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Anti-growth policies keep more housing from being built, and extreme regulation drives companies away.

Google plans to build a new downtown San Jose campus for 20K employees. Apple is buying up land for a new campus in North San Jose. Adobe bought a lot across the street from their current San Jose headquarters to build a new tower. So much for "extreme regulation" driving away companies.

Anti-growth policies keep more housing from being built, and extreme regulation drives companies away.

Google plans to build a new downtown San Jose campus for 20K employees. Apple is buying up land for a new campus in North San Jose. Adobe bought a lot across the street from their current San Jose headquarters to build a new tower. So much for "extreme regulation" driving away companies.

leaving the masses to make up the missing money the mega-corps, oligarchs and elites avoid paying.

Go to the database, and look for the taxes paid. http://www.siliconvalley.com/business/ci_29798925

Many tech stocks peaked around 2000. Microsoft stock has done well compared to some of its rivals.

This quote from Matthew Berger, son of Professor Lee Berger, was posted on Good Morning Silicon Valley today.

http://blogs.siliconvalley.com/gmsv/2010/04/quoted-matt-i-told-you-to-stop-playing-around-while-were-whoa.html

“I turned the rock over and I saw the clavicle sticking out — that’s the collar bone. I didn’t know what it was at first; I thought it was just an antelope. So I called my dad over and about five meters away he started swearing, and I was like ‘What did I do wrong?’ and he’s like, ‘Nothing, nothing — you found a hominid’.”

Look; McCain no longer doesn't know how to use a computer. He's busy learning how to get on himself. Why, he's already been using a google. I think that by the time all is said and done, he'll finally understand economics and bring the Republican party into the modern age.

If you don't comply with the laws in Europe, you are going to have to expect some sanctions and not the slap-on-the-wrist-don't-do-it-again DOJ response.

Lots of EU companies get fined for monopolistic practices and price fixing, so please stop going on like it's only MS that gets it.

Also, given that over half of the households in the US now have broadband access

Where do you get your stats from? According to the OECD, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the "United States has the largest total number of broadband subscribers in the OECD at 58.1 million." SiliconValley.com says "the United States had 66.2 million broadband subscribers as of June". The 58.1 millions from the OECD, is less than 20% and is a long way from 50%, and the number from SiliconValley.com isn't much better.

Someone needs to patent 'Patent Trolling'

It's already been done : IBM apparently filed this patent in April 2006. It was reported on /. but I can't seem to find the story right now.

Someone needs to patent 'Patent Trolling'

It's already been done : IBM apparently filed this patent in April 2006. It was reported on /. but I can't seem to find the story right now. Truth is stranger than fiction, and all that...

In total OVERALL music sales... for today only... you're right. Now sit down for a moment and think....

Look at Nielsen SoundScan.. here's some breakdown

As you can see, album sales are DOWN worldwide (4.9% decrease), and internet sales are UP(65% increase). Take that trend out 5 to 10 years. Statistically, you'll see that Compact Disc will quickly be overwhelmed by digital media sales. And of that growth - Apple has 82% of the market captured from Job's own mouth.

Monopolies are defined by sales in a MARKET.. In the online music market, it's a monopoly. If sales continue their current trend Apple will have a overall music monopoly in a few years time.

And stock prices are determined largely on growth. Now what are YOU smoking?

Depends who you ask and for what purpose.

The RIAA themselves will tell you that sales have never been better, and the industry has never been healthier - if you're an investor.

Warner music losing money doesn't mean that album and song sales can't be going up. They are, but the numbers are weird.

Digital music sales tripled last year, but album sales continued to slowly trickle off. This article says overall sales are up 19% - including digital music, videos, etc.

The market is different - people are less likely to buy a CD, when they can buy just a song, or with so many portable video devices like video iPods, are buying music related DVDs - live concerts, or video compilations. The market is much more diverse - music listeners don't necessarily buy "albums" as they have conventionally.

At the end of the day, it's all (potential, if they can realize it) profit for RIAA members.

