05.20.08
HOWTO: NOT Protest Against Microsoft Corruption
Impulsive != effective
The Hungarian egg thrower, whom we mentioned earlier, publicly accused Microsoft of corruption. but he did something which we do not endorse. We have stated this openly more than once before and it’s worth repeating this remark about exclusion in this separate new post.
We really, truly, persistently and humbly need to expose Microsoft’s corruption not with eggs but with concrete evidence and proof. Most people know nothing about Microsoft except what they find in the paper and their PC. An egg won’t be an eye-opener to them. One bit of evidence which was brought up a little while ago is this one from 2007:
Microsoft Office raid in Hungary
[,,,]
“Such behavior could lead to the exclusion of competitive products from the market and violate European Union rules, according to the authority known as the GVH.”
This one is particularly relevant because it is from Hungary, but you can find similar examples here, here and maybe here as well. It’s very partial because there’s a whole sea of recent stories and the main problem is that authorities are not sufficiently responsive.
“You know what they say: that who is corrupt is unlikely to reprimand the corrupt.”In other words, some officials permit Microsoft to operate as though it’s above the law, so it hardly ever gets punished (unless it ‘kills’ a multi-million-dollar company that can afford years in court). You know what they say: that who is corrupt is unlikely to reprimand the corrupt.
In summary, the egg-throwing routine was lame. A more effective response to Steve Ballmer would to expose Ballmer’s corruptions and the sort of mafia techniques that we’ve lately found in his aggressive war against Yahoo's board. We should really focus on such things. Not on their personal lives, but on their business practices. There’s a lot more that we haven’t the time or capacity to cover here. Readers can help. █
Penguin Pete said,
May 20, 2008 at 12:56 pm
I, too, have condemned acting like a fringe loony in the name of supporting FOSS/fighting Microsoft.
But I confess, I had a hard time keeping a straight face while reading about the egg story. I get the yolk.
Roy Schestowitz said,
May 20, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Here is how to do it right:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee1CKe3NB10
More from that friend here:
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=Homer101010
J said,
May 20, 2008 at 4:02 pm
“acting like a fringe loony in the name of supporting FOSS/fighting Microsoft.”
You have to consider, though, the power of Microsoft.
Without focusing on the guy who threw the eggs and more on the world in general, especially in poor nations: What should a frustrated, probably unorganized and underpaid person do? Maybe they don’t know much about on-line get togethers and coordination of efforts like here at Boycottnovell.com.
How do you protest and be heard against a force so strong in the USA [Microsoft] and so well known like Pepsi is across the globe? It seems most people ACCEPT Microsoft to be evil and shrug it off, while using their software which may not work all of the time but they are used to the problems. Look how long people used Win95/98 with blue screens of death and shrugged it off, and these people continued to pay to transfer from 95 to 98 to experience more of the same!
Back on the egg guy, perhaps it wasn’t the best approach, but when you’re up against a company as rich and powerful as Microsoft, and with Gates probably trying to weasel his way into American government somehow, what is there to do? I know, the logical among us who care enough will mobilze and try to uncover the truth and spread it, but how many people can afford to have that much time, let alone just to read, take in and digest this information. Meanwhile, the Ballmer monkey dances across the world as many taxpayers are forced to pay for their criminal software, be it in their libraries, schools, government, wherever.
The bottom line here is, the egg dude made visible the frustration many of us feel, without hurting anyone, and the back of his jacket bore a clear message to all of us, and the Ballmer fool just brushed it off, like I knew he would, clearly disconnected from any morality and understanding of the people. He’s a wealthy cunt, why should it bother him?
Roy Schestowitz said,
May 20, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Sadly, the same sometimes goes for regulators. Maybe if enough people stand up and demand change, then this sort of corruption will actually end. Remember that diplomats too were made ‘addicated’ to Windows and Office. Nobody likes change. So, they just pass it on to businesses, children at schools, etc.
twitter said,
May 24, 2008 at 11:02 pm
Would you have heard about the rigged bid if this guy had not protested it like he did? Getting it on YouTube in English with subtitles was a good move.
When I saw the video, I felt uncomfortable for him even though he kept his cool and did not get tased or otherwise abused … on camera, that is. Now that I know what he was protesting, I think he did a great job.
Before he did this, no one paid attention. The mainstream news people ignored it. They might try to make him look like a loon but they can only do that by not doing their homework or not reporting the full story.
Roy Schestowitz said,
May 24, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Well, if that helps people speak out about the corruption, maybe we ought to start raising money for more eggs.