Members of Congress, here's a tip: Before you send an angry letter to a CEO of a technology company, ensure that they are still employed. A group of 11 House Republicans sent letters to 13 leaders of tech companies, threatening legal action if the CEOs don't comply with a request to see records about the January 6th Capitol Attack. There is one problem. Marissa Mayer is the recipient of the letter to Yahoo (Engadget’s parent company), which was addressed to her. She hasn't been the CEO of the company's since 2017. This was four years ago folks, so she isn't a new departure.
Other letters sent by the representatives appear to have been unaffected by any snafus. They were sent to Amazon, AOL (which Apollo purchased alongside Yahoo), Apple and AT&T as well as to Google, Microsoft Snap, T-Mobile. Twitter, US Cellular, Verizon (Engadget's ex-parent). The congresspeople seem to be a little behind the times. Reddit and Telegram did not receive any of the letters. It appears that the list is a comprehensive listing of tech companies from many years ago.
While we laugh at the error, it is also a reminder of Congress' general lack in tech knowledge. Whether it's a letter addressed to a long-gone CEO, or proposed changes to law that could create easily foreseen problems, It's possible that the next error could lead to embarrassment, wasted paper, or worse. Unfortunately this won't change anytime soon.
