Yesterday BusinessWeek had a solid look at
why the It'sOurNet coalition was failing to make headway in Congress. After reading it, the result of the COPE vote was even less surprising to me--it's worth checking out.
For those of you that don't have the time to RTFA, a quick summary:
- The Cable and Telecom outfits completely outmaneuvered the big tech companies (Google, Yahoo, etc.) on K Street:
- Telecom's already had a majority of lobbyists on payroll.
- Many of the lobbyists that are being paid by the coalition couldn't work on the issue because of conflicts of interest.
- Telecoms signifigantly outspend tech companies in lobbying cash.
- The larger internet companies entered the fray late.
- The majority of internet companies' 2004 campaign contributions went to Democrats.