The Business Insider has a great post that lays out the lobbying spending by most of the techs stalwarts. Arik Hesseldahl at All Things D compiled the data. The data says that the telecom’s spent the most on lobbying last year. The biggest spender was Verizon (VZ) which spent $3.83 million, an increase of nearly $1 million over last year. AT&T (T) spent $3.47 million on lobbying.
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) spent $1.6 million on lobbying in 2010, which is nearly double what it spent last year. Microsoft (MSFT), Oracle (ORCL), Google (GOOG), IBM (IBM), and Yahoo (YHOO) also increased the dollars spent on lobbying from 2009 to 2010. Only Intel (INTC) decreased its lobbying spending in 2010.
The Business Insider points out that despite their incredible influence in the world of tech, Apple (AAPL) and Facebook are hardly spending anything on lobbying. The post speculates that while Apple is influential, it doesn’t dominate anything other than mp3 players, so the government has had little reason to mess with it. (Apple rules the tablet world, but that’s an 8-month-old market.) Also, Apple doesn’t do big blockbuster acquisitions that the government looks at.
Facebook spent the least of anyone with just $120,000. The author expects this will change soon as the company’s power is growing quickly, drawing the eye of regulators.
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The telecom monoliths spent $7.3 million on lobbying, which is more than HP, MSFT, Google and IBM combined what are they up to? I wrote about AT&T’s activities previously, clearly, these firms expect something back from the politicians they bribe donate to. History has proven that the politicians on the receiving end of the bribes donations generate results for their largest contributors and not the SMB or end-user.
What do you think? What are these tech stalwarts getting for their money in Washington DC?
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.