Summary: An analysis of two directions (or fronts) from which Microsoft is gagging/suppressing its competition, namely the BSA and Visible Technologies

EIFv2 (European Interoperability Framework version 2) has received a lot of negative publicity because the Microsoft lobby managed to derail it. We wrote about this in:

1. European Interoperability Framework (EIF) Corrupted by Microsoft et al, Its Lobbyists
2. Orwellian EIF, Fake Open Source, and Security Implications
3. No Sense of Shame Left at Microsoft
4. Lobbying Leads to Protest -- the FFII and the FSFE Rise in Opposition to Subverted EIF
5. IBM and Open Forum Europe Address European Interoperability Framework (EIF) Fiasco
6. EIF Scrutinised, ODF Evolves, and Microsoft's OOXML “Lies” Lead to Backlash from Danish Standards Committee
7. Complaints About Perverted EIF Continue to Pile Up
8. More Complaints About EIFv2 Abuse and Free Software FUD from General Electric (GE)
9. Patents Roundup: Copyrighted SQL Queries, Microsoft Alliance with Company That Attacks F/OSS with Software Patents, Peer-to-Patent in Australia
10. Microsoft Under Fire: Open Source Software Thematic Group Complains About EIFv2 Subversion, NHS Software Supplier Under Criminal Investigation

One MEP has just responded to this complaint from a Brit who explained the problem as follows:

I was very pleased yesterday to get another response to add to my collection in relation to my letter to my MEPs about the European Interoperability Framework. Now if you missed the fuss in the first place the interoperability framework is a document outlining an EU approach to software that avoids being locked in to particular suppliers, promotes free choice of member states, and protects tax payers from being ripped off by predatory monopolistic practices. Good stuff in other words. It had a few rough edges so EIF 2 was proposed. A draft was written, and public comments from interested parties were submitted. Microsoft and the BSA (which has been accused of being a Microsoft sock puppet at times) were perhaps the most critical, but their comments were generally welcoming and constructive, the BSA in particular pointed to some areas where the proposed EIF2 went impractically far on issues relating to patents. I was, in short, totally fine with these public comments. Some time later a second draft was leaked and this did cause concern. It was nothing like the first draft and after careful reading of every submitted comment I could not see how you could start at the first draft, and by implementing the public comments arrive anywhere near the second. The original letter has a few more details of specific problems, but here is what my Conservative MEP has to say on the matter. (Responses from Conservative, Green and Lib-Dem so far)

Microsoft and the BSA are very close [1, 2, 3, 4] (the BSA even accommodates many employees from the firm of Bill Gates' father), but pressure on the EIF came from more Microsoft pressure groups such as CompTIA and ACT. There are many other Microsoft proxies and yesterday we wrote about Visible Technologies.

“Visible Technologies is some truly evil malicious bastards, always up to no good.”
      --Ryan FarmerOur reader Ryan Farmer told us last night: "Visible Technologies is some truly evil malicious bastards, always up to no good. [Microsoft MVP] Chris Pirillo gave them two thumbs up though :)

"Finding people that badmouth their customers and slip in infiltrators to try and derail the conversation or coerce the person who started it into taking it down. They not only try to infiltrate blog posts, they do it with forums too."

Ryan knows this because he was targeted by Visible Technologies and then researched the subject [1, 2]. They tried to silence him on an important subject. "My strong objections to Windows Media Center DRMing incoming cable TV got their attention for a moment," he wrote, summarising it as follows: "I always tell people now that buying a TV tuner to use with Windows 7 is akin to setting the money on fire because it will never do what you want it to." Microsoft has been doing a lot of policing around Vista 7 coverage. ⬆