The proposed investigation into telecommunications equipment would be a new twist in the European Union's trade defense against China because it would be initiated by the European Commission itself and not in response to a complaint by industry.
And who do you call when you have a complaint?" The industry also hired Mr. Hard, the private investigator, to spend a month on the streets quietly gathering information about the incursion of liveries.
A common complaint from industry at that time was that although they could see the importance of investing in technology research, most did not have the resources to build entire labs or pay full-time R&D staff.
But complaints from industry leaders are intensifying.
There were predictable complaints from industry lobbyists and some in Congress that the rule would impede economic growth.
Regulators fell behind on the rules amid complaints from industry lobbyists and Republican lawmakers who have said that the agency was a threat to an economic recovery.
But bitter complaints from industry about lost production owing to the curbs on electricity may also have influenced the decision.Though short-lived, the latest emergency is a reminder of how perilously unreliable South Africa's power supply has become.
Mr. Sarkozy had to shelve his plan after it was rejected by the country's Constitutional Court, and after complaints by industry groups that it would put French companies at a disadvantage to their European neighbors.
Joseph C. Peiffer, a New Orleans lawyer who represents financial fraud victims, said the problem was far broader than the Endeavor case, noting that at least $100 million had been returned to investors around the country after an array of S.E.C. complaints, financial industry arbitration and lawsuits.
That agency has been riven in recent years by internal disagreements that have spilled not only into advisory meetings but also into Congressional hearings and news accounts, some of which have suggested that decisions have been overly influenced by lawmakers or complaints from industry.
