While we successfully defended against the breakup of the company, it was a difficult, bruising, and even painful experience. When I was appointed the company’s general counsel in 2002, it became my job to hammer out the equivalent of peace treaties with governments around the world and companies across the tech sector. It took almost a decade,6 and we made more than our share of mistakes. Given my role, I personally was responsible in some way for almost all of them.
