Microsoft leads tech lobbying pack
eWeek | at | by Mike
Winning friends and influence in Washington isn't cheap. Big Tech took a lesson from Big Pharm and spent a fortune on lobbyists.Led by Microsoft's $2.9 million in lobbying spending in the first quarter alone, the IT industry is on pace to set a tech lobbying spending record of $119 million this year, eclipsing last year's $110 million.
According to numbers compiled by eWEEK from OpenSecrets.org, a database of political contributions and lobbying spending by the Center for Responsive Politics, Microsoft projects to spend more than $10 million in 2008 on lobbying. In 2007, Microsoft spent $9 million in lobbying.