Bonum Certa Men Certa

PPLive|Synacast Puts Microsoft (Employee) in Charge; More AstroTurf Sightings

Binoculars
Troublemakers Inside€®



Summary: Microsoft remnants enter another company; Microsoft PR/MVPs look to cause trouble in ODF and online fora

IT ONLY makes sense to keep track of companies which are likely to serve Microsoft. This week we find that Synacast has tactlessly chosen someone from the very heart of the Microsoft ecosystem to become its CEO:

The Chinese P2P video vendor Synacast, better known under the name of its video platform PPLive, will announce next week the appointment of former Microsoft exec Vincent Tao as its new CEO. Tao joined Microsoft in 2005 via the acquisition of his mapping startup Geotango, which provided the technology for Virtual Earth. Since then, Tao has acted as senior director for Microsoft’s online services division.


Will PPLive (the video platform) support standards, open formats, and platforms like GNU/Linux?

Speaking of negative influence, we wrote about Wouter van Vugt a few days ago. It was only later found that:



Wouter van Vugt is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (see banner at the side). Also notice how much time he spends ridiculing Microsoft's rivals. Maybe that's how he becomes an MVP. From the front page alone:

"The story of Lotus Symphony [bashing]"

"Validity to schema is not an ODF conformance requirement"

"Some more un-guidance from the ODF Alliance"

"Why Linux Sucks"

What a true gentleman...



Right now he says that he is "Having fun reading the ODF specification." Surely he's just preparing to attack it in public, all on behalf of the company that brings home his bacon. Open document formats sure scare a company like Microsoft and its faithfuls, to whom the use of a proprietary format like OOXML may be a matter of commercial life or death. Office is Microsoft's most profitable product and one of the few that are actually profitable.

Microsoft keeps up its appearance by means of AstroTurfing. CNET has this new exposition of a shill for NBA, but watch the comments:

NBA PR man admits he's anonymous commenter



[...]

You just don't what Microsoft brought into this subject.

[...]

It seems as if Microsoft employees comment regularly in Microsoft's favor on this board. How may times have we read how great Visa is, or how good Windows 7 will be?

Why shouldn't people working for other corporations do the same? Honesty and truth have nothing to do with business and marketing. Only money counts.

[...]

I find it very hard to believe that Microsoft would stoop so low as to actually pay people to support their view on any internet forum.

NO company is that bad. Paying people to do that could be considered dishonest.



Oh, yeah? Well, Microsoft employees have already admitted that Microsoft is doing this. We wrote about this back in January.

In addition, Microsoft is paying professors to write papers against competitors. So, responding to "I find it very hard to believe that Microsoft would stoop so low," well... Microsoft stoops much lower. It bribes and bullies professors to protect its image. It does not take much effort to research and find this out. It's not even a secret.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part IX: Minimum Wages For You (Experienced Scientist), Alicante/EU Paydays For Me (Unproductive, Corrupt Official)
Does UPRP maladministration extend to the false belief that qualified and experienced scientists can play the role of circus clowns?
"The Liberating Power of Simply Telling People the Truth."
'polite' bullying
Who Imitates Who? Plagiarist as Client (From Microsoft), 'Plagiarism' at the Law Firm?
let's revisit the subject
EPO's Central Staff Committee (CSC) Scrutinises the Man Who Illegally Grants (and Forces Others to Illegally Participate in Granting) Software Patents in Europe
EPO compels examiners to break the law in the name of obeying illegal "rules" or "orders"
The Latest Rumour Says The Next (as Correctly Predicted Before) Wave of Layoffs at Microsoft is 3 Weeks Away, "Larger Than the First Wave"
Step 2
TV Licensing Used to SPAM Your Postbox, Now It Does the Same to E-mail
First they ask for your E-mail address; then they start nagging you via E-mail
Our Priority is Still Tackling Software Patents and Corruption in Patent Offices
Meanwhile we got compliments on our recent articles, which means that they are effective
Slopwatch: Another Day, Another Slopfest, LLM Slop Scrapers Slow Down Our Site
We too have some slop issues; this past day this site and the sister site had to answer about 2.5 million requests (not counting Gemini Protocol) and it's slowing things down for everybody
 
Links 12/06/2025: Portland Homeless Deaths Quadruple, COVID Cases Surge in Asia
Links for the day
EPO's Gareth Lord Asked About "Quality and Productivity" or, Put Another Way, Why the EPO Keeps Granting So Many Invalid/Illegal Patents
letter to Lord
The Toxic Playbook
Either you support Prince Mohammed bin Salman or you're a nazi
It's Possible That BetaNews Got Cracked, But Nobody Talks About It, The Site Contains an Outdated Old Image, No Activity
It's possible that they will never explain what happened to the site and users' accounts
Links 12/06/2025: Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson Dies
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/06/2025: Video Game Diegesis and Steam Next Fest
Links for the day
Why the Militants Have Lost Every Battle Since 2022 (When Attacking My Wife and I in Various Ways, Even Attacking Our Employers)
This takes patience, sure, but at the end most evildoers face the consequences for their actions
Politics Will Impact Software Choices
Will those systems respect users' freedom?
EPO: Neglecting Children to Promote American Monopolies by Shielding Them From European Competition
Yesterday the Central Staff Committee at the EPO spoke about another "reform" at the Office
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, June 11, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Links 11/06/2025: More Vulnerabilities Found in 'Smart' Phones, China Extends Reach in the Pacific
Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/06/2025: Grain and Steam Next Fest
Links for the day
Links 11/06/2025: "Quantum" Hype From IBM, US Closer to Martial Law, and “The Nation” Celebrates Milestone
Links for the day
IBM's CEO Roasted, Sizzled and Grilled for Dumb and Inconsistent Vapourware Promises
It looks like being a chronic liar is what it takes to lead the company once synonymous with computing
IBM's Goal Is Not (and Never Was) Computer Users' Freedom
More than 1.5 decades ago I found IBM to be an "ally of convenience" because of OpenDocument Format (ODF)
Wayland Shows the IBM/Red Hat Way of Doing Things
IBM is trying to 'kill' X
GitHub is Proprietary, Controlled by Microsoft, and GPL Violation Warehouse
"IRS tax filing software [will be] released to the people as free software" ... In general this is good news
Slopfarm Catastrophe
Seems like BetaNews (or BetaNoise) has just suffered a major data loss and restored the site from a week-old backup
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part VIII: Illegal Working Conditions
How many people need to die for these people to get their massive salaries?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, June 10, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Links 10/06/2025: Apple Hype and Physical Attacks on Bloggers
Links for the day
Gemini Links 10/06/2025: Loon Lake, Farming, and Forth
Links for the day
Links 10/06/2025: Jaws at 50 and US Democracy Crushed Very Rapidly (Martial Law Seems Imminent)
Links for the day
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part VII: Washing Their Hands After Corruption and Abuse
"Tragedy or comedy?"
Culling Bad RSS Feeds of Bad Sites
Not throwing out the baby with the bathwater
If 'Microsoft v Techrights' is Dealt With by a 'Microsoft Court' (or a Court Outsourced to Microsoft)
More on that later
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 09, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, June 09, 2025
Gemini Protocol Turns Six in 10 Days From Now
If you haven't tried it yet, then give it a go today
Live as You Preach
technology is fast becoming dysphoric