lobbying

Samsung increases spending on U.S. lobbyists to $900K

As Samsung products continue to be used by U.S. consumers at a growing rate, the company faces more competition from U.S. tech companies and a higher potential for legal battles. This means that the South Korean company must work to win the trust of U.S. lawmakers.

Apparently, Samsung has worked pretty hard at this over the last year. According to Bloomberg, the company spent a record amount of money on Washington, D.C. lobbyists.

In 2012, Samsung spent $900,000 on lobbyists, according to Bloomberg -- this is up from the $150,000 it spent in 2011. … Read more

Facebook spent $4 million to lobby U.S. lawmakers in 2012

Facebook wined and dined U.S. lawmakers and racked up a tab close to $4 million during 2012, an increase of 196 percent over its courting costs in the previous year.

According to disclosure forms, Facebook spent $1.4 million in the fourth quarter to lobby government officials on foreign relations matters, online privacy issues, data security, immigration reform, and online advertising.

The fourth-quarter lobby spend is Facebook's first $1 million-plus quarter; the $1.4 million figure is just $200,000 less than the company's combined lobbying costs for the first and second quarters of 2012. The bigger-by-the-month … Read more

Google, Facebook, Amazon lead new tech lobby group

The Internet Association, a lobbying group made up of some of the Web's most powerful companies, has officially launched.

The organization today announced that it's now operating in Washington, D.C. under the leadership of president and CEO Michael Beckerman. First announced earlier this year, the Internet Association is backed by 14 giants of the Web, including Amazon, AOL, Google, Facebook, Yahoo, and others. The companies hope to have their voices heard in Washington, Beckerman says.

"A free and innovative Internet is vital to our nation's economic growth," Beckerman said today in a statement. "… Read more

Google, eBay, Facebook, Amazon form lobbying group

The country's top Internet companies have formed a lobbying group to strengthen the industry's voice in Washington when it comes to Internet regulation, according to a press release announcing the head of the new organization.

Google, eBay, Facebook, and Amazon are among the members of the group, the Washington Post reported, citing a person familiar with the group's plans.

The group has appointed Michael Beckerman as its president and CEO. Beckerman is former deputy staff director to the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees telecommunications and Internet policy, and was a longtime advisor to … Read more

Facebook breaks its lobbying record in Q2 2012

Facebook has once again significantly increased its budget for wooing politicians. The social network giant spent $960,000 on lobbying in the second quarter of 2012, the transition quarter during which the company went public. This is up exactly 200 percent from the $320,000 the company spent in the first quarter of 2011, and up 47.69 percent from the $650,000 it spent in the fourth quarter of 2012.

As you can see in the chart below, Facebook has been lobbying since 2009 but only cranked up the gears last year. In fact, 2011 was the first year Facebook spent more than $1 million for lobbying. … Read more

Tim Cook gets to know Capitol Hill

Apple CEO Tim Cook's visit to Washington, D.C. earlier this month was a chance to have a meet-and-greets with various political leaders on the hill, according to Fortune.

Besides a sit-down with Speaker of the House John Boehner, Cook also met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. He was unable to meet with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi because she was out of town on an official trip in Afghanistan at the time.

"It was an act of opening up a line of communication," one aide told Fortune, "but … Read more

Google spends record $5 million on lobbying

Google continues to up the ante on the money it spends each quarter on Washington lobbying.

The search giant spent a record $5.03 million (PDF) last quarter, according to the company's lobbying report. That figure compares with $3.76 million spent in the fourth quarter and just $1.48 million in 2011's first quarter.

Among the lobbying issues grabbing Google's attention were the regulation of online advertising, privacy and competition issues in online advertising, openness and competition in online services, and International tax reform.

The search giant devoted lobby dollars to HR 1389 - Global Online Freedom Act of 2011, … Read more

Google nearly doubles lobbying spending in 2011, tops Microsoft

Google nearly doubled its federal lobbying expenditures last year, surpassing rival Microsoft in dollars doled out to persuade legislators to consider its policy positions.

The Web giant spent $9.68 million in 2011 on federal lobbying, an 88 percent jump from 2010, according to filings late last week with the United States Senate Office of Public Records. Microsoft's federal lobbying hit $7.34 million last year, a 6 percent gain.

Neither company immediately responded to queries about their lobbying spending.

The increase in Google's spending came during a year when regulators and lawmakers ratcheted up investigations of the … Read more

Alibaba, its sights on Yahoo, hires U.S. lobbying group

Chinese Internet company Alibaba is investing in new lobbying power in the U.S., a move that syncs up with its reported plans to make a serious bid for Yahoo.

A legal filing unearthed this week shows that the company hired the services of Washington D.C.-based Duberstein Group, headed by President Reagan's former chief of staff Kenneth Duberstein.

The hire comes months after chatter about Alibaba making a move to acquire Internet giant Yahoo. In a talk at Stanford University in September, Alibaba CEO Jack Ma told an audience that he was "very interested" in such a deal. … Read more