Microsoft vows to fight South Korean antitrust ruling

Please explain why my TAX DOLLARS are being used to defend a corporation? Doesn't Bill & Ballmer have enough good attorneys?

Anyway, here's why the Feds are speaking up for MSFT:

Friends in high places

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=28203

And how do you get these friends in high places? You buy them, of course.

2004, $3,322,520 2002, $4,215,198 2000, $4,625,353

[url=http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.asp?ID=D000000115&Name=Microsoft Corp]http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.asp?ID=D000000115&Na...[/url]

"Ironically, it was the U.S. Justice Department that first sued Microsoft in a U.S. federal court for bundling the Internet Explorer browser into Windows in 1994. The department won in a district court but had to settle after losing in the Court of Appeals. FTC director-general Kim Byung Bae said it was rare for the U.S. Justice Department to issue a statement on the matter since it was customary to respect decisions by partnering institutions. That was why the Korean government made no comment on a recent decision by the department to fine Samsung Electronics for price-fixing, Kim said. Asked if the U.S. statement could lead to a full-scale trade war, Kim said the FTC decision was based solely on whether Microsoft violated antitrust law or not, so it was not a trade issue." (englishnews@chosun.com ) http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200512/200512080...

Thanks for the update. But, the dollar figures are so far off, it's funny. First, Microsoft and all it's subsidiaries give money, so does the Gates Foundation, so do employees, so does Preston Gates & Ellis, so does the BSA. Then they have PACs and contributions to PACs.

They have a slush fund according to documentation of $180,000,000 to fight Linux in Government. http://www.techweb.com/wire/26801336

This is sad.