However, when the discussion turns to piracy, they only talk about CD sales. These are of course dwindling - they would be even if there was absolutely no piracy at all. But a huge chunk of the money they "lose" in album sales they make up in digital downloads, or other products.

Search for "toothing".

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/bus iness/columnists/gmsv/11316894.htm

A number of other bloggers have written rebuttals to the list of 10 reasons to use Windows. Some of them are actually pretty scathing.

http://www.tipsdr.com/?p=725
http://pinderkent.blogsavy.com/archives/30
http://scott2096.blogspot.com/2007/01/10-reasons-n ot-to-get-vista.html
http://blogs.siliconvalley.com/gmsv/2007/01/it_won t_conjure.html

These lists were also discussed a lot over at OSNews recently: http://osnews.com/comment.php?news_id=17024

Check out the documents Apple filed with the SEC Friday acknowledging that a grant of 7.5M options to CEO Steve Jobs with an exercise price of $18.30 dated 10-19-2001 was actually finalized on 12-18-2001 when the share price was $21.01. Apple goes on to note that approval for the grant was 'improperly recorded' as occurring at a special Board meeting on 10-19-2001 - a special Board meeting that Apple now admits did not occur. Apple takes a page out of Mark Hurd's I-know-nothing-playbook, insisting that 'There was no evidence, however, that any current member of management was aware of this irregularity.' Which begs the question: Don't any members of Apple management read those Proxy Statements they provide to investors and the SEC? In 2002 and 2003, Apple's Proxy Statements clearly stated that: 'in October 2001 the Compensation Committee recommended and the Board approved granting Mr. Jobs options to purchase 7,500,000 shares under the 1998 Plan in order to provide him with an incentive to continue to serve as the Company's CEO and maximize shareholder value.' Apple also points out in its SEC filing that Jobs did not receive or financially benefit from backdated options, apparently feeling that the 5M shares of restricted stock Jobs was given after 'voluntarily canceling' his underwater options grants in 2003 shouldn't count.

``FYI, I spoke to Mark a few minutes ago and he is fine with both the concept and the content.''

``FYI, I spoke to Mark a few minutes ago and he is fine with both the concept and the content.''

Google Inc.'s second-quarter profit seems likely to erase any lingering doubts about which Internet company rules the Web.

While rivals eBay Inc. and Yahoo Inc. merely matched analysts' earnings expectations, Google on Thursday soared well beyond Wall Street's financial hurdle - just like the online search engine leader has done in all but one quarter since it went public nearly two years ago.

"Google is clearly winning the battle," said Internet analyst Derek Brown of Pacific Growth Equities. "These are almost logic-defying results."

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company earned $721.1 million, or $2.33 per share, during the three months ended in June, more than doubling its net income of $342.8 million, or $1.19 per share, at the same time last year.

Excluding expenses for employee stock compensation and several other one-time items, Google said it earned $2.49 per share - well above the average estimate of $2.22 per share among 32 analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Google's search engine has been hitting on all cylinders for so long that investors almost seem to take its high-powered performance for granted.

It marks the seventh time in eight quarters as a public company that Google has beat Wall Street's expectations, even though its management insists the search engine isn't being steered by investors' relentless push for higher profit.

Revenue for the period totaled $2.46 billion, a 77 percent increase from $1.38 billion a year ago.

When your entire Sales forecast for fiscal 2006 is $70.6 billion, but a single division is responsible for an operating loss of $2.6 in a single quarter, that division has a massive impact on the overall health of your company. Sony staked its future onto Blu-Ray and the PS3, and if these two tank, Sony will go down as well - or will have to get out of the gaming market.

1. Creation of a task force, led by Ted Leonsis and Randy Boe, with senior representatives from corporate communications, integrity assurance, product and marketing, to develop new best practices in this rapidly evolving area. Among other issues, the task force will look specifically at how long we should save data, including search data, and will make recommendations to improve the AOL Privacy Policy and our privacy practices company-wide.
   
2. Additional restrictions on access to databases containing search data and any other potentially sensitive member data, regardless of whether that data is linked to individual member accounts.
   
