1. In a 1993 Wall Street Journal article, James Bovard asserted that the IRS "is carrying out a sweeping campaign to slash the number of Americans permitted to be self-employedand to punish the companies that contract with them...IRS officials indicate that more than half the nation's self-employed should no longer be able to work for themselves." Why did Microsoft want these employees to "be able to work for themselves"?

2. Why did the employees accept employment as independent contractors?

3. It seems unlikely that the purpose of the IRS's campaign was really to keep people from working for themselves, despite Mr. Bovard's assumption. What was the purpose of the campaign?

4. Why did the IRS and the court determine that these "independent contractors" were in fact employees?