Oracle's Larry Ellison said Wednesday his goal behind investigating Microsoft's funding of sympathetic lobbying groups --- first reported late Tuesday night --- was to expose the software giant's "covert" activities. However, the chief executive said he was unaware until Tuesday that Oracle had hired an investigative firm and did not know the firm had attempted to go through the advocacy groups' garbage. "Do I take responsibility? Absolutely," Ellison said Wednesday. "I authorized them to investigate Microsoft's activities" and approved a budget for the effort.

SUB-COMMITTEE: Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee EVENT: Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee hearing on H. R. 4267, the Internet Tax Reform and Reduction Act of 2000; H. R. 4460, the Internet Tax Simplification Act of 2000; H. R. 4462, the Fair and Equitable Interstate Tax Compact Simplification Act of 2000. TIME: 10 a.m. LOCATION: 2237 Rayburn House Office Building CONTACT: 202-225-3951 http://www.house.gov/judiciary

SUBJECT: Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee hearing on H.R. 4267, the Internet Tax Reform and Reduction Act of 2000; H.R.4460, the Internet Tax Simplification Act of 2000; H.R.4462, the Fair and Equitable Interstate Tax Compact Simplification Act of 2000. Steven Rauschenberger, Illinois state senator; Ray Haynes, California state senator; Rodney Strain, Jr., sheriff and ex-officio tax collector, Covington, LA; Tom Stemberg, CEO, Staples, Framingham, MA; Harley Duncan, executive director, Federation of Tax Administrators; Gary Rappaport, president and CEO, The Rappaport Companies, Vienna, VA; Mark Nebergall, president, Software Finance and Tax Executives Council; Larry Good, senior vice president, Electronic Commerce Association; Scott Walters, vice president for research and development, TAXWARE International, Salem, MA; Robert Benham, owner and president, Balliet's, L.L.C., Oklahoma City, OK; Frank Julian, operational vice president and tax counsel, Federated Department Stores, Cincinnati, OH; Erick Gustafson, director of technology and communications policy, Citizens for a Sound Economy; James Hunt, president and CEO, Ernst and Young Technologies, Inc., Chantilly, VA; Arthur Rosen, McDermott, Will & Emery, New York, NY; Peter Lowy, co-president, Westfield America, Los Angeles, CA

SAN FRANCISCO -- Oracle Corp.'s Chief Executive Officer, Larry Ellison, on Wednesday defended the business software maker's decision to investigate Microsoft, saying the software giant's "covert" activities needed to be exposed. "I didn't go through Bill's garbage. But it is also true we set out to expose Microsoft's covert activities," Ellison said. "We didn't spy. We were trying to expose what Microsoft was doing."

WASHINGTON - The chairman of Oracle yesterday admitted hiring detectives to investigate Microsoft and defended the effort, including a cash-for-trash offer, as a means to force "full disclosure" of Microsoft's financial ties to allies. Larry Ellison acknowledged authorizing Oracle lobbyists in Washington to "investigate" Microsoft, but added that until Tuesday he had never heard of the private detective company that was hired.

With an estimated $47 billion personal fortune, Oracle Corp. chairman Larry Ellison will never be mistaken for a humble civic servant. But the flamboyant chief executive did his best Wednesday to depict his company's spying campaign against Microsoft Corp. as a public service. "I feel very good about what we did," Ellison said Wednesday as he defended Oracle's hiring of Investigative Group International Inc., which looked into several groups that publicly supported Microsoft in the federal antitrust case.