet Alliance has assembled a team of highly-motivated, seasoned, state government affairs professionals and they have shaped every ecommerce and information technology policy debate in the states since the dawn of the commercial Internet. The IA has been the lead Internet industry voice since 1999 as states from Maine to California have examined spam, privacy, tax, technology and security issues.
Robert Sherman and Tammy Cota of Kimbell Sherman Ellis manage the design and implementation of the overall state program. They have assembled the most sophisticated data base of state Internet, ecommerce and information industry legislation in the country. They identify critical bills and the IA staff, guided by its members, works to shape legislation that protects ecommerce and allows the Internet marketplace to thrive and grow.
Tammy Cota
Tammy Cota is the Executive Director of the Internet Alliance. She graduated summa cum laude from Champlain College in Burlington, VT, where she studied computer networking and PC support. Cota has worked with the Internet Alliance since the early 90s and has been an associate with Kimbell, Sherman Ellis since 1991.
Robert Sherman
Robert Sherman is a Partner of Kimbell Sherman Ellis. Sherman was Vermont Governor Madeleine M. Kunin's special assistant, press secretary and administration lobbyist. He spent 12 years as a journalist including five years as a foreign affairs reporter for the Jack Anderson column in Washington, D.C. Sherman grew up in Rhode Island and studied journalism at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston.
Michael A. Signorelli
Michael Signorelli is an Associate with Venable law firm’s Government and Regulatory Affairs Practice Group, where he advises and represents clients on privacy and Internet-related issues. Mr. Signorelli counsels clients on advertising, marketing, and data security related matters and represents clients in federal marketing-related legislation and rulemaking proceedings and other matters before the Federal Trade Commission, Federal Communications Commission, and the U.S. Department of Commerce. Mr. Signorelli advises clients with regulatory compliance matters and on developments regarding the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (Can-SPAM), Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and compliance with the European Union's Data Protection Directive (the E.U. Directive). Mr. Signorelli has also been involved in matters related to Internet governance, crisis management, and the development of self-regulatory programs.
Julia Kernochan Tama
Julia Kernochan Tama is an associate in the Venable law firm’s Regulatory Affairs Group, where she focuses her practice on privacy and data security matters. Ms. Tama advises clients on compliance with existing laws and regulations, and also advocates on behalf of clients concerned about the impact of proposed legislation or rules.
Prior to joining Venable, Ms. Tama served as Judiciary Committee Counsel to U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), where her portfolio included privacy, data security, consumer protection, child Internet safety, foreign intelligence surveillance, and homeland security issues. Drawing on her years on Capitol Hill, Ms. Tama provides clients with insight into the legislative process, as well as substantive experience in legislative drafting, analysis and negotiation. Ms. Tama’s familiarity with committee hearings and investigations equips her to advise clients responding to congressional scrutiny.
