Robert Stien
Vice President and General Counsel
Robert Stien is a government-relations professional with more than 10 years of experience in law, government, and the telecommunications and technology industries. Rob’s experience has given him deep expertise in telecommunications, intellectual property, copyright, trademark, and patent issues, and he is skilled at forging strong working relationships among corporate executives, elected officials, congressional staff, and federal and state officials.
Currently, Rob is a Vice President and General Counsel at Artemis Strategies, a Washington, DC-based government relations and public affairs firm, where he assists multiple companies in the telecommunications and high-tech sectors.
From 2006 to mid-2010, he served as a Director of Congressional Affairs for SAP America, a leading global software company, where he worked closely with senior executives and government officials to address US policies and regulations of interest to SAP. For example, he worked with lawmakers and the company’s Chief Intellectual Property (IP) Officer on patent reform, copyright, and other IP issues; with the US Chief Financial Officer on corporate taxation issues; and with the sales teams for the US public sector and the telecom and utility sectors on relevant funding and policy issues. Rob also played a leading role in the SAP America Political Action Committee; liaised with key industry associations and coalitions; and arranged visits by SAP senior executives to Washington, and by US government officials to SAP sites.
Prior to SAP, Rob was Acting General Counsel for dotmobi, a sponsored top-level Web domain for mobile products and services, where he provided legal support and business guidance as the company transitioned from start-up to full-fledged operations. On the company’s behalf, Rob drafted master registrar contracts; negotiated individual contracts with registrars; and drafted rules, policies, and charters for the dotmobi Membership Advisory Group and Policy Advisory Board. During the creation of the trademark and copyright protection issues registry, Rob worked closely with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
From 2001 to 2005, Rob served in the US House of Representatives as Legislative Counsel and Deputy Chief of Staff to Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE). In this role, he served as chief advisor on all issues handled by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where Rep. Terry was an active legislator on telecommunications, IP, trademark, copyright, data encryption, spyware, privacy, law enforcement, civil rights, and labor issues. Most notably, Rob drafted and built bipartisan support for Rep. Terry’s Universal Service Reform Acts of 2003 and 2005, and the Consumer Access to Digital Television Enhancement Act of 2003.
From 1999 to 2001, Rob served as a law clerk in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) International Bureau, Satellite Policy Branch; and in the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Bureau of Consumer Protection, on the team overseeing Internet advertising practices. During this time, he also worked as a clerk in the law firm of Shulman, Rogers, Gandal, Pordy & Ecker, where he assisted the firm’s partners and clients on FCC matters.
Rob earned his law degree from the Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law in 2001, along with a Certificate of Completion from the Communications Law Institute. He received his bachelor degree in business administration from the University of Florida in 1998. He is admitted to the Maryland Court of Appeals, the DC Court of Appeals, and the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit; and he is a member of the American Bar Association, the DC and Maryland Bar Associations; and the Federal Communications Bar Association.
Rob is also active in community affairs, serving on the advisory board of the George Washington University Medical Center's Cancer Institute (GWCI) and participating in the work of the Fisher House Foundation and the Wounded Warrior Project.
Rob and his wife Kim reside in Rockville, Maryland, and are expecting their first child.