[Am-info] Subject: Microsoft Supports Death Agenda With Big Bucks

[Mike Stephen]

Microsoft Corp. 

Among the top priorities for Bush Pioneer and Rep. Jennifer Dunn 
(R-Wash.) was an end to the Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit against 
Microsoft Corp. Dunn represents Redmond, Wash., where the software giant 
is based. 

In 2000, the Clinton Justice Department won the major parts of its case 
against Microsoft and proposed breaking the world's largest software 
company in two. An appeals court threw out the breakup plan the next year 
and sent the matter back to U.S. District Court. The Bush Justice 
Department then settled the matter on terms widely seen as favorable to 
Microsoft. Critics say that the settlement fails to address the harm 
Microsoft's monopoly power inflicted on other companies. The Justice 
Department defended the settlement as a fair resolution of the case. A federal 
judge accepted the terms. 

Last week, the Bush administration nominated the lead Justice 
Department negotiator in the Microsoft case, Deborah P. Majoras, to be chairman 
of the Federal Trade Commission. 

"I just think it is a different atmosphere now," said Dunn, who was one 
of the first Pioneers, exceeding her $100,000 commitment with the help 
of Microsoft donors. "In the Clinton administration, the Justice 
Department brought suit against them. President Bush said 'I'm for innovation 
-- not regulation.' That was important to Microsoft that he kept his 
word." 

This year, Microsoft has two Pioneers, John Connors and John Kelly. 
More than 100 people from Microsoft attended an event for Bush, Dunn said. 
Employees have given more than $160,000 in contributions, placing 
Microsoft among the top companies donating to Bush, according to the Center 
for Responsive Politics. 

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