Summary: Microsoft wants to make medical records and management of patients a lot more dependent on Windows and its own private servers

MICROSOFT has just announced another medical takeover. The following text has an interesting description for Microsoft, calling it "developer and licensor of software solutions".

Microsoft Corporation, a developer and licensor of software solutions, has acquired Sentillion, Inc., a developer of identity and access management solutions for the healthcare industry. Both the companies are based in the US.

There is more information about it here and here. It's not the first acquisition in this area. A few weeks ago we showed that Microsoft was trying to make the healthcare system dependent on Microsoft's existence [1, 2]. The NHS is already captive to a high degree [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], but Microsoft wants to expand its influence over people's lives (and deaths). Ballmer's tour across the United States (to influence health professionals) carries on and he is even seeding some money to entrap the system:

To that end, Microsoft, along with the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), announced new "Innovation through Technology" grants – in which the computing giant will donate $1 million in software and the HCA will give $250,000 in cash to Tennessee community agencies that focus on, among other areas, primary health.

It is a trap, but large companies like Siemens, a top software patents lobbyist in Europe, are still falling for this [1, 2, 3, 4]. There is a sucker born every minute, including those who are willing to pass records of patients to a convicted monopolist that disregards the law. Microsoft is even doing this in Haiti -- a subject that wrote about twice last month (the notion of "disaster capitalism" and the PR whose purpose is possibly to distract people from the role of Free software in Haiti [1, 2]).

Microsoft Nick and Fried are among the distractors. They are arguably trying to take attention away from the real story, e.g.:

Crisis Commons - Open Source in Action for Disaster Relief

Over the past two weeks, I've been working to organize a CrisisCamp in Calgary. It was the 1 of 4 happening in Canada this weekend. Based on Barcamp, the focus was on solutions to aid the NGO"s and responders on the ground in Haiti. The code base is all open source and can be modified for other disasters that may occur globally.

Several CrisisCamp events have taken place globally since the quake hit Haiti on Jan 12th. Volunteers in cities across North America, Bogota in Colombia, and London, UK have coded solutions directly requested by non governmental organizations (NGOs) on the ground, all via a website submission page. Visit CrisisCommon for further insight

It is worth adding another item from the news [1, 2, 3]. Microsoft has been trying to control bar codes for several years now, without success. They want to tag objects and people using their patented ideas. It has been mentioned for years and it is not new, either. Nevertheless, last week it was promoted by the Microsoft boosters who pretend to be just innocent reporters.

Microsoft Tag, whose slogan is "Linking real life with the digital world," is another stab at digital scanners that aim to connect printed materials with online content.

This could relate to the new acquisition of a "developer of identity and access management solutions for the healthcare industry". Microsoft wants more control over society, even if it means patients and crowd control. Should we give Microsoft such powers? As the links below show, Microsoft and hospitals don't mix. ⬆

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