Summary: The "mainstream" press glorifies the same people who are looting society at large

A FEW months ago we explained that those who speak out against crime are subjected to personal abuse. We live in a society that rewards bystanders. We have covered examples where Microsoft and Bill Gates were seen paying to buy the media and to do reputation laundering, even for crime/criminals. It's not something that's unique to Microsoft though. To borrow a recent example from entertainment, after Chris Brown had been beating up his famous girlfriend he hired a PR firm to spin the incident. That's just how the rich people work; they hire large teams of people whose sole job is to manage the public image of their clients.

"Unethical," you say?

Well, that's just reality. The rich can afford to reshape public opinion, whereas the poor gets to be daemonised by the rich (who have means of power). We know for a fact that Microsoft is doing this with PR agencies since decades ago. This affects various Web sites and overall, this changes how people perceive the company and its co-founder.

"He [Bill Gates] acted like a spoiled kid, which is what he was."

--Ed Roberts, Gates' employer at MITS in the 1970's (Atlanta Journal-Costitution, 04-27-97)

That's not the Bill Gates who the average person knows. This is the same guy who relies on vaccines propaganda from the likes of CNN, who are still treating the man like he is more quote-worthy than professors of economics and energy experts speaking about their own field that they master. This is not a coincidence and it is simple to explain if one looks at the flow of funds in the media. Rich people can acquire a "parent of the world" status, even if it gets assigned to one who committed crime to get where he got, since a very young age in fact. This is to do with concern about what happened to computing.

Anyway, today's post was kindly contributed by a reader who explains how Microsoft's patent troll from Intellectual Ventures (which Bill Gates invested heavily in) is being glorified in the press. He asks: "Are Microsoft astroturfers invading BoingBoing and other popular sites? Why are they promoting Intellectual Ventures and Bill Gates?"

Here is an exploration of these questions:

Microsoft Cranks Up the Astroturf?

Patent troll scores full media spectrum self promotion and ordinarily clueful sites take the bait.

Are Microsoft astroturfers invading BoingBoing and other popular tech sites with material that flies in the face of community belief and philosophy? I was disturbed to see the promotion of Intellectual Ventures and Bill Gates at BoingBoing recently. Several sites that should know better have acted as part of a pro patent propaganda blitz.

Before the specifics, consider the "mind control" advice given by Microsoft's training manual [2]

Mind Control: To control mental output you have to control mental input. Take control of the channels by which developers receive information, then they can only think about the things you tell them. Thus, you control mindshare!

People writing stories about anything connected to Microsoft should ask themselves what Wired reporter Fred Vogelstein did, "should I be embarrassed at being co-opted by their spin machine?" With that, here's the news.

Oh no, not that again and now it's everywhere! Remember the working prototype of a not so great idea Dr. Lowell Wood and other Star Wars scientists had for zapping mosquitoes [2]? Well OK, it's a common fantasy many people have had before. Now design of the invention is being credited to patent troll Nathan Myhrvold. The Dorvak article is one of a trio of glorifying reviews in places that are ordinarily more clueful. BoingBoing and Slashdot also took the bait. These follow the usual Microsoft full spectrum news coverage by the New York Times, CNet and other habitual shills. Boingboing has the special distinction of rejecting my comment linking to a google search of Boycott Novell for Intellectual Ventures.

The problem is not that the device is silly, or that so many reporters have been conned into reporting it, it's that a company so detrimental to technology and rule of law is promoted as an innovator. Five minutes of thought is all it takes to dismiss this silly "invention." No machine is smart enough to avoid blinding people by reflections and over the horizon misses. Nor is such an expensive and power hungry cover for a one or two hundred foot range practical mosquito control, especially for developing nations that need electricity for basic things like refrigeration, water purification and hospitals. Boycott Novell has covered Intellectual Ventures, so you would think other reporters could too. Current US patent law is detrimental to all technical endeavors, including medicine, but Intellectual Ventures and Microsoft profit from stagnation and are working to make laws worse around the world.

Incidental or not, the same reporter who fawned over IV at BoingBoing also fawns over Bill Gate's new vacuous talk at TED. Last year Bill Gates, unleashed a jar of live mosquitoes on the audience at TED. He also has a jar this year but the talk was about nuclear power at a clueless 100,000 foot level. It is good that Mr. Gates is talking about the problem of global warming, even if it is in a foolish and self aggrandizing manner, but real scientists have warned about the problem much longer and have more appropriate solutions, like agricultural sequestering. [2]. Regardless of wealth and power, Mr Gates is a convicted felon, anti-trust, and should not be looked to for advice. Clue to reporter, you have been spun, see above for the damage.

Thoughts welcome. ⬆