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Google and Yahoo Small Fries In Lobbying
,----[ Quote ]
| When it comes to lobbying Congress, Google and Yahoo are relative
| lightweights compared to other companies. Both companies combined spent about
| $1.3 million last quarter--$730,000 from Google and $630,000 from Yahoo.
| Microsoft nearly doubled them, and Verizon, as a single company, has spent
| three times as much as all three.
|
| [...]
|
| Last year a total of $2.82 billion was spent lobbying Congress, according to
| OpenSecrets.org, and 2008 is well on its way to surpassing the $3 billion
| mark.
`----
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2008/07/31/google-and-yahoo-small-fries-in-lobbying
“Did you know that there are more than 34,750 registered lobbyists in
Washington, D.C., for just 435 representatives and 100 senators? That's 64
lobbyists for each congressperson.”
CIO.com
Regarding Stevens: The Economy of Influence that is DC
,----[ Quote ]
| On the Change-Congress.org blog, I've got a piece about the absurdity in this
| prosecution of Senator Ted Stevens:
|
| On Tuesday, Senator Ted Stevens was indicted by federal prosecutors for
| failing to report gifts he had received from an oil company to help him
| renovate his Alaskan home.
`----
http://lessig.org/blog/2008/08/regarding_stevens_the_economy.html
Recent:
Microsoft Leads Tech Lobbying Pack
,----[ Quote ]
| "As tech becomes more mainstream, you'll see even more spending on lobbying,"
| Microsoft spokesperson Ginny Terzano said.
`----
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Government/Microsoft-Leads-Tech-Lobbying-Pack/
Microsoft Taps Legal Czar [Lobbyist] Amid EU, OOXML Woes
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft announced Monday it has hired a former European diplomat to lead
| its dealings with the European Union (EU).
`----
http://www.internetnews.com/government/article.php/3750596
Related:
Mr. Microsoft goes to Washington
,----[ Quote ]
| As I suspected, Microsoft spends a whole lot more than that on lobbying. For
| the first half of last year, Microsoft spent $4.78 million on lobbying
| activities, according to the report it filed with Congress. It's full-year
| 2007 report is not yet available.
`----
http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9872573-56.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Microsoft trying to derail Google/DoubleClick deal by lobbying congress
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft has hired lobbying firm Patton Boggs LLC to do work on "competitive
| issues surrounding Google/DoubleClick [sic] merger."
`----
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070816-microsoft-spends-40000-to-lobby-congress-about-googledoubleclick-merger.html
Microsoft Finds Legal Defender in Justice Dept.
,----[ Quote ]
| Nearly a decade after the government began its landmark effort to break
| up Microsoft, the Bush administration has sharply changed course by
| repeatedly defending the company both in the United States and abroad
| against accusations of anticompetitive conduct, including the recent
| rejection of a complaint by Google.
|
| [...]
|
| In the most striking recent example of the policy shift, the top
| antitrust official at the Justice Department last month urged state
| prosecutors to reject a confidential antitrust complaint filed by
| Google that is tied to a consent decree that monitors Microsoft's
| behavior. Google has accused Microsoft of designing its latest
| operating system, Vista, to discourage the use of Google's desktop
| search program, lawyers involved in the case said.
`----
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/10/business/10microsoft.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Politics and tech companies: follow the money
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061110-8194.html
Changing the Report, After the Vote
http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/09/01/commission
Microsoft's 'Men in Black' kill Florida open standards legislation
,----[ Quote
| It was just a bit of text advocating open data formats that was slipped into
| a Florida State Senate bill at the last minute with no fanfare, but within
| 24 hours three Microsoft-paid lobbyists, all wearing black suits, were
| pressuring members of the Senate Committee on Governmental Operations
| (COGO) to remove the words they didn't like from Senate bill 1974.
`----
http://enterprise.linux.com/article.pl?sid=07/04/16/2019244&from=rss
Politicians in Microsoft's Pocket
,----[ Quote ]
| Continuing on the theme of which politicians are receiving money from
| who. Here is a list of candidates who took money from MSFT.
`----
http://www.fonz.net/blog/archives/2007/06/04/politicians-in-microsofts-pocket/
Kroes slams US criticism of EU Microsoft ruling
,----[ Quote ]
| Kroes said that it was "unacceptable" that a representative of the US
| judiciary should criticise a court of law outside his jurisdiction.
|
| “It is absolutely not done,” she told journalists on Wednesday.
|
| “The European commission does not pass judgement on US rulings and we should
| expect the same from the US.”
`----
http://www.eupolitix.com/EN/News/200709/87884c7c-c721-49b1-b6f0-5ba4ece0897c.htm
Microsoft, The European Union, and the United States: A Statement by the AAI
,----[ Quote ]
| The AAI comments on the European Court of First Instance's upholding of the
| EC's Microsoft decision, taking the USDOJ to task for poor diplomacy and
| mistaken policy in its criticism of the EC.
`----
http://www.antitrustinstitute.org/Archives/miceu3.ashx
Microsoft sets spinners on court verdict
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft may have lost in court, but it quickly tried to win the war of
| media reaction via organisations like CompTIA, the Computing Technology
| Industry Association and ACT (the Association for Competitive Technology)
| which both intervened in court on its side.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/09/17/reaction_microsoft_verdict/
Report Says Nonprofits Sold Influence to Abramoff
,----[ Quote ]
| E-mails released by the committee show that Abramoff, often
| with the knowledge of the groups' leaders, exploited the tax-exempt
| status and leveraged the stature of the organizations to build
| support among conservatives for legislation or government action
| sought by clients including Microsoft Corp., mutual fund company
| DH2 Inc., Primedia Inc.'s Channel One Network, and Brown-Forman,
| maker of Jack Daniel's whiskey.
`----
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101200889.html
http://tinyurl.com/y2rbpu
Microsoft Paid Lobbyist $160,000
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Paid Paid Bingham McCutchen $160,000 to Lobby Federal Gov't in
| First Half of 2007
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070905/microsoft_lobbying.html?.v=1
Legal blow to secret government lobbying
,----[ Quote ]
| The Department of Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) has lost
| an appeal to keep secret its meetings with business lobbying group the
| Confederation of British Industry.
|
| The case has dragged on for three years and originally concerned secret
| meetings between the CBI and BERR, which was formerly known as the Department
| of Trade and Industry.
|
| [...]
|
| The victory is a big filip for the wider movement, led by the Alliance for
| Lobbying Transparency, to force the UK government to introduce more
| transparency into its dealings with lobbying groups. ALT is calling for
| compulsory registration of lobby groups and a record of their meetings with
| politicians and civil servants.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/05/02/berr_lobby_openess/
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