FC: More on Rep. John Conyers's request for info about pro-MS talks

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

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http://www.politechbot.com/p-02765.html

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From: Jason Thomas <jthomas () CSE org>
To: "'declan () well com'" <declan () well com>
Subject: RE: Rep. John Conyers asks DOJ to reveal info about pro-MS talks
Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2001 13:19:25 -0500

Declan,

Microsoft's lobbying activity is a legacy of the case.  They have learned
well from the inquisition.  After all, how many times have you heard someone
spout off about how naïve it was for Microsoft not to fund a cadre of D.C.
lawyers and lobbyists before the suit?  Now that Microsoft has learned the
value of hosting lunches and paying consultants to visit with policymakers,
it is fitting that some of the same DC "insiders" find it unseemly.

This legacy will have profoundly negative consequences because it reaffirms
the basic socialistic pretension that consumers are less fit to pick winners
and losers in the marketplace than regulators in Washington, D.C.  This
means that private businesses still must concern themselves with the
preferences of consumers, but they must also devote a significant portion of
their time and resources to Washington, because any disgruntled competitor
can trump consumer sovereignty with a coordinated effort backed by
well-placed lobbyists and politicians.

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From Anonymous:

Declan -

(off the record)

You're making a completely invalid comparison.

Klein was head of antitrust enforcement -- he's required as part of his job
to speak with anyone with an interest in the case.  Israelite is RECUSED
from the case -- he shouldn't have been talking to anyone about the case,
and he may have violated the law by doing so.  And I'm surprised that you
think it's all right for career attorneys at Justice to be threatened for
not going along with politically-motivated efforts to tank the case.

For Conyers to seek info about this is entirely appropriate.

[I think that's a reasonable point, but Conyers is not talking just about 
one fellow. His letter demands "copies of any and all 'communications' (as 
defined above), by any Department employees or consultants regarding a 
possible settlement or proposing any suggestions or differing terms than 
those you agreed to." Conyers has said he opposes the settlement and it's 
reasonable to assume that he'll do anything within reason to scuttle it. --DBM]

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Quick off-the-record comment:

I have no particular opinion one way or the other about the wisdom of the 
lawsuit or the proposed settlement.

But I'm not sure that the situations you compare are fairly 
comparable.  Rules of ethics or professional responsibility can differ in 
their applicability based on whether parties are in actual 
litigation.  Once you're in court (especially this far in the proceedings) 
things might well be different.

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Subject: Re: FC: Rep. John Conyers asks DOJ to reveal info about pro-MS talks
To: declan () well com
From: "Ted Killheffer" <Ted.Killheffer () USA dupont com>
Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2001 13:24:22 -0500

Declan, I have no axe to grind re the proposed Microsoft settlement.  I do
find much of the talk about "lobbying" to be a bit disingenuous.  Would a
Klein/Barksdale meeting be inappropriate when DOJ was deciding whether to
charge Microsoft in the first place but appropriate when Justice was
developing the case that they had already brought?  Are meetings between
Microsoft and DOJ ok when conducted by lawyers but tainted when Microsoft's
representatives are lobbyists?  How do you tell the difference?  The cost
of their suits?

I should think that congressmen, of all people, would be reluctant to cast
these charges around.  Don't they imply that votes or administrative
actions are for sale?  Or is it that, when your enemies do it, it's
improper influence but when you do it, it's constituent service?

Makes you wonder!

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From: "Harold Burstyn" <harold.burstyn () verizon net>
To: <declan () well com>
References: <5.1.0.14.0.20011107102914.02cfe010 () mail well com>
Subject: Re: Rep. John Conyers asks DOJ to reveal info about pro-MS talks
Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2001 13:31:02 -0500

> ...Personally, I think it's
> reasonable to be concerned by clandestine influence-peddling talks -- of
> any kind.

I agree.

> Conyers, alas, seems only interested in condemning the kind of
> clandestine talks that could lead to a settlement in the Microsoft case.

Thank goodness, in an age of money politics, there are legislators on both
sides. You wouldn't want all the influence coming from only one side, would
you?

Harold L. Burstyn, Attorney-at-Law (NY & FL) and Registered Patent Attorney
216 Bradford Parkway, Syracuse NY 13224-1767, tel. (315) 445-0620
mailto:burstynh () iname com  http://www.ecs.syr.edu/faculty/burstyn/

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Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2001 13:36:57 -0500
To: declan () well com
From: "James M. Ray" <jray () free-market net>
Subject: Re: FC: Rep. John Conyers asks DOJ to reveal info about pro-MS
 talks
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
X-UIDL: cf2abec0a39a3f6c339cf0f600b9e3ba

At 12:02 PM -0500 11/07/2001, Declan McCullagh wrote:
...
>Now Conyers is in a snit because some DOJers might have been having, gasp,
>some favorable-to-Microsoft conversations! Personally, I think it's
>reasonable to be concerned by clandestine influence-peddling talks -- of
>any kind. Conyers, alas, seems only interested in condemning the kind of
>clandestine talks that could lead to a settlement in the Microsoft case.
...

The distinction isn't which big-corporation, for a hyper-partisan Democrat like
John Conyers, it's instead a question of "which political party is doing the
influence-peddling?" I never saw Conyers complaining about the influence of
the Lippo Group! I think a majority of people would agree that Bill Gates, 
using
his checkbook, could easily shut Congresscritter Conyers up in about an hour.
JMR

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