FC: DOJ MS comments include porn, spam, rants, little of substance

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

I've put the whole DOJ filing at:
http://www.politechbot.com/docs/ms.joint.statement.020702.doc

Excerpt:
The 60-day public comment period began on November 28, 2001, and ended on 
January 28, 2002.1  During that period, the United States received over 
30,000 public comments.2  Based on those comments, the United States 
provides the following summary and categorization:
* Approximately 1,250 comments are unrelated in substance to United States 
v. Microsoft or the RPFJ (though they were sent to the address for public 
comments and may or may not mention the RPFJ in their "subject" line).
o A small number of these submissions are simply advertisements or, in at 
least one case, pornography.  The United States proposes not to publish 
such submissions or to provide them as part of its filing to the Court.
o The remainder of these unrelated comments address only the proposed 
settlement of the private, class-action litigation against Microsoft, and 
not the RPFJ.
* Roughly 2,800 comments are "form" letters or emails - essentially 
identical text submitted by different persons.
* Approximately 19,500 comments express an overall view of the RPFJ but do 
not contain any further discussion of it.  These comments do not, for 
example, attempt to analyze the substance of the RPFJ, do not address any 
of its specific provisions, and do not describe any particular strengths or 
shortcomings of it.
* Approximately 2,900 of the comments can be characterized as containing a 
degree of detailed substance concerning the RPFJ.  These substantive 
comments range from brief, one- or two-page discussions of some aspect of 
the RPFJ to 100- or more-page, detailed discussions of numerous of its 
provisions or alternatives.  The essence of many of these substantive 
comments overlaps with other comments; that is, numerous comments address 
at least some of the same issues or raise similar arguments.
* Of the above substantive comments, approximately 45 can be characterized 
as "major" comments based on their length and the detail with which they 
analyze significant issues relating to the RPFJ.  Once again, there is 
considerable duplication of issues and arguments among these major comments.
* Of the total comments received, roughly 7,500 are in favor or urge entry 
of the RPFJ, roughly 15,000 are opposed, and roughly 7,000 do not directly 
express a view in favor or against entry.  For example, a significant 
number of comments contain opinions concerning Microsoft generally, e.g., 
"I hate Microsoft," or concerning this antitrust case generally, e.g., 
"This case should never have been brought," but do not state whether they 
support or oppose entry of the RPFJ.

-Declan

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Date: Thu, 07 Feb 2002 09:48:08 -0800
From: "Jeffrey St. Clair" <sitka () attbi com>
To: CP List <counterpunch-list () counterpunch org>,
        Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>, Dave Marsh <marsh6 () optonline net>
Subject: Ashcroft's Microsoft Payola
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Ashcroft role in Microsoft case raises ethics issue
Donations: He withdrew from Enron probe, but not antitrust
suit Greg Gordon and Les Blumenthal; News Tribune
Washington, D.C. bureau
http://www.tribnet.com/frame.asp?/news/top_stories/0204a15.html

WASHINGTON - Attorney General John Ashcroft withdrew from
criminal investigations into the collapse of Enron Corp.,
which gave more than $60,000 to his political committees
during a failed 2000 Senate campaign.

But Ashcroft has stayed involved in a bigger case - the
government's antitrust suit against Microsoft Corp. - even
though the computer software giant, its officers and
lobbyists also were substantial donors.

Microsoft, its political action committee, founder Bill
Gates and other top corporate officers donated $22,750 to
Ashcroft's political committees from 1997-2000. Lobbying
firms that represented Microsoft gave another $33,000. In
addition, Microsoft donated more than $700,000 to a
Republican committee that helped bankroll a $1 million
advertising blitz on Ashcroft's behalf.

These connections underscore a potential problem for the
former Missouri senator: Ashcroft is the first attorney
general to have left Congress for the nation's top law
enforcement job in a quarter-century - a period in which
congressional fund raising has escalated sharply.

Legal ethics experts say Ashcroft's acceptance of nearly $9
million in senatorial campaign donations just before joining
the cabinet is, at minimum, creating awkward appearances and
could raise questions about his independence.

[...]




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