EditorsAbout the SiteComes vs. MicrosoftUsing This Web SiteSite ArchivesCredibility IndexOOXMLOpenDocumentPatentsNovellNews DigestSite NewsRSS

06.26.09

Microsoft is Policing Digg — Claim

Posted in GNU/Linux, Marketing, Microsoft at 6:50 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Pain

Summary: Evidence of a Microsoft “bury brigade”

DIGG, like Slashdot, lost its way a couple of years ago when companies saw the potential to market, police and guide the zeitgeist. We wrote about this a few times before [1, 2] and SJVN bases his latest article on personal experience which is bitter.

Digg, Dug, Buried: How Linux news disappears

[...]

But, that said, Digg admits that group of users-say Microsoft employees, partners, and supporters-can “abusively bury content.” I’d add, not just ‘can, but do.’

It is no secret that Microsoft gives gifts to users of social networks who promote Microsoft. We even have press releases to show that Microsoft is doing this, so it is not a speculation.

For whatever value it may have, appended below are some posts which may be related to this subject. SJVN has plenty of reasons to be suspicious and very much correct. Microsoft would go to great lengths to prevent him from writing. Remember what happened to Dan Geer [1, 2, 3]?

Related:

“I’m a huge fan of guerrilla marketing.”

Joe Wilcox, Microsoft Fan

Share this post: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Reddit
  • co.mments
  • DZone
  • email
  • Google Bookmarks
  • LinkedIn
  • NewsVine
  • Print
  • Technorati
  • TwitThis
  • Facebook

If you liked this post, consider subscribing to the RSS feed or join us now at the IRC channels.

Pages that cross-reference this one

9 Comments

  1. BroWren said,

    June 26, 2009 at 9:23 am

    Gravatar

    Glad to see you had something up about this. :)

    I’m wondering if there might be some way to prove it using Digg’s APIs – grab the ratings for all stories mentioning GNU/Linux and trend-graph the scores, maybe?

    If the data’s available, it might also be interesting to see how many user accounts are common to the burials and if there’s some sort of logic to it, maybe some sort of threshold score at which they start attacking.

    Roy Schestowitz Reply:

    What would you do with such data? Digg is unwilling to put an end to this and so is Slashdot. I think abandoning these sites is a better solution. I have over 3,000 ‘friends’ (mostly people whom I don’t know) in Digg, but I abandoned the site after posting over 13,000 comments there (I was the most prolific). There is mod-bombing and personal abuse from Microsoft spinners. See updates #2 and #4 here for example.

    Yuhong Bao Reply:

    Indeed, I never have read Digg, reading Slashdot instead.

    lalala Reply:

    So everyone that buried your “stories” and comments are Microsoft spinners?

    twitter Reply:

    Nice spin, lalala. When presented with evidence of a corporate effort to bury stories in community media, claim the presenter is paranoid and reframe their argument in a ridiculous way. The traditional names for these are smear and strawman. When M$ spinners dip to that kind of tactic, it is generally because they have nothing better.

    lalala Reply:

    twitter, read this comment slowly so maybe you’ll be able to comprehend it. I didn’t claim anything, I was asking a question. Did you not notice the question mark at the end of my comment? Besides, the question was for Roy, not you. Is Roy not able to answer questions directed towards him? Must his friends always answer for him? Is he too scared to answer me for some reason?

    Also, the whole “This person doesn’t praise what Roy wrote so he or she must work for MS” thing is old, very old.

  2. Yuhong Bao said,

    June 26, 2009 at 12:43 pm

    Gravatar

    I never have read Digg, I read Slashdot instead. And ars technica also.

  3. Sean Tilley said,

    June 27, 2009 at 12:57 am

    Gravatar

    I’m mostly bothered by what makes the front page of Digg anymore. Celebrity news, low-brow humour, and Apple’s latest releases. It bothers me that user-submitted news has degraded to the point of being 90% spam. Part of the reason I cancelled my television subscription was to get away from that kind of thing!
    FS Daily is fairly good in comparison.

    While we’re on topic, though: a lot of social networking sites have equally disappointed me. Myspace, YouTube, and Twitter all now lean dangerously into an overly commercialist style where all celebrities and users alike do is spread advertising for products.

    At the very least, there’s identi.ca, FS Daily, TuxMachines, and a few other places that I can get some solid community news from.

  4. ace said,

    July 6, 2009 at 6:06 am

    Gravatar

    Microsoft is just evil. People need to stop giving business to microsoft. Seriously.

