Bonum Certa Men Certa

Details of Microsoft's Lobbying in Europe

US taking over the world



Summary: Illusion of autonomy -- the Microsoft groups involved and the money at play

HIDDEN behind a Web form we have some very juicy details about Microsoft's lobbying activities in Europe. We already have a rough idea of what it is doing in the United States and we obtained a long list of lobbyists.



In the Web form (register of lobbyists), looking under entry "0801162959-21", we have a lot of details about Microsoft. We reproduce them here because otherwise, the information will never be presented and indexed anywhere.

Microsoft Corporation is described as "Publicly Traded Corporation, incorporated in the State of Washington, United States of America." The category of activity is: "€«in-house€» lobbyists and trade associations active in lobbying." The "Head of the organisation" (or "Person legally responsible for the organisation") is listed as Mr Steve Ballmer, the CEO.

The contact details as as follows:

One Microsoft Way Redmond WA 98052 UNITED STATES Telephone number: (+1) 425 8828080 Other contact information: Microsoft Corporate Affairs Europe, Dr. John Vassallo, Vice President European Affairs and Associate General Counsel, Rue du Trone 4, 5th Floor, 1000 Bruxelles Tel: +32 2 550 06 10


Microsoft wishes to be informed about consultations in:

* Agriculture * Audiovisual and media * Budget * Competition * Consumer affairs * Culture * Customs * Development * Economic affairs * Education * Employment and social affairs * Energy * Enlargement * Enterprise * Environment * Equal opportunities * External relations * External trade * Foreign and security policy * General and institutional affairs * Humanitarian aid * Information society * Internal market * Justice and home affairs * Public health * Regional policy * Research and technology * Transport



Here is information on Microsoft's "membership of any associations/federations/confederations or relationships to other bodies in formal or informal networks" (as of 13.01.2009):

Business Software Alliance (BSA) European Information & Communications Technology Industry Association (EICTA) European Software Association (ESA) European Digital Media Association (EDIMA) European Internet Foundation (EIF) European Internet Services Providers Association (EuroISPA) American Electronic Association (AEA Europe) American European Community Association (AECA) Association of Competitive Technologies (ACT) AIM – European Brands Association American chamber of Commerce to the European Union (AmCham EU) Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC) Business Europe German Association for Information Technology, Telecommunication and New Media (BITKOM) Computer Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) Digital interoperability Forum (DIF) DotEU European-American Business Council (EABC) The European Academy of Business in Society (EABIS) European competitiveness Platform (ECP) e-Skills Industry Leadership Board (ILB) High Level Advisory Group I-Comp Interactive Advertising Bureau ICC – BASCAP Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy Interactive Software Federation of Europe (ISFE) SME-Union Transatlantic Business Dialogue Transatlantic Policy Network Voices for Innovation Voice on the NET Coalition Europe - VON World Federation of Advertisers (WFA)

MS also participates in a number of and provides support to the following Think Tanks in Brussels.

Friends of Europe CEPS EPC Stockholm Network



Many familiar faces are there. It shows that ACT, for example, is officially a Microsoft-affiliated lobby. It was obvious, but the above is a more formal proof.

For the financial year of 2008, Microsoft's "estimated costs to the organisation directly related to representing interests to EU institutions in that year" was €1,300,000.

That is of course a lower bound because a lot of lobbying activities do not get disclosed. EurActiv says that a lot of lobbyists refuse to register.

The page adds:

Other (financial) information provided by the organisation:

Our estimate of costs, which ranges between 1.250.000 and 1.300.000 €, includes both costs in connection with activities by Microsoft employees, and fees paid to third parties (consultancies and law firms), where those fees are unlikely to be reported elsewhere in the Register. Because the Commission has explicitly urged registrants to avoid potential “double counting,” we have not included fees paid to third parties whom we understand are likely to register themselves.


And lastly:

Interest representation activities

Subject of the main interest representation activities performed by the organisation:

The following is a list of the main lobbying activities performed by MS as of 13.01.2009. This list is subject to change as circumstances affecting the company evolve:

● Audiovisual and media services directive (AVMS) ● Content Online Communication, Olivennes Agreement ● Telecommunication package (+ ERG paper) – esp.: spectrum, accessibility, privacy, security and VoIP ● Safer Internet Program (+ Draft Guidelines for Social Networking and Financial Coalition against Child Abuse) ● Data retention ● Article 29 working party opinions and related issues (monitoring) ● Council of Europe Draft Guidelines for ISPs ● i2010, e-Inclusion ● IPR, Copyright, Counterfeiting ● Private copyright levies ● Software liability & consumer acquis, digital rights Charta ● eGovernment ● Interoperability ● Critical infrastructure protection ● Transatlantic cooperation ● Trade policy ● Education ● R&D and Innovation ● Private Litigation Whitepaper ● Art. 82 guidelines


The list above is very telling. Microsoft plays a significant role in lawmaking across Europe.

