Although it isn't clear exactly how many of the 18 states' attorneys general were targeted by Microsoft lobbyists, evidence is mounting that many of the letters were pre-generated by the lobbyists and signed by constituents who were misled -- or who were in fact no longer living.

Utah attorney general Mark Shurtleff told the Times that at least two of the more than 400 letters his office has received in support of the Redmond, Washington-based software giant were from people who had died, and that one of the letters arrived from "Tuscon, Utah" -- a nonexistent city.

Other attorneys general who have received these letters have expressed displeasure at Microsoft's tactics.

Said Minnesota attorney general Mike Hatch: "It's sleazy. This is not a company that appears bound by ethical boundaries."

Micro-Soft Money

According to the Times, Microsoft has increased its campaign donations both to the Republican and Democratic National Committees. In 1999-2000, the company became the fifth-largest soft money donor.

Meanwhile, several pro-Microsoft lobbying groups have been running the letter-writing campaign, most notably Americans for Technology Leadership (ATL) and Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW). Both organizations have received financial support from Microsoft, though neither has disclosed how much.

According Nancy Clark, a spokesperson at political communications company Precision Communications, Microsoft probably pays out to these organizations running the letter-writing campaigns on a per-letter basis. Clark speculated that Microsoft may be shelling out as much as US$100,000 or more to have ATL, for example, generate 100 letters in each of the 18 states with lawsuits still pending against the company.

Astroturf Campaign

According to the Times report, ATL operatives obtained letters supporting Microsoft by calling citizens of a given state and polling them on their thoughts about the antitrust case.

Where citizens showed support for Microsoft's position, ATL sent them several copies of a letter to sign and pre-stamped envelopes addressed to their state's attorney general, members of Congress, and President George W. Bush.

"We'd write a letter and then send it to them," said ATL executive director Jim Prendergast, after first telling the L.A. Times that the group offered only a few bullet points to help constituents write their letters. "That's fairly common practice."

Old Tricks

Carl Howe, principal analyst for Forrester Research, told NewsFactor Network that Microsoft has used this sort of tactic in the past.

After the antitrust trial began, "documents were leaked that indicated Microsoft had employed Edelman [a well-known PR firm] to wage an 'Astroturf' campaign -- that is, an artificial grassroots campaign," Howe told NewsFactor.

"While the results of that effort were never as clearly documented as in this case, this is a tactic that Microsoft clearly understands," Howe added.

"I don't think this is a wild idea. Some political campaigns have used the technique as well -- hence the name for the category."