Apple goes to Washington

August 17, 2008

Apple works hard to project a benign image, and sometimes the company is even successful. This past year has brought them some serious public relations grief, and this revelation about Apple and Washington may not ease the burden.

Apple presents itself as the cooler, hipper choice (hence the Justin Long hipster character in the Mac vs PC commercials we all know and love). When most people think “cool, hip: Apple”, they don’t think “lobbyist in Washington”. It seems we need to adjust our thinking because according to a line item on Apple’s Quarter 2 budget, Apple sets aside money for lobbying the powers that be in Washington.

So how does the Apple lobbying budget shake out? Forbes highlights a few items on the list for the $450,000 USD earmarked for Washington:

patent reform
consumer product safety
No Child Left Behind (Really, Apple? I’m so disappointed.)
energy efficiency
net nanny and spyware fighting drives

At least Apple also lists network neutrality as a continued chunk of the lobbying budget. That almost makes up for the No Child Left Behind drivel. I’m sure that is a strictly political correctness move, but it still disappoints. Continuing the fight for network neutrality is a key initiative, however, and one I can wholly get behind.

Another decent move on Apple’s part is continued support of the USF (Universal Service Fund) that brings telephone technology to rural and under privileged areas. I’d have a bit more of an issue with Apple as lobbyist if there was not a decent balance of the self serving and society beneficial in their list.

How do you feel about companies like Apple earmarking money for Washington lobbyists? I’m a bit uncomfortable with it, mainly because of the support for no Child Left Behind. I think if they stuck to technology intitiatives like network neutrality or green technology programs I’d be ok with it over all.