Big companies don’t need lobbyists to influence government. Environmental organizations do.
Look at Amazon. They put out bids for a place to build HQ2, and states fall over themselves to accommodate them. Corporate donations to candidates are already illegal. It doesn’t matter—the CEO of a big employer can just call up a Congressman and say “hey, I employ 10,000 constituents in your district. It’d be a shame if anything happened to their jobs.”
There was a point in the 90s when tech companies weren't interested in politics so much. They mostly tried to be better at technology and business and stay out of that game.
Things like anti-trust suits, vague IP law, and ___domain name disputes disabused tech companies of that notion quickly. They couldn't afford not to get involved in lobbying.
Look at Amazon. They put out bids for a place to build HQ2, and states fall over themselves to accommodate them. Corporate donations to candidates are already illegal. It doesn’t matter—the CEO of a big employer can just call up a Congressman and say “hey, I employ 10,000 constituents in your district. It’d be a shame if anything happened to their jobs.”