  We measure the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) with the current both parallel
and perpendicular to the direction of the magnetization in the ferromagnetic
(FM) layers and thus probe the anisotropy of the effective mean free paths for
the spin-up and spin-down electrons, seen in the anisotropic magnetoresistance.
We find that the difference of the GMR in the two configurations, when
expressed in terms of the sheet conductance, displays a nearly universal
behavior as a function of GMR. On interpreting the results within the Boltzmann
transport formalism we demonstrate the importance of bulk scattering for GMR.
