Thursday, June 21, 2007 8:19 AM
Funny how history repeats itself. I recall a number of years back when Microsoft suddenly woke up and realized it better raise its profile in Washington D.C. and start lobbying in earnest. As the company matured, it started to recognize that not having a presence in the nation's capitol was starting to negatively impact its business, as other companies (i.e., competitors) and their lobbyists were influencing opinion and framing the discussion, especially with regards to antitrust.
Microsoft was so disdainful of the federal government back then that it had almost no presence in Washington. Largely because of that neglect, the company was blindsided by a government antitrust lawsuit that cost it dearly. (see Washington Post article, Learning From Microsoft's Error, Google Builds a Lobbying Engine)
So, here in 2007, we find Google awakening to that same reality:
Two years ago, the Google staff in Washington was one person - Alan Davidson, an expert in technology law. Now the staff numbers a dozen, including lobbyists with close ties to both parties, and several other lawyers and lobbyists on retainer.
"I've never seen a tech company ramp up faster then they have in the last year or two - they're using all the tools in the lobbying tool kit," said Ralph Hellmann, a top lobbyist for a tech trade association.
Google's Washington office keeps growing to do old-fashioned lobbying along with projects that live up to the Google brand, such as pushing for greater access to government records.
Google lawyers and lobbyists try to protect the company's ever-expanding products and acquisitions from antitrust chal lenges. They defend the company's business dealings in China and other countries that censor the Internet.
And they succeeded this week in their complaint with the Justice Department that Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system was anti-competitive. After first dismissing the complaint, Microsoft agreed to make changes in Vista to make it easier to use non-Microsoft search programs.
(see Google staffs up in nation's capital, San Jose Mercury News)
One thing that is clearly different for Google than Microsoft are the web tools it has to help frame public opinion and the discussion. One of these tools being weblogs, and with the announcement of its new Google Public Policy Blog (hat tip to Robert Ambrogi, Google Launches Public Policy Blog), it is cleary ready to deploy them.
I think Monday's post, Taking the Wraps Off Google's Public Policy Blog, from Andrew McLaughlin, Google's Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs sets the tone for the whys and hows behind this effort and underscores the role a weblog can play:
At the beginning of 2005, I was Google's lone public policy guy. Today, there's a bigger – and growing - team of us scattered around the world, working on issues like privacy, child online safety, copyright and trademark protection, content regulation, reform of the patent system, and broadband policy. These issues are fundamental to the future of the Internet (and of the individuals it empowers), and are increasingly prominent on the agendas of policymakers worldwide.
We're seeking to do public policy advocacy in a Googley way. Yes, we're a multinational corporation that argues for our positions before officials, legislators, and opinion leaders. At the same time, we want our users to be part of the effort, to know what we're saying and why, and to help us refine and improve our policy positions and advocacy strategies. With input and ideas from our users, we'll surely do a better job of fighting for our common interests.
This blog is part of the dialogue we're hoping to foster.
Good stuff.