Addiction, lock-in with strings

“They’ll get sort of addicted, and then we’ll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade.”

--Bill Gates

Summary: Microsoft's programme for attaching lock-in to schools and schoolchildren (or colleges) is exposed

LIVE@edu remains predatory lock-in which is targeted at children and adolescents. We previously covered this problem in [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] and we finally have proof and details, not just examples of the consequences.

“This is a glaring example of schwag-giving.”As this leaked Microsoft Live@Edu offer [ODF] shows, they use the programme to push lock-in like Windows Vista and Exchange along with the rest of the bundle. The person who sent this to us labeled it "evidence of Microsoft bribes." We append the document at the bottom, as text.

Check out this part:

6. Become the most sought-after person on campus 7. And yes, win cool prizes –

• All MSPs who successfully deploy and launch Live@Edu or MSDN AA using ELMS in their college will receive a Live@Edu goody bag



• Top 3 colleges with maximum number of active LiveIDs and software downloads at the end of 31st of December win 4 Windows Mobile Phones (one each for the Principal, your department HOD, Faculty Champion and one for you!)

This is a glaring example of schwag-giving. We have seen that before, e.g. in Vista 7 promotion and European campuses. Even professors get bribed.

Also noteworthy:

4. What if my faculty does not agree or doubts me? In such a scenario, please organize a call for us with your faculty. We will try to convince them to participate in the program.

This happens to also refer to ELMS, which was leaked quite recently. There might be more leaks coming pretty soon because not every academic institution is pleased to have Microsoft, a vicious monopoly abuser, behave in such a fashion. Some people suppose that even the Democrat's CIO, who was hostile towards Microsoft's offerings, is being targeted by Microsoft. He got pulled out and into 'leave' -- maybe permanent.

Yesterday afternoon someone sent us this article about Microsoft in Malta. These moves from Microsoft in Malta's education we recently wrote about in [1, 2] and it may be related to EDGI. ⬆

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Appendix: Microsoft Live@Edu, as Text

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Microsoft Live@Edu

With Microsoft Live@Edu, each student in your institute can have their official college email ID, hosted with Microsoft using either Windows Live Hotmail€® or Exchange Labs for free. €  Microsoft Live@edu is a platform that supports the collaborative campus of the 21st century. With 10 gigabytes (GB) of storage (using Exchange Labs), Office Live Workspaces, Windows Live SkyDrive, Microsoft SharedView and other Live offerings, you can participate in online tutorials, collaborate on € assignments, debate with faculty, and build lifelong relationships with your institution. €  Read more about Microsoft Live@Edu at - http://get.liveatedu.com € 

MSDN Academic Alliance

MSDN Academic Alliance provides the easiest and most inexpensive way for universities to make the latest Microsoft software available in labs, classrooms and student PCs. With one simple agreement and a distribution system created for academic needs, MSDN Academic Alliance offers immense value, flexibility and convenience for your institute (and not to mention genuine Microsoft software for all of you). €  This software may be installed on any number of departmental lab machines. The software must be used only for instructional and research purposes. It may not be used to run the infrastructure of the department. In addition, the department's faculty and students may check-out or download the software to install on their personal computers for non-commercial use at no additional charge (Did we mention that Windows Vista is part of MSDN AA? :-)). €  Read more about MSDN Academic Alliance at http://www.msdnaa.net €  €  So, here’s the plan… 1.€ € € €  Read all about Microsoft Live@Edu and MSDN AA 2.€ € € €  Contact your faculty and get a faculty champion who will support you to deploy Live@Edu and/or MSDN AA and sign up your institute for this initiative before 15th October 2008 3.€ € € €  Help us deploy Live@Edu and MSDN AA 4.€ € € €  Provide your peers with their official email IDs and genuine Microsoft software 5.€ € € €  Collect 140 activity points on www.student-partners.com 6.€ € € €  Become the most sought-after person on campus 7.€ € € €  And yes, win cool prizes –

€ € € € € € € € 
• All MSPs who successfully deploy and launch Live@Edu or MSDN AA using ELMS in their college will receive a Live@Edu goody bag
€ € € € € € € € 
• Top 3 colleges with maximum number of active LiveIDs and software downloads at the end of 31st of December win 4 Windows Mobile Phones (one each for the Principal, your department HOD, Faculty Champion and one for you!)

€ 

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Are you game? Sign up your institute for either Live@Edu or MSDN AA today by replying back to this email with the following information – € € € € € € € € - College Name: € € € € € € € € - Faculty Name: € € € € € € € € - Faculty Designation: € € € € € € € € - Faculty Contact Number: € € € € € € € € - Faculty Email Address: € € € € € € € € - Interested in (Live@Edu or MSDN AA or Both): Once we receive this information, we will contact you with next steps to sign up. €  Frequently asked questions – 1.€ € € €  Does my college need to sign up for both MSDN AA and Live@Edu? While it is recommended that your college sign up for both, they could go for either one program as well.

2.€ € € €  What kind of support will we be provided? Microsoft, will provide you with step-by-step guides and marketing collateral (check out http://go.liveatedu.com/ for all the content that we are putting together for you). We will also, set up a license management server to help your institute distribute the software from MSDN AA to all the students. Additionally, if you get stuck, we are there to help you on the way. Just drop us an email at msdnaain@microsoft.com.

3.€ € € €  Till when is the program valid? While there is no time limitation on when the institutes can sign up for the program we would strongly recommend that you confirm your institute participation before 15th October 2008. We may not be able to provide strong support to institutes which confirm after this date.

4.€ € € €  What if my faculty does not agree or doubts me? In such a scenario, please organize a call for us with your faculty. We will try to convince them to participate in the program.

5.€ € € €  Is a faculty champion must? Since the sign up procedure for Live@Edu and MSDN AA requires someone from the institute to register for the program, we must have a faculty champion. We also believe that having a faculty supporting is essential for the long term success of the program.

6.€ € € €  Are there any costs associated with these programs? Live@Edu using Hotmail is completely free while if you choose Exchange Labs for deployment, it is for students but there is a small fee in case the institute wants to use the same for their faculty or alumni. There is small, annual, subscription fee for MSDN AA.

7.€ € € €  How will I know how many active IDs and software downloads my peers are doing? Don’t worry, we will share this information (along with the leader board) on a monthly basis so that you can keep track of you score.

8.€ € € €  Can I know if my college already has MSDN AA or Live@Edu? Please drop us an email and we will let you know if you college has already subscribed to MSDN AA or Live@Edu.