IP: Microsoft Targets Funding for Antitrust Office

[David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> From: "Bill Burgos" <onomrbil () gol com>
>
> Microsoft Targets Funding for
>                   Antitrust Office
>
>                   By Dan Morgan and Juliet Eilperin
>                   Washington Post Staff Writers
>                   Friday, October 15, 1999; Page A01
>
>                   Microsoft Corp. lobbyists and allies are aggressively
>                   pressing Congress to reduce next year's proposed
>                   funding for the Justice Department's antitrust
>                   division, the giant software company's accuser in a
>                   storied court battle.
>
>                   Microsoft representatives have urged House and
>                   Senate members to cut President Clinton's proposed
>                   funding for the division by about $9 million this year.
>                   And nonprofit organizations that receive financial
>                   support from the company have also urged key
>                   congressional appropriators to limit spending for the
>                   division when they begin their final negotiations on
>                   the Justice Department budget, possibly as early as
>                   Monday.
>
>                   The nonprofit groups made their request in a letter
>                   last month after an all-expenses-paid trip to Microsoft
>                   headquarters in Redmond, Wash., where they were
>                   entertained and briefed on an array of issues facing
>                   the company.
>
>                   Microsoft's latest efforts on Capitol Hill will have little
>                   or no impact on the department's antitrust case
>                   against the software giant, and for that reason they
>                   seem somewhat unusual. While companies regularly
>                   ask lawmakers to block federal agencies from
>                   implementing specific policies, it is more uncommon
>                   to seek an across-the-board cut in a department's
>                   budget, especially in the middle of a major court
>                   battle.
>
>                   But company officials said they want to send a strong
>                   message to the antitrust division. "It's no secret we
>                   really have some serious concerns about some of the
>                   Department of Justice's conduct during the course of
>                   this litigation," said Jack Krumholtz, director of
>                   federal government affairs for Microsoft.
>
>
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/longterm/microsoft/micro.htm
>
> Bill
> onomrbil () gol com
> mailto:onomrbil () gol com