Since the election of President Donald Trump, Apple’s “been been cultivating some good old fashioned Washington influence,” Hamza Shaban reports for Buzzfeed News. “Apple spent $1.4 million, just $50,000 more than during the final months of the Obama presidency, when it set its previous record, but the most it has ever spent in a single quarter. Apple lobbied on issues including government requests for data, the regulation of mobile health apps, and self-driving cars.”
“Google, once again, outspent every other technology company. It was tenth overall, tallying $3.5 million,” Shaban reports. “‘We think it is important to have a strong voice in the debate and help policymakers understand our business and the work we do to keep the Internet open and fuel economic growth,’ a Google spokesperson told BuzzFeed News.”
MacDailyNews Take: Google’s “Oh Shit!” moment was dwarfed only by Hillary Clinton’s. (See: Google’s Eric Schmidt wore staff badge at Hillary Clinton’s ‘victory’ party.)
“Amazon spent nearly $3 million on lobbying, behind only Facebook and Google, and was 17th out of all companies in or out of tech,” Shaban reports. “Amazon met with government officials to discuss net neutrality, drone air cargo, drone privacy, and the flow of data across borders, among other issues. Microsoft claimed $2.3 million as the fourth biggest spender in tech and 27th overall. The second biggest spender out of any company was AT&T, which shelled out $4.6 million. The company’s proposed $85 billion merger with Time Warner, now under review by the Justice Department, is being closely watched by industry analysts and political observers.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Money makes the world go ’round.
SEE ALSO:
WikiLeaks emails show extremely close relationship between Clinton campaign and Google’s Eric Schmidt – November 1, 2016
Eric Schmidt-backed startup stealthily working to put Hillary Clinton in the White House – October 9, 2015
Google’s Eric Schmidt spurns Obama cabinet post offer – December 11, 2012
Obama to reward Google’s Schmidt with Cabinet post? – December 5, 2012
Google outfoxes U.S. FCC – April 17, 2012
Google Street View cars grabbed locations of cellphones, computers – July 26, 2011
Consumer Watchdog calls for probe of Google’s inappropriate relationship with Obama administration – January 25, 2011
FCC cites Android ‘openness’ as reason for neutered ‘Net Neutrality’ – December 22, 2010
U.S. FCC approves so-called ‘net-neutrality’ regulations – December 21, 2010
Google CEO Schmidt: If you don’t like being in Google Street View then ‘just move’ – October 28, 2010
Consumer Watchdog ads mock Google CEO Eric Schmidt (with video) – September 2, 2010
Google CEO Schmidt: Change your name to escape ‘cyber past’ – August 18, 2010
Wired: Google, CIA Invest in ‘future’ of Web monitoring – July 29, 2010
37 states join probe into Google’s questionable Wi-Fi data collection – July 22, 2010
Google Street View Wi-Fi data included passwords and email – June 18, 2010