Follow tech’s trail of money in Washington

The Internet, it’s been said, changes everything. But there’s one thing it hasn’t changed: spending big bucks to influence lawmakers and regulators in Washington. Google, Intel, Microsoft, and Oracle — all of which faced antitrust problems in 2009 — were among the 10 tech companies that spent the most money on lobbying last year.

Of those four, Microsoft ranked first at $5.85 million, Oracle was next at $4.39 million, followed by Intel at $3.89 million, and Google, which spent $3.2 million, according to Opensecrets.org, the Website of the Center for Responsive Politics. Indeed, in its analysis of spending by tech companies, the CRP found that Microsoft spent more than any of the 408 companies in the sector.

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All told, computer- and Internet-related companies spent $111 million on lobbying in 2009, the fourth year in a row that tech industry outlays topped $100 million. The table below shows the top 10 spenders, based on CRP data; you can see the details for each company by clicking its link.

While $111 million probably buys a fair amount of influence, lobbying expenditures by the tech industry are tiny compared to those of the troubled finance/insurance/real estate sector, which laid out $3.89 billion last year, or the embattled health care industry, which followed closely at $3.78 billion.

At the risk of stating the obvious, it’s certainly worth remembering that both of those sectors had enormous stakes in the political battles of 2009. And General Motors, the recipient of a huge government bailout, by itself spent $107 million, nearly as much as the entire tech industry.

But it’s also clear the tech industry is steadily learning how to play the lobbying game. In a nutshell, Mr. Tech has already gone to Washington.

Google grows wise in the ways of Washington Google, the youngest company to rank in the top 10 tech spenders, has steadily increased its lobbying efforts. In 2005, the search and online giant laid out just $260,000 for lobbying; by 2008 its expenditures had zoomed more than tenfold to $2.84 million, increasing again by another 13 percent to $3.22 million in 2009. In the same time, the number of lobbyists working on the company’s behalf jumped from 18 to 53, the CRP found. (There are, by the way, 13,415 registered lobbyists working to influence Congress and various federal agencies.)

It doesn’t seem like much of a stretch to draw a line between the federal government’s concerns that Google may be monopolizing the online advertising business and its growing lobbying efforts.

“The company’s prior willingness to defend its corporate interests on Capitol Hill may foreshadow Google expanding its participation in government affairs now that it finds itself party to an international spat involving both the U.S. and Chinese governments,” said Dave Levinthal, a spokesman for the CRP.

Levinthal also noted that much of Google’s lobbying efforts have been directed at legislation such as Senate Bill 773, the Cybersecurity Act of 2009. Overall the issues in which Google has been the most active in Washington include advertising, energy, trade, telecommunications, a category called “labor, antitrust, and workplace,” and copyright, patent, and trademark issues.

Google, of course, is famous for equating its interests with the good of humanity. I’ll leave it for you to decide whether that’s true or not.

But here’s how Google sees its lobbying efforts. In an interview with the San Jose Mercury News, Google’s Alan Davidson, head of U.S. public policy, said, “We’ve always known that with growth comes responsibility. We’re grateful for the company’s success. We know as we grow, we need to show that we’re a responsible industry leader.”

Oracle’s takeover of Sun sparked antitrust concerns here and in Europe. Intel has been wrestling with allegations that it uses its power to stifle competitors in the chip industry. And Microsoft’s antitrust travails would fill a shelf of law books. Is it any surprise that all put so much emphasis on lobbying the government?

Does your vote count? Lobbying, of course, is just one of the ways Google flexes its political muscle. “Google’s drive for influence in D.C. extends beyond dollars and cents, and demonstrates remarkable savvy in the ways of Washington. These include Google funding policy fellowships and hosting politicians at the Googleplex, and Google employees taking jobs in the Obama administration,” commented Mercury News columnist Chris O’Brien.

The issue of corporate influence on politics took on even more significance last week, with a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that essentially allows corporations to spend unlimited money on political advertising.

What’s going to happen the next time a member of Congress votes against a bill that Google or Intel or Microsoft sees as crucial to its corporate interests? Corporations can’t vote, at least not yet, but weigh your vote and your interests against millions of dollars thrown around by the technology industry, then do the math. It’s not rocket science.

I welcome your comments, tips, and suggestions. Post them here so all our readers can share them, or reach me at bill.snyder@sbcglobal.net.

This article, “Follow tech’s trail of money in Washington,” was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Follow Bill Snyder’s Tech’s Bottom Line blog at InfoWorld.com.