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UK gov waves white flag on secret lobbying ruling
,----[ Quote ]
| The Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has decided not
| to appeal a legal ruling that it must release information on secret meetings
| between ministers, civil servants and lobbyists at the Confederation of
| British Industry.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/05/28/berr_will_admit_meetings/
Fraud ruling against Dell validates years of gripes
,----[ Quote ]
| In December of 2002, I started a page on my Computer Gripes site devoted to
| Dell.
|
| Accumulating gripes about Dell was like taking candy from a baby; there was
| no sport in it. Eventually, I gave up maintaining the page, but despite a
| total lack of advertising or promotion, people kept finding the page and
| adding their own gripes.
|
| Now these Dell gripes are official.
`----
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13554_3-9953318-33.html
Recent:
Microsoft Leads in Lobbying Largesse
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft is leading the tech industry’s charge up Capitol Hill, according to
| statistics released Monday.
|
| The world's largest software company spent $9 million on lobbyists to make
| its case in issues including taxes and trade, according to statistics
| compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
`----
http://www.redherring.com/Home/24187
Microsoft's 1Q lobbying program cost $2.6M
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Corp., the world's largest software maker, spent nearly $2.6
| million in the first quarter to lobby on competition in the online ad market
| and other issues, according to an amended disclosure report.
|
| [...]
|
| Microsoft also lobbied the federal government on numerous other issues,
| including Internet security and crime, privacy, health technology, patent
| reform, software piracy, immigration reform to help with recruitment of
| highly skilled foreign workers, high-speed Internet service through use of
| unoccupied TV channels, free trade and taxes.
`----
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/05/20/ap5031611.html
Microsoft hires firm to lobby on proposed Yahoo takeover
,----[ Quote ]
| The firm disclosed the information on a registration form filed online
| Tuesday by the Senate's public records office.
|
| [...]
|
| A message to one of the lobbyists was not returned while Google spokesman
| Adam Kovacevich said the company does not comment on its lobbying activities.
`----
http://www.fool.com/news/associated-press/2008/04/17/microsoft-hires-firm-to-lobby-on-proposed-yahoo-ta.aspx
Software Group Lobbied on Patents
,----[ Quote ]
| The Business Software Alliance, whose members include Microsoft Corp. and
| Adobe Systems Inc., paid Emery Simon $260,000 in 2007 to lobby the federal
| government.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080228/business_software_alliance_lobbying.html?.v=1
Tech Firms Paid Lobbyist $500,000
,----[ Quote ]
| More than 60 companies and trade associations, including Microsoft Corp. and
| Apple Inc., are members of Coalition for Patent Fairness. The coalition paid
| Patton Boggs to lobby Congress in support of patent legislation that passed
| the House last year but has stalled in the Senate.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080225/tech_companies_lobbying.html?.v=2
Tax benefit helped Microsoft's 3Q earnings
,----[ Quote ]
| Turns out Microsoft and Uncle Sam have been going back through the company's
| books from 2000 to 2003. Not knowing how that would end up, Microsoft
| had "over accrued" its tax provision in past quarters, said Colleen Healy,
| general manager of investor relations. With the review settled, the company
| was able to reduce that provision.
`----
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2004377713_btdownload28.html
Microsoft in tax evasion soup
,----[ Quote ]
| Software major Microsoft Corp’s Indian subsidiary has been issued a
| show-cause notice for non-payment of service tax worth Rs 127 crore. The tax
| has been claimed on services offered to Microsoft Singapore by way of
| marketing support.
`----
http://infotech.indiatimes.com/Microsoft_in_tax_evasion_soup/rssarticleshow/2977840.cms
Wis. Bill to Require Tax Loophole Data
,----[ Quote ]
| Wisconsin Bill Would Require More Reporting on Tax Loopholes
|
| [...]
|
| A message left with Microsoft was not immediately returned.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/071219/wi_corporate_taxes.html?.v=4
Microsoft says to borrow money for Yahoo deal
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Corp said on Monday it may borrow money for the first time in its
| history to fund a portion of its $44.6 billion unsolicited offer for Yahoo
| Inc.
`----
http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNews/idUSN0455692920080205
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
Bill Gates: Rich Individuals Should Pay More Tax, Wealthy Corporations Less?
,----[ Quote ]
| As Taxing Tennessee points out, Bill Gates opposes eliminating the death tax
| but is quite happy to have local and state taxes eliminated for his
| company...
`----
http://seekingalpha.com/article/65465-bill-gates-rich-individuals-should-pay-more-tax-wealthy-corporations-less?source=yahoo
,----[ Quote ]
| My background is finance and accounting....
|
| However, the Gates Buffet foundation grant is nothing more than a shell
| game in which control of assets for both Gates and Buffet remain the same.
|
| THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THAT THE ACCUMULATION OF WEALTH BY THESE TWO WILL BE
| MUCH MORE MASSIVE BECAUSE THEY WILL NO LONGER HAVE TO PAY ANY TAXES.
`----
http://www.mail-archive.com/futurew...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/msg03323.html
Microsoft EULA lands it with $175m Indian tax headache
,----[ Quote ]
| Basing its ruling on the terms of Microsoft's own EULA (end-user license
| agreement), an Indian court has ordered the company to pay tax on royalty
| income generated in the country, Tax India Online (TIOL) reports.
|
| [...]
|
| “Unacceptable tax avoidance typically involved the creation of complex
| artificial structures by which, as though by the wave of a magic wand, the
| tax payer conjures out of the air a loss, or a gain, or expenditure, or
| whatever it may be, which otherwise would never have existed. These
| structures are designed to achieve an adventitious tax benefit for the
| taxpayer, and in truth are no more than raids on the public funds at the
| expense of the general body of taxpayers, and as such are unacceptable.
`----
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/03/31/microsoft_india_tax_ruling/
Cheers not jeers to Speaker Chopp on the Microsoft tax concession
,----[ Quote ]
| The Columbia Basin Herald this past week characterized House Speaker Frank
| Chopp as being a Forrest Gump, "stupid is as stupid does" villain for
| opposing big proposed tax breaks for Microsoft and Yahoo. The tax concession,
| those companies said, were necessary to keep them from fleeing Grant County,
| where they have huge server farms. The requests were similar to the $3.2
| billion in breaks Boeing Co. got from Governor Gary Locke and the Legislature
| when it threatened to take some of its assembly operations elsewhere.
`----
http://www.crosscut.com/business-technology/12933/Cheers+not+jeers+to+Speaker+Chopp+on+the+Microsoft+tax+concession/
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
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/
US politicians go to bat for Microsoft
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/26/microsoft_eu_political_lobbying/
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
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/
Politics and tech companies: follow the money
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft took first place with $651,100 given out, while
| Hewlett-Packard gave only $185,550, and Gateway gave a paltry
| $2,000. Microsoft's donations certainly illustrate well the true
| size of the company and the extent of its political concerns.
`----
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061110-8194.html
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
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
Microsoft Looks for the Big Guns in OOXML In-Fighting
,----[ Quote ]
| Bill Gates has reportedly been making phone calls to the Secretary of Defense
| and the Secretary of Commerce to push the American National Standards
| Institute to ignore the votes of its advisory committees and vote "yes" on
| ISO standardizing Microsoft's Open Office XML (OOXML) format, the one in
| competition with the OpenDocument Format (ODF) pushed by IBM and Sun.
|
| Gates reportedly picked up the phone when the last INCITS ballot failed by
| one vote to support Microsoft.
`----
http://xml.sys-con.com/read/419573_p.htm
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