3. Evaluation and development of new systems to help ensure that sensitive information is not included in research databases.
   
4. Education and awareness programs for employees -- at all levels -- on how to protect sensitive information and address privacy issues.

I think the problems all started when they spun off palm-source, which is now in a death-spiral and still trying to sell products which belong in the 1990s.

Seriously. Palm has been in a sinkhole for many years now. Consider that last year, Palm paid PalmSource -- a company that it spun off from itself -- $30 million just for the right to use the name "Palm" again! (They'd rebranded themselves as "PalmOne" during the spinoff process, and split the rights to the "Palm Inc." name with PalmSource.)

Palm Inc. will someday be a case study for MBAs on how to take something great and drive it right into the ground.

I'd say the comparison to BeOS, Atari ST, etc. fits. The downward trend in market share is reminiscent, at least: "...Apple's share of the worldwide PC market has tumbled from 4.6 percent in 1996, the year before Jobs returned, to just 2.2 percent in 2005." http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/bus iness/columnists/mike_langberg/14191452.htm?source =rss&channel=siliconvalley_mike_langberg

seeing as mac has about a 2.2-2.3% market share according to both IDC and Gartner, I don't think the demand is all that great compared to the remaining 98%. Besides Virtual Server is aimed at ... wait for it ... the server environment, same as (VMware's) ESX/GSX, where the Mac community is typically looking at end user content.

and besides... you can dual boot XP now, you can run Virtual Server.

However
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/bus iness/columnists/mike_langberg/14191452.htm?source =rss&channel=siliconvalley_mike_langberg

Gartner puts Apple's 1996 share at 4.6 percent, IDC at 5.1 percent. Market share in 2005 was 2.2 percent from Gartner and 2.3 percent from IDC. According to Gartner, Apple's market share peaked at 15.8 percent in 1980 -- four years before the Mac was introduced.

``It's a puzzle for sure, to the average Mac user,'' says Leander Kahney, author of the 2004 book ``The Cult of Mac'' and an editor at Wired News in San Francisco. ``They are baffled that more people don't use the Mac.''

Apple is somewhat stronger in U.S. consumer market share, with Gartner giving Apple 5.8 percent in 2005 and IDC at 2.9 percent.

so, US consumer marketshare is pegged between 2.9 and 5.8
got anything more recent and authoritative?

Siliconvalley.com points out that it's a mixed picture for Apple under Jobs ... http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/bus iness/columnists/mike_langberg/14191452.htm?source =rss&channel=siliconvalley_mike_langberg [siliconvalley.com]

What about: jump into new market and grow that market from a 10-100m to a multi-billion dollar market and keep majority share of that market?

How about: making tons of money selling stuff that people want (or perhaps even need)?

Market share only makes sense if you're concerned about innovating and creating new markets. The bottom line is that Apple is making money hand over fist, the old fashioned American way: innovating. I'd like to see HP, Microsoft, and Sony say they've done that in the past 5 years.

Siliconvalley.com points out that it's a mixed picture for Apple under Jobs ... http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/bus iness/columnists/mike_langberg/14191452.htm?source =rss&channel=siliconvalley_mike_langberg Building a pricier windows box may not be the answer.

March 30th, 2006:
Apple's adjusted share price is $62.75
Microsoft's is $27.23

Apple's share price has increased 1,801.5%,
Microsoft's increased 99.6%

Siliconvalley.com points out that it's a mixed picture for Apple under Jobs ...

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/bus iness/columnists/mike_langberg/14191452.htm?source =rss&channel=siliconvalley_mike_langberg

Building a pricier windows box may not be the answer.

With Apple having lost 50% of their market share under Steve Jobs and other operating systems struggling on the desktop, Microsoft can pretty much do whatever they want. Joe user has proven time and time again that when Bill Gates calls the tune, the user must dance.

