This little throwaway piece from the business section today (scroll half way down) is something I find incredibly disturbing.
Microsoft associate general counsel Richard J. Wallis will take over later this year as chairman of the American Bar Association’s antitrust section, a legal committee with influence on the level of oversight American courts have in antitrust settlements. Separately, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates was ordered by a U.S. district judge in Baltimore to submit to questioning under oath by lawyers for Burst.com and Sun Microsystems, which are preparing antitrust claims against the software maker.
Someone who defends the BM in their many antitrust suits is now going to be chair of the committee that is supposed to oversee antitrust settlements for the legal community. I don’t see how anyone typed that paragraph with a straight face!