02.10.10

Georgia, Kentucky, Colorado, and Sunderland Receive the Microsoft EDGI Treatment

Posted in America, Asia, Bill Gates, Europe, Free/Libre Software, GNU/Linux, Microsoft at 7:49 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Summary: Microsoft’s EDGI-type tactics are reaching more US states and even going abroad in order to indoctrinate the young

FOR those who are not familiar with EDGI, here is a decent place to start. Microsoft has mastered a tactic whereby it dumps software free of charge wherever it identifies a migration to GNU/Linux and/or Free software. EDGI is anti-competitive as it is designed and intended to suppress competition before it even gets off the ground. Damning evidence of EDGI comes from Comes vs Microsoft exhibits which Microsoft paid a lot of money to hide from the public.

A few weeks ago we wrote about Georgia receiving what we call "American EDGI". The term EDGI usually refers to developing countries (although not necessarily) and in the United States Microsoft uses a banner/motto called “Elevate America” to achieve something similar. Here is another belated report about “American EDGI” in the state of Georgia. Microsoft employees have no shame. They also take it to Georgia Tech this month, under the “Imagine Cuffs” [sic] slogan. But Georgia is mostly old news; Microsoft is moving to conquer state after state with its “American EDGI” programme and the latest victims mostly include Kentucky, Colorado, and even Sunderland in the United Kingdom.

Here are the reports from Kentucky:

1. Kentucky forges partnership with Microsoft

The state of Kentucky has developed a partnership with Microsoft Corp. to help unemployed get technology training in hopes of reentering the work force.

The partnership will allow the state to offer 20,250 vouchers for free online training and certification that will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

2. Free Technology Training Offered In Ky.

Beshear said Kentucky will receive 20,250 vouchers for free online training and certification through the public-private initiative “Microsoft Elevate America.”

3. State partners with Microsoft for job training

4. Kentucky Unveils Partnership with Microsoft to Offer Job Training

5. Ky., Microsoft partner to offer free tech training

6. State, Microsoft will issue software training vouchers

Kentucky will work with computer software giant Microsoft to distribute more than 20,000 vouchers for free Microsoft software training and certification programs to residents across the state, Gov. Steve Beshear and officials from the company announced Wednesday.

Here is an article with a photo of “Gov. Steve Beshear during the Microsoft Elevate America press announcement.”

Governors who sell their citizens to an abusive corporation are there for business, not citizens. Well, that’s how politics typically works.

We previously mentioned Kentucky in relation to Microsoft AstroTurfing [1, 2], but that is another subject altogether.

On we move to Colorado, where Microsoft is using the same type of scam to indoctrinate the young/unemployed and prepare them to become Microsoft clients:

1. Microsoft, state offer free tech courses

Technology giant Microsoft and the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment will offer 12,500 vouchers to state residents for free technology training courses.

2. Ritter, Microsoft announce job-training initiative

Microsoft Corp. and the state of Colorado Tuesday announced a online job-training program for workers to learn information-technology skills.

We were appalled to find the same scam coming to the UK, Sunderland to be specific:

A multimillion pound training package is set to revive Wearside’s beleaguered jobs market thanks to software giant Microsoft.

Bill Gates’s international company is handing over £10 million to provide IT training to improve skills of thousands across the city.

This is ridiculous. This is not a donation and these are not skills. It’s preparation for troubled people to become Microsoft vassals. It’s like when poor people on the streets are pressured to join the military for personal direction and guidance.

Microsoft is doing even more things in order to conquer education, according to this new press release (rewritten by TMCNet) which says:

Microsoft Starts New Initiative to Promote Student Leadership in the Classroom

The initiative recognizes the leadership shown by students and teachers in schools across America who are working together in meaningful ways to revitalize learning, schools and communities through the use of technology.

Bill Gates may be assisting such efforts by charming politicians. We wrote about this in:

1. Bill Gates Puts in a Million to Ratify His Role as Education Minister
2. How the Gates Foundation is Used to Ensure Children Become Microsoft Clients
3. More Dubious Practices from the Gates Foundation
4. Microsoft Builds Coalitions of NGOs, Makes Political and Educational Changes
5. Microsoft’s EDGI in India: Fighting GNU/Linux in Education
6. Microsoft’s Gates Seeks More Monopolies
7. Gates Foundation Funds Blogs to Promote Its Party Line
8. Microsoft Bribes to Make Education Microsoft-based
9. Lobbyists Dodge the Law; Bill Gates Lobbies the US Education System with Another $10 Million
10. Gates Investments in Education Criticised; Monsanto (Gates-Backed) Corruption Revisited
11. Latest Vista 7 Failures and Microsoft Dumping

Madison University administrators (or their superiors) have just decided to sell their staff and students to a convicted monopolist, using the Live@edu scam.

Changes for students are coming in March as JMU upgrades its e-mail system to Microsoft Exchange and its Live@edu interface.

Indiana University sells out some more [1, 2, 3], as well as gives Microsoft more control. Microsoft inaugurated a new “Digital Science Center” one week ago:

Microsoft’s Tony Hey tomorrow (Tuesday, Feb. 2) will open Indiana University Pervasive Technology Institute’s Digital Science Center Seminar Series with a presentation titled “Data-Intensive Scientific Discovery: The Fourth Paradigm.”

Same in Alaska:

The UAA Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program announced Friday that Microsoft contributed a Large Strategic Software grant valued at just over $1 million. The Microsoft contribution will provide Windows 7 and Microsoft Office software for ANSEP’s pre-college component, benefiting high school students across nine states: Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Idaho, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Arizona.

“Software grant” is like “oxygen grant”. It doesn’t really cost anything to make more of it, yet Microsoft characterises it as a donation. By these metric, the FSF too can donate $100,000,000,000 to schools (in software).

More Microsoft indoctrination can be seen here in the news (IDG):

Microsoft has created a slew of freebies to help enterprises train users on its latest software, particularly those angst-inducing Ribbon menus.

People should not be studying menu layouts of particular pieces of proprietary software. That’s just training that’s beneficial to one company; it’s the antithesis of education. Here is Microsoft offering “training” (indocrination) for people who are already quite troubled. Microsoft is aiming to imprison the people who are least privileged sometimes. This relates to "Disaster Capitalism".

Microsoft is also doing this in the Philippines right now; it’s related to the PR charade for EDGI-type tactics, which are called “Unlimited Potential” (a euphemism) in this one case:

Despite struggling with hearing impairment, second-year Information Technology (IT) student Jeremiah Oon, 20, became the first NP student to receive the Microsoft Unlimited Potential Scholarship.

Recently, Microsoft signed what it calls MoUs [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7], which continue to expand in the middle east. Microsoft is taking more control of education in the UAE and Pakistan too is selling out [1, 2]. From the end of January we have:

A strategic partnership agreement was signed between the Punjab government and a leading computer software company Microsoft at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat here Friday.

According to the agreement, the Microsoft will extend all-out cooperation for training and development of local IT industry. The company will also set up an innovation centre at Software Technology Park.

We previously wrote about Pakistan in relation to OOXML misconduct. It’s truly appalling. █

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