According to the link below, Apple's marketshare has been cut in half just during Job's tenure! That means marketshare is now below 2.5%.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/bus iness/columnists/mike_langberg/14191452.htm?source =rss&channel=siliconvalley_mike_langberg [siliconvalley.com]

March 30th, 2006:
Apple's adjusted share price is $62.75
Microsoft's is $27.23

Apple's share price has increased 1,801.5%
Microsoft's increased 99.6%

Only a very, very small percentage of the population "loves" Apple, and those people generate unbelievable amounts of smug.

Feeling smug?

According to the link below, Apple's marketshare has been cut in half just during Job's tenure! That means marketshare is now below 2.5%.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/bus iness/columnists/mike_langberg/14191452.htm?source =rss&channel=siliconvalley_mike_langberg

Only a very, very small percentage of the population "loves" Apple, and those people generate unbelievable amounts of smug.

According to the link below, Apple's marketshare has been cut in half just during Job's tenure!

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/bus iness/columnists/mike_langberg/14191452.htm?source =rss&channel=siliconvalley_mike_langberg

Only a few percentage of the population "loves" Apple, and those people generate unbelievable amounts of smug.

Microsoft's general counsel said "Transparency is vitally important in what can be a very opaque process in Brussels. We've decided to open this up so people can understand the issues."

Also a ZDNet article, FSF berates apathy over Microsoft antitrust case , reports that the FSFE has criticised EU IT firms for not supporting the EC in its antitrust case against Microsoft.

ZDNet report that George Greve said in a blog entry that "[the] FSFE has been working on this case for many years, from the original investigation, over the 2004 decision, to the European Court case where it is now one of two [active] remaining third parties on the side of the European Commission. I only hope that more companies will help us defending their interests in this -- to this date, FSFE has received virtually no support for this case from the industry. Consequently, all the credit belongs to the free software community, including in particular the Fellows of the FSFE."

Greve also responds to the new EU complaint by ECIS applauding it, but pointing out that this may seem inconsistent as Microsoft has already reached individual settlements with ECIS members such as RealNetworks and Sun.

Also there is a good Guardian article from a few days ago which summarises and criticises recent rebuffs by MS to the EC's decision.

Also there is an entry on Tod Bishop's Microsoft Blog, Lessig advocates Microsoft , reporting that Lessig supports Microsoft's InfoCard project.

The only way we are going to attract the truly huge amounts of capital needed to build out these networks is to strike down governmental entry barriers and allow providers to realize profits

I find it interesting that SBC just lowered their 3Mbps/512Kbps price to $17.99 or some price like that. But that is pathetic compared to what others in the world can get today.

here is the original news article: http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/136 57386.htm

some blog with more details, PDFs of legal docs, etc., below:

http://www.boingboing.net/2006/01/19/_doj_search_r equests.html

you are welcome

Here is another link with more/better info (found on digg)...

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/136 57386.htm

This could be really huge. Why slashdot chose to show the bell south story instead of this one is beyond me.

But what is the standard deviation? My point was more that there aren't hotspots with overly inflated prices, like Tokyo, Silicon Valley, or Redmond. Prices in Silicon Valley, a prime example, are insane compared to where I live (the Midwest). A simple example is that the median price of a house in Silicon Valley is around $700,000 (http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/13 422709.htm). In comparison, the price of a house in the Midwest is in the $100,000-$200,000 range as median.

With a little math (ie, assuming a 30 year morgage), it's possible to show that one has to pay 3.5x as much in Silicon Valley for the house alone (ie, ~$1400 more per month). Take into account things like property tax and higher prices for food due to high property rates or driving farther, hence using more gas, to go to stores that aren't on high cost real estate, and clearly there's a price premium for living in a specific location when there's no real sign that it's even worthwhile (if it were, India outsourcing wouldn't make sense; New Delphi outsourcing might).

Now, if a lot of businesses started hiring across the US, I'm sure wages would increase. But it'd be a more uniform increase without massive spikes over land prices; companies could just move if a county/state was trying to shaft them. And in the end, more uniform hiring across a country does end up improving the whole country, instead of hot spots (like California) having federal funds be the method of redistributing wealth. So, it's great news that average India wages are increasing. There's room to hire in the rural US as well.

