Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Shills Index: Under Construction

There is already one index of Microsoft AstroTurfers ("MicroTurfs"), but it's far from complete and it no longer seems to be maintained.



Throughout the past month or so, we have accumulated new examples (with proof) of Microsoft AstroTurfers and/or disguised PR agents. Recent posts on this subject include:



Over at Slashdot, Über-user Twitter has amassed his own list of Microsoft "Poisons Pens". Readers may wish to see it in order to properly judge their sources of information.

This is going to be a list of big publisher shills. Those are people who take their marching orders from big companies but pretend to be independent experts.


We mentioned ACT several times in the past and yesterday in the IRC channel it emerged that the group is not only a front for Microsoft. It actually came into existence/inception because of Microsoft (at least on the face of it) in order to represent "small businesses" in the same way that Microsoft wants to represent (by hijacking) "open source software". It wants to control and master both sides of the coin and control a pseudo-two-sided debate. Remember Black Duck (with Microsoft roots) moderating panels on the GPL?

Anyway, here's Source Watch's analysis of ACT, which claims to work for small businesses while actually represented and funded by none:

The Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) was a group that was founded in 1998 in response to the anti-trust action against Microsoft then taking place in the United States...

The initial version of the groups website, which was first indexed in October 1999, stated that "as a grassroots information technology trade association, ACT is working to preserve the freedom to achieve, compete and innovate." (The group's orignial office address was 1225 Eye St. NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC, 20005.

[...]

* Jonathan Zuck, Founder President 1999-2007 * Steve DelBianco, Vice President for Public Policy 1999-2007 * Morgan W. Reed, Vice President for Public Affairs 1999-2007 * Mark Blafkin, Vice President for Public Affairs -2007 * Braden Cox, Research and Policy Counsel - 2007 * Melissa Moskal, Director of Membership -2007 * Allison May Rosen 1999-


We must have hit a sensitive spot there because ACT has already taken the time to publicly attack Boycott Novell for saying the truth.

Another Washington-based group, which was discussed in IRC last night, is the Carlyle Group. Wikipedia describes it as "a global private equity investment firm, based in Washington, D.C., with more than $81.1 billion of equity capital under management." Mind the part which says: "Carlyle was founded in 1987 by Stephen L. Norris, and David M. Rubenstein."

“The Carlyle Group recently came under fire for a fiasco, possibly one among many.”Stephen L. Norris, eh? Remember who had plans to invest in SCO (maybe still has)? Stephen L. Norris [1, 2, 3, 4]. The Carlyle Group recently came under fire for a fiasco, possibly one among many. If The Carlyle Group has "$81.1 billion of equity capital under management," then why did Norris approach people in the middle east for funds to invest in SCO? It's important to stress that those people from the middle east are friends of Bill Gates. As we all know, legal fights by proxy are not rare where Microsoft is involved. For this particular example, it's worth adding that it recently used its talking point Jeff Gould to attack IBM's mainframes as well. We wrote about this before [1, 2].

Our plan is to set up an easily-navigable page (or set of pages) for people to easily explore the relationships between Microsoft and those whom it pays to stealthfully do some legwork in the press and on the ground (e.g. lobbying in Brussels and Washington). If you are aware of connections we have not covered yet, please share them in the comments or in the IRC channel so that they can be studied and documented. We wish to piece this puzzle of corruption together.

"Working behind the scenes to orchestrate "independent" praise of our technology, and damnation of the enemy's, is a key evangelism function during the Slog. "Independent" analyst's report should be issued, praising your technology and damning the competitors (or ignoring them). "Independent" consultants should write columns and articles, give conference presentations and moderate stacked panels, all on our behalf (and setting them up as experts in the new technology, available for just $200/hour). "Independent" academic sources should be cultivated and quoted (and research money granted). "Independent" courseware providers should start profiting from their early involvement in our technology. Every possible source of leverage should be sought and turned to our advantage."

