Oracle Hired Firm To Eye Microsoft Allies

Oracle Corp admits it hired a detective agency to investigate allies of rival Microsoft Corp., and confirmed the work showed that Microsoft paid the trade and policy groups to "influence" public opinion during its federal antitrust trial.

The work by Investigative Group International Inc. allegedly included a $1,200 offer to janitors to get a peek at the trash of the Association for Competitive Technology, a trade group.

While Oracle did not take specific responsibility for the probe of ACT, the company said it was necessary to hire IGI to investigate the Independent Institute of Oakland, Calif., and the National Taxpayers Union of Arlington, Va., to expose Microsoft's actions.

The groups "were misrepresenting themselves as independent advocacy groups, when in fact their work was funded by Microsoft for the express purpose of influencing public opinion in favor of Microsoft during its antitrust trial," Oracle said Tuesday.

But according to the Wall Street Journal, ACT's executive director Jonathan Zuck, said the investigative group' s attempt to buy their rubbish for that sum was "a violation and personal attack," and demanded an apology from Oracle.

Details of the Oracle statement and the incident involving the rival software giants were reported Wednesday in The Journal and The New York Times. Oracle said it told the detective agency nothing illegal was to be done during the investigation.

"This is a sad day," Mark Murray, a Microsoft spokesman, told The Associated Press. "[Oracle is] basically trying to justify these inappropriate actions and it's unfortunate that Oracle won't admit that it's wrong."

But Oracle said after seeing full page ads placed by the Oakland free-market policy institute last year, it decided to retain the detective agency. Microsoft paid for the ads, The Times said.

The taxpayers' union at one point issued a study blaming the antitrust case - which Microsoft lost and has appealed - for a loss in value of state pension funds. The Journal later reported that the group had received funding from Microsoft.

The paper also reported Wednesday that Oracle hired a Washington public relations firm, Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter & Associates, to disseminate potentially damaging information about Microsoft to the media. That work included suggestions that a company headed by political consultant Ralph Reed - a top campaign strategist for George W. Bush - was trying to persuade the presidential candidate to support Microsoft.

The company, Century Strategies, later apologized for encouraging "a small number of individuals" to lobby Bush. The company said Reed never asked Bush to take a position on the court case.

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