This trumped-up format war is going to be dead on arrival -- because 90% of U.S. televisions won't be anywhere near an HDTV signal until 2015.

News flash: they already are.

Even "wait and see" articles like this one admit that there are already 16 million HDTV's in the US, which makes for greater than 10% market share (more like 15%). And that's as a percentage of all TV's currently in use - if you realize that there are more TV's in use than households in this country, then you can also make the assumption that many HDTV-enabled homes also have standard TV's in secondary rooms. So the total household penetration is probably more like 20%.

And the adoption rate is increasing, especially now that there's more of a reason to buy an HDTV - we've got the Xbox 360, we've got all prime time programming (except reality TV) in HD, we've got Blu-Ray and HD-DVD coming next year. At the same time, prices for HDTV's are falling through the floor - they have been well below the $500 mark for a couple of years now. You can buy a 26" HDTV for $299 at Best Buy. People who say HDTV's are expensive are focusing exclusively on the high end - but high-end TV's have always been expensive, HDTV or not.

Maybe you literally meant that most TV's wouldn't be near an HDTV signal until 2015 (that's what you actually said) - I kinda doubt you meant that but I may as well address that too just in case. All major metropolitan areas that I know of in the United States have access to over-the-air HDTV, cable HDTV and satellite. Rural areas have access to at least satellite. 100% of the US is covered by an HDTV signal of some sort, and most of the US is covered by several options.

You people who think the world is going to be stuck with standard-def analog TV forever are literally living in the past. Your friends probably have HDTV. A lot of people on this site have HDTV. Most new network programming is in HD, the new game consoles are in HD, the new optical disc formats are HD. It's already an HD world, and at some point, you'll join us.

Google's design sense is abysmal. The simplicity of the original (pre-portal) home page was refreshing - and it helped set Google apart. But Google seems to take pride in the butt-ugliness of its interfaces (I assume that stems from its engineering culture). Look at its recent offerings, such as Blog Search and Base, not to mention the ubiquitous AdSense box that's become an ever-widening esthetic stain on the web - they're not pleasant to look at or use. As Google moves into different, more complicated application services, particularly those with a desktop component, its weakness in interface design will hinder its ambitions. It's well behind Yahoo, not to mention Apple, in this important area.

they wanted to expel the blogger but now they are just forcing him to live in a motel for the rest of the semester, after which they will probably expel him.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/132 43962.htm

Which will become the first in the country..Mountain View or New Orleans?

Check this:
Google to unwire Mountain View

They may fall like snowflakes on Buffalo here,

Maybe if you mean Buffalo, NY

I have yet to come across a BSOD joke "in the wild." A quick search of Google returned 81 pages of what passes for Geek humor. But damn few questions from end-users, and nothing from sources like "Consumer Reports."

That's funny, my Google search for BSOD yielded all sorts of links:
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1 647
http://www.ntbrad.com/bsod.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_screen_of_death
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsu pport/learnmore/russel_july09.mspx
http://www.sun.com/desktop/products/sunpci/bsod.pd f
http://www.sun.com/desktop/products/sunpci/bsod.pd f
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/bus iness/columnists/gmsv/10581891.htm
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/bus iness/columnists/gmsv/10581891.htm

They may fall like snowflakes on Buffalo here,

Maybe if you mean Buffalo, NY

I have yet to come across a BSOD joke "in the wild." A quick search of Google returned 81 pages of what passes for Geek humor. But damn few questions from end-users, and nothing from sources like "Consumer Reports."

That's funny, my Google search for BSOD yielded all sorts of links:
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1 647
http://www.ntbrad.com/bsod.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_screen_of_death
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsu pport/learnmore/russel_july09.mspx
http://www.sun.com/desktop/products/sunpci/bsod.pd f
http://www.sun.com/desktop/products/sunpci/bsod.pd f
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/bus iness/columnists/gmsv/10581891.htm
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/bus iness/columnists/gmsv/10581891.htm

More to the point, they *could* have known, and *should* have known, but the fact seems to be that they just don't *care*.

