Details of MSFT's Antitrust Lobbying

An anonymous sent in linkage to "A new ZDNet article detailing new evidence presented to the judge presiding over the Microsoft anti-trust case. It shows that Microsoft made political contributions during last year's (well, 2000's) elections on a scale never seen before... over $6 million. As comparison, this is four times the amount spent by Enron. It also reveals that Microsoft has been hiring every political lobbyist, and every law firm, with anti-trust expertise and putting them to work on unrelated projects- anything to make them unavailable to work for critics of Microsoft."

Yet another reason...

[thesolo]

Why we need to bring soft money donations to an end! If these types of unregulated donations are allowed to continue, we will just see a further buying & selling of the US government (yes, it IS possible, believe it or not!).

This news probably doesn't surprise too many people in this crowd, I think we all knew that MS was pretty generous with soft monies, but it's very nice to see an article like this. The best part of the entire article? The paragraph about the $25k given to buy off South Carolina's Attorney General.

P.S. Anyone else amazed by the fact that there is a place called Chevy Chase, Maryland?!

*Simply Shocked*

[Alien54]

Shocked, simply shocked, I tell you.

right

Of course you realise, this is the Microsoft philosophy applied to the legal field. Microsoft has had a history of buying up tecnologies and expertise, many of which have simply disappeared, never to see the light of day again.

It is perhaps the only real innovation that I know of, to take their billions and buy up anything their legal opponents could use to convict them of their crimes.

I am sure other big companies are taking notes. This convicts them even more in my mind.

Like I have said before, every time I turn around there is something else that comes out and dirties their reputation in my eyes. Heck, if PR LapDogs like ZDNet are taking shots at MS, you know rats are starting to leave the ship.

Re:Balls the size of Washington

[einer]

No wonder their software sucks... It's all written by lawyers!

Re:SlashDot Users Paid By Microsoft? Impossible!

[Anonymous Coward]

Microsoft is the greatest company in the world, they make the most secure software and they are a exemple for every other company in the world. I love my window 95 that i paid 200$ for, it's so fun to reinstall it every 6 month or so... i cant wait till the next IE patch goes out!, patching system is fun!

I'm not paid by microsoft to tell that,
Sincerly yours,
Bill

Re:Campain reform, not Campain finance reform...

[Red Rocket]

Require a binding "none of the above" entry on all elections.

How about this . . .

Allow all voters to cast one vote either for or against one candidate.

Then when a candidate wins an election by a count of -80,145 votes to -121,345 votes maybe they'll get the hint.

Incumbent Protection Act of 2002

[invenustus]

AMEN, brother! I was waiting for someone in this thread to summarize all the arguments against this horrible piece of legislation. As many commentators have pointed out, Shays-Meehan should be called the Incumbent Protection Act. For more on that, here's a letter I got printed in the Star-Ledger (a New Jersey newspaper) last week, with my favorite line in bold:

There is a fundamental conflict of interest when mainstream news outlets such as the Star-Ledger editorialize in favor of campaign finance restrictions. If citizens are prohibited by force from helping candidates of their choice gain media exposure, the news media have almost total control over what the public sees. Incumbent candidates, in addition to the huge advantage of having recognizable names, inevitably receive more media coverage than their opponents. When incumbents are not seriously challenged at election time, they lose an incentive to serve their constituents.

The real consequences of increased campaign spending are more competitive elections and a better-informed electorate, both vital ingredients to a free society.