--Microsoft, internal document [PDF]

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Writing and Coding Isn't Always Enough
Last year we had to assume a role we didn't have before: litigants
Autumn Has Come
Autumn should be exciting in all sorts of ways; it'll also mark our anniversary
IBM Has Taken Control of GNOME
Don't expect a successor to be found any time soon
 
“Sideloading” Never Killed Anybody
There are many online discussions this week about the misnomer "sideloading"
Slopwatch: Google News as FUD Vector Against Linux and Plagiarism Enhancer, Serial Slopper (SS) Uses LLMs to Googlebomb "Linux"
Slop destroys the Web not just by screwing with search engines and helping plagiarists. It's also responsible for de facto DDoS attacks...
Links 01/09/2025: "Attacks on Science" and China's "Soft Power" Grows
Links for the day
Links 01/09/2025: Fresh Backlash Against Slop and "Norway’s Electricity Crisis is About to Hit Britain"
Links for the day
Links 01/09/2025: Catching Up (Mostly via Deutsche Welle), "Windows TCO" Effect in UK
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/09/2025: Linguistic Barriers and "Web 1.0 Hosting"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, August 31, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, August 31, 2025
The UEFI 9/11 - Part IV - External Interference
They all seem to be playing a role in crushing Software Freedom and self-determination for users
Links 31/08/2025: Baggage Claim Scams, an Insurrectionist’s War on Culture, and a Sudden Robotics Hype
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/08/2025: Reviewing Netsurf and Slightly Less Historic Ada Design
Links for the day
Links 31/08/2025: Google Gmail Data Breach and LF Puff Pieces for Pay
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 30, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, August 30, 2025
This is What Google News Has Become
Moments ago
The Slopfarm WebProNews Has Turned Google News Into a Laughing Stock Full of Plagiarism by Slop
If Google News dies of neglect, that's one thing. It's starting to seem like active neglect by Google is a form of participation.
Do What is Moral, as What's Legal Isn't Always Moral
Do what's objectively moral, no matter the costs and the risks
Slopwatch: Google News Assisting Plagiarism and Anti-Linux FUD, Serial Slopper Rips Off Linux-Centric Journalists
This makes the Web a much worse place and lessens the incentive to do journalism
Links 30/08/2025: NVIDIA Fakes Results to Hide a Bubble Already in Implosion Phase, Data Breaches Galore, Important Win for Workers' Union in Canada
Links for the day
Representing and Speaking for Animals
If I ever choose to take this matter to tribunal with animals-centric NGOs on my side, it'll get some press coverage for sure
The UEFI 9/11 - Part II - Campaign of Censorship and Defamation Against Critics
In dictatorships, humour serves an important role. It's tragic.
In Kazakhstan, Yandex Estimated to be 20 Times Bigger Than Microsoft
Bing is measured as down this month
Shutterstock Not Enough? The Register MS Uses Slop Images in Articles (Seemingly More and More Over Time)
Cost-saving trajectory amid office shutdown?
Gemini Links 30/08/2025: Games, PostmarketOS, and Slop
Links for the day
Links 30/08/2025: Imgur Uproar and Many Ukraine Updates (Mediazona Reports Over 200,000 Russians Died for Putin)
Links for the day
How Not to Build Software
code forges that need a Web browser perhaps fill some 'niche' demand
GAFAM and "MATA"
The use of dark humour there hopefully helps illuminate what a lot of "modern" technology became like and how it interacts with human civilisation (to what ends and whose gain)
Birds Are Not "Pests and Vermin", Privacy is Not a Crime, and GNU/Linux is Not 'Hacking Platform'
I could not help but think of Free software analogies
The Sites Should Be Very Fast Again
That issue is now resolved
Flying in 2025
worse than ever before
Activists, Including Technical Activists, Need Not Pursue Affirmation
Techrights doesn't play or participate in a "popularity contest"
The UEFI 9/11 - Part III - Chaos is Scheduled to Happen Second Thursday of September (No Matter What the Microsofters Tell You)
The clock is ticking
Downplaying the Impact of "UEFI 9/11" is a Losing Strategy
we won't publish much whilst on holiday
Government Sites Should Run Free Software
Not proprietary bloatware with buzzwords
LLM Slopfarms Take No Breaks
When people run sites by bots they don't need to worry about "breaks"
GNOME Having a Meltdown Again
Thanks and farewell to Steven Deobald
Gemini Links 30/08/2025: Low Tech and Hunchbin 1.0.6
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 29, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, August 29, 2025