I mean, if users don't know what rootkits are, why should Sony care if their DRM uses one? That's their opinion, really!

They're interested in cutting down on copying of CDs using computers. First4Internet had a package that would do it. Done deal. How much did Sony Music poke under the hood of the copy-protection package they bought? Probably releasing it on such a limited number of discs was their idea of "testing" it.

Come work in computer science, boys and girls! Why? Because you'll have an opportunity to experience first-hand the effect of offer and demand on the job market, when we at MS will lobby for an increase of H1B -- the ones for 2006 are already allocated.

Because since the industry is mostly managed by lawyers and MBA, not engineers, you in the tech field will never compete with us lawyers and sons of lawyers for these coveted positions of execs who get a raise at the same time techies are laid off.

Because in spite of all Bill Gates' public wailing for attracting talent, he spits on tech talent, and so do most CEOs. The only "talent" he cares really about is execs, especially sales and marketing execs. That's talent. Design? Programming? Architecture? A commodity at best. A cost to be outsourced.

And you wonder why there is such a decrease in engineering and science students? Of course they want to work in finance and law. Do you think they are stupid?

Good Morning Silicon Valley, which had this story a day or so ago, now says it's a hoax. "[The story] appears to be confusing an existing feature within Windows Media DRM that allows for single-play of promotional digital material," a Microsoft spokesperson explained. "This has been an option for content owners to use for some time for the Windows Media format - it does not apply to MPEG2 content found on DVDs."

Americans for Technology Leadership was founded by Jonathan Zuck in 1999 as a "grassroots" organisations for concerned consumers who want less regulation in the technology sector. It also campaigns on general tech issues such as spam.

It has been frequently described as a Microsoft front group. [1] (http://weblog.siliconvalley.com/column/dangillmor /archives/000421.shtml) [2] (http://www.aaxnet.com/news/M010823.html) [3] (http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~lambert/blog/computer s/tanks.html)

ATL's domain name, techleadership.org, is registered to the Association for Competitive Technology. The site is hosted by Thomas E. Stock and Thomas J. Synhorst's LLC, TSE Enterprises. Synhorst is a founding member of the DCI Group, a Washington DC-based strategic consulting and lobbying firm which has counted Microsoft as a prime client for a number of years.

Joshua Micah Marshall reports in the July 17, 2000 American Prospect: "[W]hile Microsoft did confirm that Synhorst's DCI had been retained as a consultant, it insisted that another DCI employee, Tim Hyde, and not Synhorst, was handling the company's account. In any event, the web of connections among DCI, ATL, and Microsoft is striking. While working for Microsoft, DCI has also provided consulting services to ATL. And Josh Mathis, the man [ACT president Jonathan] Zuck installed as ATL's executive director, is also an employee of DCI, who still works out of the same Washington, D.C., office as Synhorst and Hyde."
[edit]
Pro-Microsoft letter campaign discovered

In August 2001 the Los Angeles Times reported that a ATL was behind a "carefully orchestrated nationwide campaign to create the impression of a surging grass-roots movement" behind Microsoft. "The campaign, orchestrated by a group partly funded by Microsoft, goes to great lengths so that the letters appear to be spontaneous expressions from ordinary citizens. Letters sent in the last month are printed on personalized stationery using different wording, color and typefaces--details that distinguish those efforts from common lobbying tactics that go on in politics every day. Experts said there's little precedent for such an effort supported by a company defending itself against government accusations of illegal behavior."

According to the Times, the campaign was discovered when Utah's Attorney General at the time Mark Shurtleff received letters "purportedly written by at least two dead people ... imploring him to go easy on Microsoft Corp. for its conduct as a monopoly."

Eighteen state's attorneys general were joining with the Justice Department in its anti-trust suit against Microsoft. Iowa's Attorney General Tom Miller reported receiving more than 50 letters in support of Microsoft during the summer of 2001. "No two letters are identical, but the giveaway lies in the phrasing," the Times wrote. "Four Iowa letters included this sentence: 'Strong competition and innovation have been the twin hallmarks of the technology industry.' Three others use exactly these words: "If the future is going to be as successful as the recent past, the technology sector must remain free from excess regulation."

