http://news.com.com/2010-1071_3-1021938.html Microsoft's new push in Washington By Declan McCullagh June 30, 2003, 4:00 AM PT At the height of the U.S. government's antitrust pursuit of Microsoft, Bill Gates and his execs were vigorously denouncing rivals Sun Microsystems and Oracle for using the feds to try to cripple the world's largest software company. For a while, it sounded like Gates was channeling capitalist doyenne Ayn Rand, saying in 1998 that the technology industry's successes were due to lack of interference from Uncle Sam, and claiming that "the government is still trying to slow Microsoft down." Microsoft even launched a Web site, FreeToInnovate.com, through which you could send a note to your member of Congress, sign up for a get-your-hands-off-our-software newsletter or order "Freedom to Innovate" ceramic mugs and T-shirts. Well, that was then. Now Microsoft has given new marching orders to its phalanx of lobbyists: Use the government to seek a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Hypocritical? Perhaps. Randian? Hardly. But all in all, entirely unsurprising. While the old Microsoft would have been appalled, this is becoming the standard way of doing business in Washington for the new Microsoft. In fact, though the software giant may learn slowly, it learns its lessons exceedingly well. Some background on what's going on: Microsoft and some large Web site operators like Yahoo, Amazon.com and eBay have been trying to pressure the Federal Communications Commission to impose additional regulations on the cable industry. They're waving the marketing slogan of "Net neutrality" and warning that the cable companies could start to favor some Web sites over others or even block access entirely. Be skeptical of this flimsy claim. There is no evidence that any company offering cable modem access does this--or, for that matter, ever will. At the very least, the prospective wrongdoer should become a real threat before the FCC gets involved. [...remainder snipped...] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ Like Politech? Make a donation here: http://www.politechbot.com/donate/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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