Recent Techrights' Posts

When the Microsoft Aggressors Rely on Several Law Firms ('Attack Dogs', 'Guns for Hire'), Not Just One, Lawyering Up Against Techrights (Acting on Behalf of Americans Against UK Publishers)
From serving customers at some restaurant he has moved on to bullying people with demand letters
Polygamy, from Catholic Synod on Synodality to Social Control Media & Debian CyberPolygamy
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Only a Third of or 1 in 3 Web-Connected Devices is a Desktop or Laptop, According to statCounter
we can expect Android to widen its lead
 
statCounter Estimates Only 1 in 300 Iranians Would Use Microsoft for Search
Iranians don't quite trust Microsoft
Gemini Links 24/06/2025: ftpd on FreeBSD and Online Small Web Magazine
Links for the day
Google News Does Great Harm by Promoting Slopfarms as Legitimate News Sites
Slopfarms are sites which are 100% LLM slop
Links 24/06/2025: Trouble at "Open" "AI" and ‘Siarhei is Free’
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/06/2025: Stimulants and Subscription Costs for DRM
Links for the day
Links 24/06/2025: OpenAI [sic] May Soon Die (Too Much Debt) and Social Control Media Accused of Being Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda Amplifier
Links for the day
Nirbheek Chauhan in Planet GNOME Explains Why Wayland Pushers Are Losing
"A strange game. The only winning move is not to play."
The Days Are Getting Shorter, the First Half of 2025 is Almost Over
We're gratified to see significant increase in traffic and also positive feedback on the work we do
Turning GNU/Linux Into a Political Football
X (not the site) is Free software
X Server Still Works for Many People
A lot of people will grow suspicious of Wayland boosters/pushers if they persist and insist on using these tactics
Exactly a Week Ago "BetaNews Staff" Said "Betanews Is Growing Alongside You". Since Then Every Article (All by "Camila Nogueira") Has Been LLM Slop.
BetaNews is basically a slopfarm
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 23, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, June 23, 2025
The "Tarzan Effect" in Compilers and Software
What happens when you forcibly make things 'work', either by hacks or by disregarding warnings (like those that compilers tend to issue)?
Gemini Links 23/06/2025: Mass Tourism, Hair Love, and Google Gemini as a Googlebomb
Links for the day
Law Firm Burgess Mee Does Not Fully Deny Participating in Abusive Litigation for Serial Strangler From Microsoft
I am not unfamiliar with these tactics
The Modus Operandi of Wayland Pushers: Make It Political
do what I say or you're a nazi...
Links 23/06/2025: RFE/RL Contributor Vladyslav Yesypenko Released, Recording Industry Cutbacks
Links for the day
Brett Wilson LLP Solicitors (M): Over 99.9% of Our E-mail is Self-Marketing, We Send You 3.5MB E-mails for Less Than 1KB of Text
Why would tech people entrust legal matters to such people?
Peter Moon's (Computerworld) Interview With Richard Stallman
Stallman: If you want freedom don't follow Linus Torvalds
At What Point Does Outsourcing Constitute Malpractice?
Brett Wilson LLP's new staff page is misleading
United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sailing to GNU/Linux, According to statCounter
countries in that region will quickly learn the price of neglecting digital sovereignty
From Do Your Own Research to Do Your Own Search
The Web is full of garbage; search engines amplify this garbage
More People Moving to Geminispace?
at age 6+ Gemini Protocol seems to have gained some maturity and it seems like more people use it
Permutation in LLMs Does, Inevitably, Change Meanings and Therefore LLMs Cannot Properly Rephrase or Summarise Texts
LLMs lack actual grasp or comprehension of what they spew out
Links 23/06/2025: Many Security Breaches, Population Declines
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/06/2025: "America at the Crossroads" and OpenWRT Surgery
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 22, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 22, 2025
Pure Dove
Different means different, and sometimes those who "deviate" from "the norm" have a point
Censorship is a Sign of Weakness Which Invites More Censorship Attempts
revolutionaries don't succumb to pressure from bullies
Why It's Unlikely That LLM Slop Will Dominate the Web in the Long Run
Slopfarms will eventually perish (they have no actual value) and "survivors" on the Web will be sites that never depended on search engines and social control media
GNU/Linux in Argentina Now Measured Near 5%
Like in central Europe, they must be seeing an increasingly hostile US
BetaNews is Fake News, Composed by LLM Slop
nothing in BetaNews is written by humans anymore
Links 22/06/2025: Giving Up on Smartphones and 'Jaws' at 50
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/06/2025: Furniture Construction and Bubble for Comments
Links for the day
Links 22/06/2025: Windows TCO Tales and YouTube Getting More Hostile to Users
Links for the day
The FSF Board and FSF Beard
So the FSF's Board has grown
Law Firms Facing the Consequences for Patently Abusive Litigation on Behalf of Microsoft Employees Who Got Arrested for Strangulation and Had Done Even Worse Things
Having spent 1.5 years bullying me with patronising letters on behalf of Microsofters, last week they got served a massive bill and, in effect, lost the Hearing
New Report From the EPO's Staff Representatives in The Hague (LSCTH) Reveals Many Unsolved Issues
Local Staff Committee The Hague (LSCTH) wrote to staff just before the weekend
LLMs Breaking Everything
Computing and the Net became a playground for scammers and "bros", like people who "invented" fake currencies and also try to tell us that LLMs spewing out things will have some real value
Links 22/06/2025: More Slop Lawsuits (Copyrights) and "America’s Oligarch Problem"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/06/2025: Gigantic Toolchest and Annoying Bots
Links for the day