What Else is New


  1. Links 24/5/2013: Fedora ‘Pidora’, CIvil Rights Debated in the US

    Links for the day



  2. Bill Gates Still Getting Richer Through For-Profit Investments, Now Wants to Brainwash Children in Schools in Favour of His Investments

    Some of the latest strategies used by the world's richest man to protect his investments and amass yet more money, adding to an ever-growing wealth while pretending it's a charity



  3. Microsoft Entryism and Its Effects on Corporate and Public Policy

    An aspect of Microsoft culture that ought not be overlooked because of its profound effect on society (private and public)



  4. Red Hat Should Follow Google's and Twitter's Footsteps on Patents to Avoid Becoming the Next Novell

    Red Hat continues to ignore my plea to defang the software patents it is applying for, potentially making them weaponised like Novell's and Sun's patents (e.g. Java at Oracle) upon buyout or another major event



  5. CAFC Decision Still Overridden by Overzealous Patent Lawyers in the Press, The Guardian and Other Corporate Press (CBS and AFP Included) Still Guard the Establishment

    Analysis of a sceptical kind of corporate press coverage regarding software patents in the US; great examples of how Microsoft- and Gates-funded press outlets tend to get it all wrong on the facts, smearing digital freedom fighters



  6. Software Patents Debate Still Open in New Zealand and the US

    In spite of distraction attempts, the debate over software patents continues to stress that there is a real danger



  7. WebM is No Ogg, It is Not Freedom-Respecting Anymore, Even in Countries That Have No Software Patents

    Why Google needs to fix the licence of VP9, or simply stop pretending that it should be the only de facto standard for multimedia



  8. Microsoft Violates Google Licences

    The champion of 'IP' and licensing (extortion) is not much of a champion after all, based on new reports, not just a lot of old ones



  9. Skype Teaches Us That All Microsoft Software Should be Assumed Spyware Unless Proven Otherwise

    The broader implications of Microsoft adding spying 'features' to Skype



  10. Links 23/5/2013: Threat to Civil Rights in UK, KDE 4.11 LTS

    Links for the day



  11. Links 22/5/2013: Debian GNU/Hurd, New Go Language Release

    Links for the day



  12. The FRAND Apple-Microsoft Conspiracy Attempts to Destroy Android/Linux, Ban Imports

    How Microsoft and Apple are using patents in bulk (sometimes acquired in unison, e.g. from Novell and Nortel) to artificially lower market saturation of the Android operating system or drive costs up



  13. Gates Foundation: Buying Influence for Bill's Ego and Bill's Profit

    New examples of power being acquired and investments (i.e. for profit) being funnelled into the beneficiaries



  14. Bill Gates Enters Financial Centres With His Goons Becoming US Budget Chief, Top Bankers

    How Bill Gates' staff is entering positions of financial power, indirectly giving Gates power over US (national and international) finance



  15. IBM Ignores Small Companies' Interests, Denies Patent Scope is a Problem, Focusing on Its Own Problems (Trolls) Instead

    How David Kappos and IBM (his longtime employer) continue to ignore the obvious problem which kills small businesses and everyone is complaining about



  16. The New York Times Publishes Factually-Flawed Patent Propaganda Benefiting Microsoft and Apple

    Eamonn Fingleton is rewriting history in the US' top newspaper, insinuating that patents contributed to the rise of software duopolists



  17. Software Patents Eligibility Likely to be Decided by SCOTUS

    Analyses suggest that an escalation by appeal to SCOTUS is likely to be the next stage in 'Bilski 2.0'



  18. Does Bill Gates Try to Flush GNU/Linux Down the Toilet in Kerala?

    Renting Microsoft software rather than using Free (as in freedom, or libre) software?



  19. Links 21/5/2013: Handbrake Turns 0.9.9, NetBSD 6.1

    Links for the day



  20. Links 20/5/2013: First Salifish Smartphone, Mageia 3 Released

    Links for the day



  21. Microsoft Corruption (Illegal Tenders) Stopped by European Court

    Microsoft cannot bypass public tenders, based on a ruling from a court of law in Europe



  22. Not Satire: Microsoft Wants to Show the World How Security is Done

    Software security 'standard' to be led by the company which made insecurity an acceptable engineering practice?



  23. Microsoft is Struggling to Maintain Industry 'Standards'

    With Microsoft's common carrier and browser share down considerably Microsoft finds itself increasingly irrelevant and it tries subversive means of making another comeback



  24. Microsoft Entryism and Bribery Get the Microsoft Way Implemented

    A recollection of very dirty tactics from Microsoft, which uses money to oppress, overthrow, and even hijack its opposition



  25. Patent Policy Laundering in the European Union and New Zealand

    How the so-called 'free' trade agreements help spread patent policy which favours software patents



  26. Ongoing Focus on Patent Litigation and Patent Trolls Reduces Focus on Software Patents

    The problem with increased focus on the players that use software patents litigiously and the litigation itself



  27. Andrew Y. Schroeder Shows That Patent Lawyers Are Sociopaths

    Bully and law misuser is trying to get his way with foul language, intimidation, and sheer lack of professionalism



  28. IBM-backed Book on 'Open Innovation'

    OpenForum Europe (OFE), which helps IBM's turf wars in Europe, releases a new book filled with its talking point



  29. Joseph E. Stiglitz Criticises the Patent System

    More critical words about the patent system and the way it is harming lives



  30. Senator Schumer Should Focus on Software Patents, Leaving Patent Trolls (Side Effect) Aside

    Reform in the USPTO and the US courts should focus on patent scope and not patent holders


RSS 64x64RSS Feed: subscribe to the RSS feed for regular updates

Home iconSite Wiki: You can improve this site by helping the extension of the site's content

Chat iconIRC Channel: Come and chat with us in real time

Recent Posts