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IP: Microsoft Targets Funding for Antitrust Office
From: David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Sat, 16 Oct 1999 11:13:51 -0700
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
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