Dewey Square Group and DCI Group sibling firm DCI/New Media are credited with assisting Microsoft with its "grass-roots" campaign, according to the Times.
[edit]

From http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=America ns_for_Technology_Leadership

<SNIP>
Americans for Technology Leadership was founded by Jonathan Zuck in 1999 as a "grassroots" organisations for concerned consumers who want less regulation in the technology sector. It also campaigns on general tech issues such as spam.

It has been frequently described as a Microsoft front group. [1] (http://weblog.siliconvalley.com/column/dangillmor /archives/000421.shtml)
[2] (http://www.aaxnet.com/news/M010823.html)
[3] http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~lambert/blog/computers /tanks.html

In August 2001 the Los Angeles Times reported that a ATL was behind a "carefully orchestrated nationwide campaign to create the impression of a surging grass-roots movement" behind Microsoft. "The campaign, orchestrated by a group partly funded by Microsoft, goes to great lengths so that the letters appear to be spontaneous expressions from ordinary citizens. Letters sent in the last month are printed on personalized stationery using different wording, color and typefaces--details that distinguish those efforts from common lobbying tactics that go on in politics every day. Experts said there's little precedent for such an effort supported by a company defending itself against government accusations of illegal behavior."

According to the Times, the campaign was discovered when Utah's Attorney General at the time Mark Shurtleff received letters "purportedly written by at least two dead people ... imploring him to go easy on Microsoft Corp. for its conduct as a monopoly."

Eighteen state's attorneys general were joining with the Justice Department in its anti-trust suit against Microsoft. Iowa's Attorney General Tom Miller reported receiving more than 50 letters in support of Microsoft during the summer of 2001. "No two letters are identical, but the giveaway lies in the phrasing," the Times wrote. "Four Iowa letters included this sentence: 'Strong competition and innovation have been the twin hallmarks of the technology industry.' Three others use exactly these words: "If the future is going to be as successful as the recent past, the technology sector must remain free from excess regulation."

Dewey Square Group and DCI Group sibling firm DCI/New Media are credited with assisting Microsoft with its "grass-roots" campaign, according to the Times.
</SNIP>

I wrote an e-mail to Foxnews using my gmail account. Besides answering some of Pendergast's claims, I quoted sourcewatch and said a couple of things to them. Let's see how they answer.

It's just a glorified real-estate leasing deal, which will use up some of the office space created by the latest layoffs at NASA-Ames:

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/127 63469.htm

Many daily activities present information using a written or spoken stream of words: television, radio, telephone calls, meetings, face-to-face conversations with others. Often people can benefit from additional information about the topics that are being discussed. Supplementing television broadcasts is particularly attractive because of the passive nature of TV watching. Interaction is severely constrained, usually limited to just changing the channel; there is no way to more finely direct what kind of information will be presented.

Indeed, several companies have explored suggesting web pages to viewers as they watch TV. For example, the Intercast system, developed by Intel, allows entire HTML pages to be broadcast in unused portions of the TV signal. A user watching TV on a computer with a compatible TV tuner card can then view these pages, even without an Internet connection. NBC transmitted pages via Intercast during their coverage of the 1996 Summer Olympics. The Interactive TV Links system, developed by VITAC (a closed captioning company) and WebTV (now a division of Microsoft), broadcasts URLs in an alternative data channel interleaved with closed caption data [17,2]. When a WebTV box detects one of these URLs, it displays an icon on the screen; if the user chooses to view the page, the WebTV box fetches it over the Internet.

For both of these systems the producer of a program (or commercial) chooses relevant documents by hand. In fact, the producer often creates new documents specifically to be accessed by TV viewers. To our knowledge, there has been no previous work on automatically selecting web pages that a user might want to see while watching a TV program.

In this paper we study the problem of finding news articles on the web relevant to the ongoing stream of TV broadcast news. We restrict our attention to broadcast news since it is very popular and information-oriented (as supposed to entertainment-oriented).

quoted at GMSV