In 2004 Davíð's government became embroiled in controversy, when he introduced a bill which would have made it impossible for large private companies to own more than 15% of any one media company, and under which newspapers and television stations could not be owned by the same company. Davíð argued that this was to prevent concentration of the media in the hands of a few people, and to enable the media to remain independent and critical not only towards politicians, but also towards financial moguls. His critics maintained, however, that the proposal was directly aimed at Baugur Group which they claimed Davíð regarded as a political enemy. By then, Baugur had bought another newspaper, the television station from Jón Ólafsson and a few radio stations, and controlled more than half of the media market. The Alþingi passed a much-softened version of the media bill. But in summer 2004, for the first time in the history of the Icelandic Republic, the president, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, refused to sign the bill into law. Davíð criticized this, pointing out that the director of the television station formerly owned by Jón Ólafsson and recently bought by Baugur, Sigurður G. Guðjónsson, had been Ólafur Ragnar's campaign manager in his first presidential campaign, and that Ólafur's daughter was employed by Baugur. However, Baugur enjoyed considerable goodwill in Iceland because their shops offered lower prices than competitors, while their owners, Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson and Jóhannes Jónsson, were seen as an embodiment of an Icelandic dream of rags-to-riches. Many people agreed that the media bill seemed to be a part of a political duel rather than an attempt to make general law. The conclusion of the long struggle was that Davíð Oddsson withdrew the bill instead of holding a national referendum on it, as required by the Icelandic constitution in the event that the president refuses to sign a bill into law.