Microsoft's 2Q lobbying bill stays flat at $1.85M

WASHINGTON

Microsoft Corp. spent $1.85 million trying to make U.S. lawmakers and regulators see things its way during the second quarter, matching the company's lobbying bill from the same time last year.

The world's largest software maker focused on a wide range of issues, including licensing rights affecting its products and high-speed Internet access, according to documents filed last month.

Microsoft has ranked among the technology industry's big spenders in Washington for years.

But the latest quarter marked the first time that Microsoft was outspent by Internet search leader Google Inc., one of its fiercest rivals. Google poured $2.06 million into its second-quarter lobbying push, a 54 percent increase from last year.

Microsoft's complaints about Google's business practices contributed to Google's increased spending.

In the U.S., Microsoft helped lead the resistance to a legal settlement that would have granted Google the digital rights to millions of out-of-print books. Microsoft also unsuccessfully tried to persuade the Justice Department to block Google's recent $676 million purchase of airline fare tracker ITA Software Inc.

Out-of-print books and the online distribution of books were among the topics on Microsoft's second-quarter lobbying agenda, according to a July 20 statement filed with the U.S. Senate's secretary's office.

Other priorities on Microsoft's lobbying checklist during the second quarter included: online security, online child safety, health reform, electronic health records, immigration policies, taxes, high-speed Internet access and the education in math and science.

The Redmond, Wash.-based company aimed its arguments at Congress, Commerce Department, the Defense Department, the State Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, the Internal Revenue Service, the executive office of the President, the Federal Communications Commission, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S Trade Representative.