Facebook director of corporate communications and public policy Barry Schnitt will join Pinterest in mid-June, a Pinterest spokesperson confirmed to Tech EB on Thursday. Schnitt will wear two hats as the social photo-sharing service's first internal head of communications, as well as its official representative to Washington. Pinterest, which allows users to share online pinboards of photos, is one of Silicon Valley's hottest startups at present. Schnitt is the company's first policy hire, thanks to his relevant experience as head of policy communications at Facebook. Pinterest is still in its infancy, but questions about intellectual property are likely to be central to its agenda if and when the company arrives in Washington. According to his LinkedIn page, before joining Facebook in 2008 Schnitt spent eight years working in communications for Google. He leaves Facebook as the social networking giant faces heightened scrutiny from regulators in the wake of its recent IPO. Schnitt will be based in Pinterest's Palo Alto offices.

Senate Antitrust Chairman Flags Verizon-Cable Deal: CQ's Ambreen Ali reports Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee chairman Herb Kohl, D-Wis., wrote (PDF) to the Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission on Thursday detailing his concerns about the proposed sale of spectrum from a group of cable companies to Verizon. Kohl argued both the sale of spectrum and the side agreements to cross-promote each other's products raise concerns about competition. His arguments echo those offered by Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., in a similar letter earlier this month. But the Antitrust panel's ranking member Mike Lee, R-Utah, sent a separate letter (PDF) on Thursday to both regulators supporting the deal. The debate is evidence the deal is drawing serious concern, which could force regulators to block the transaction or attach conditions to the transfer of the spectrum licenses. Good Morning! If you missed a post and want to catch up, or are simply looking for more tech policy news, visit the Technology Executive Briefing blog and follow me on Twitter. Email me any tips or comments or call (202) 650-6659.