At the height of the U.S. government's antitrust pursuit of Microsoft, Bill Gates and his execs were vigorously denouncing rivals Sun Microsystems and Oracle for using the Feds to try to cripple the world's largest software company. For a while, it sounded like Gates was channeling capitalist doyenne Ayn Rand, saying in 1998 that the technology industry's successes were due to lack of interference from Uncle Sam, and claiming that "the government is still trying to slow Microsoft down."
Microsoft even launched a Web site, FreeToInnovate.com, where you could send a note to your member of Congress, sign up for a get-your-hands-off-our-software newsletter or order "Freedom to Innovate" ceramic mugs and T-shirts. Well, that was then. Now Microsoft has given new marching orders to its phalanx of lobbyists: Use the government to seek a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Hypocritical? Perhaps. Randian? Hardly. But all in all, entirely unsurprising. While the old Microsoft would have been appalled, this is becoming the standard way of doing business in Washington for the new Microsoft. In fact, though Microsoft may learn slowly, it learns its lessons exceedingly well.
News source: ZDNet
