Shock in US over claims of cash payment

After almost every hearing involving Microsoft in the past five years, a small white-haired man was to be found surrounded by reporters.

With his white beard and knack for a soundbite, Ed Black was the closest thing to Christmas for anyone wanting a voice to express an anti-Microsoft sentiment. So yesterday's allegations that the president of trade association CCIA had personally received cash as part of the settlement with Microsoft, shocked an entire industry.

Bill Kovacic, professor of law at George Washington university, said: "It's unbelievable. A bit like saying the sun is going to come up in the south." For most, the surprise was because of the vehemence with which Mr Black usually spoke of his former bete noire. Mr Kovacic said: "If you had taken what he had been saying [about Microsoft] for the past five years you would have thought that the only acceptable outcome was to break up the company."

Several academics and analysts questioned the notion of a trade body employee receiving part of a settlement fee. Prof Kovacic said: "[Trade bodies] act basically as agents for membership with benefits to be distributed to the membership."

Another member of a trade association said: "I can understand changing a position because members have changed their minds, but not because money has changed hands." Mr Black, who has been president and chief executive officer of the CCIA for almost 10 years, is in his late 50s and has spent his career in Washington, either working for trade associations or the government. In the mid-1970s, he worked in congressional liaison for Henry Kissinger.

According to the Financial Times, the CCIA board this month agreed a three-year contract with a $500,000-a-year salary for Mr Black.