05.10.10
Microsoft to Pay More for Mississippi Antitrust Case; Tennessee Becomes Latest American EDGI Victim
World War 2 propaganda poster
Summary: The mainstream press refuses to state the obvious while Microsoft turns one state after another into a Microsoft Windows/Office indoctrination facility
UNITED STATES officials never learn, or maybe their predecessor never learn from history. The same company which abused the US market for many years (later to be found guilty) is now collecting fees and imprisoning the very same people whom it claims to have compensated.
We will start today’s post with the news that Mississippi lawyers will receive $10 million for fighting Microsoft and winning.
A Mississippi judge has upheld millions of dollars in attorneys’ fees for handling a state lawsuit against computer software manufacturer, Microsoft.
Hinds County Chancellor, Denise Owens, dismissed the challenge filed by state auditor, Stacy Pickering, over $10 million in attorneys’ fees.
We previously wrote about the Mississippi antitrust case in:
- Mississippi Paid up to $60 Million in Vouchers After Microsoft’s Violations of the Law
- Microsoft to ‘Pay’ $0.1 Billion to Settle Mississippi Case Against Its Crimes
Common sense ought to indicate that Mississippi won’t do business with Microsoft again. If someone sells you a faulty car under false pretenses, would you return to the same person to buy your next car? It makes no sense. In this case, Microsoft did more than sell a faulty product; it also eliminated competition in the car industry by breaking the law and then overcharged for the car. A decade or more later we have better options in the market, including BSD and GNU/Linux distributions which are very mature, reliable, and affordable. States should start deploying these, but Microsoft stifles such initiatives by monopolistic dumping.
Watch the public-elected officials as they crawl back into Microsoft’s bed right after receiving compensation (having fought for years in court). Gov. Phil Bredesen sells out and sells his citizens to a convicted monopolist. He is the latest among more than a dozen governors, who one by one decided to participate in Microsoft’s ‘American EDGI’.
What is American EDGI?
That’s what we call the US equivalent (more or less) of EDGI, which Microsoft publicly calls “Unlimited Potential” (yes, it’s a euphemism). Here is the latest new example of “Unlimited Potential” in action.
The YWCA Cass Clay has received the third year of funding from the Unlimited Potential – Community Technology Skills grant program from Microsoft.
Watch the headline. It says “Microsoft donates $205,000 to Cass-Clay YWCA”. What an abuse of the word “donates”. Companies don’t donate, they only pretend to donate (they have shareholders after all) in order to accrue value later on. It’s mostly about blocking Free software in this case.
Now, watch Lance Whitney calling another element of EDGI (software dumping) “free” and playing along with the marketing sham. Only after seeing this article did we find out who Lance Whitney actually is. Based on a very recent article of his (see disclosure), “He’s a contributing editor for Microsoft TechNet Magazine and writes for other computer publications and Web sites.”
That ought to explain self-deception at the very least (like self-censorship).
Here is another EDGI-reminiscing deal which Microsoft has just struck in Texas:
Texas State’s College of Education announced a partnership last week with Microsoft to develop a pilot program for preparing public school teachers to use the 21st century classroom.
Texas State’s College of Education ought to offer education, not indoctrination. Later on we’ll show that Gates is doing something similar to schools these days. They capture the minds of the next generation this way.
Going back to Gov. Phil Bredesen, watch how Microsoft is exploiting the state of Tennessee for indoctrination, with the government’s consent even:
i. Elevate America a great place to begin
On Wednesday, Gov. Phil Bredesen signed a deal with Microsoft Corp. to offer Tennessee residents 25,875 vouchers for free online technology training. The long-term economic value of this public-private partnership should not be underestimated. Employers are demanding higher levels of computer skills. The Elevate America partnership with the Tennessee Department of Labor is a great opportunity for Tennessee residents to acquire these important job skills in a convenient, no-cost online venue.
ii. State, Microsoft Team For Free Tech Training
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Gov. Phil Bredesen said that Tennessee is teaming up with Microsoft to provide free technology training to people across the state.
iii. State residents can pursue free Microsoft technology training
Gov. Phil Bredesen today announced that Tennessee will join forces with Microsoft in an innovative public-private partnership to provide free technology training to people across the state, a news release states.
iv. Bredesen Unveils Partnership With Microsoft To Offer Technology Training In Tennessee
Through Elevate America, Microsoft will work with the Tennessee Department of Labor to distribute 25,875 vouchers for free, online technology training and certification.
v. Career Center Offers Vouchers For Elevate America
Governor Bredesen announced that Microsoft will be bringing their innovative Elevate America program to Tennessee. Microsoft and the Tennessee Department of Labor will be distributing almost 26,000 free vouchers for online technology training and certification
What does that do to participants really? It only turns them into clients of Microsoft using ‘skills’ that even kids under 10 get qualified and certified for (true story and there is a new audiocast on the subject, titled “I earned my Microsoft Certification Badge when I was 11″).
Using a new press release, Microsoft is looking for other companies to help this American EDGI sham, exploiting a crisis for self enrichment and power over the most vulnerable people. The Seattle press plays along and so do some other publications which name Orange County as a victim of this sham:
Orange County’s unemployed workers snapped up most of the free online courses offered last month by Microsoft as part of its Elevate America program, reports the state Employment Development Department.
“Free online courses,” eh? So someone just pays for bandwidth which is used to make people dependent on Microsoft. Are these bandwidth costs being covered by the state so that Microsoft can sit back and just watch how the government becomes an extension of the abusive monopoly? More importantly, are all journalists naive enough to not see what is happening here?
“Once in a while there is a journalist who explores and uncovers the truth, but the resultant report gets washed aside by massive amounts of PR-esque fake ‘news’.”Well, a very recent study showed that the majority of news (especially local news) is written by PR people and ‘dressed up’ a little for publication. As we stressed many times before (along with examples and new proof), Microsoft's control of the national press is very great in the United States, which is how they get their way and overwhelm truth/logic with spin. Once in a while there is a journalist who explores and uncovers the truth, but the resultant report gets washed aside by massive amounts of PR-esque fake ‘news’.
According to TechFlash (also in Microsoft's pocket), Microsoft is outsourcing its viral video campaigns at the moment.
A couple months ago we told you about an unique promotion from the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce in which they asked small business owners to produce a short video touting how Microsoft’s Office 2010 boosts productivity at their companies
More fake ‘fan’ videos, eh?
According to this new blog post (blogs are sometimes more reliable than news sites these days), MSNBC (Microsoft-NBC) and Microsoft are now acquiring Today.com, which will possibly become another fake ‘news’ site.
According to the current Whois record for Today.com, it looks like Microsoft recently acquired the domain name Today.com, and it now forwards to MSNBC’s Today Show website. Prior to Microsoft’s ownership, it appeared to be registered by a company called Marksmen, Inc. which has been known to acquire domain names on behalf of large companies like Microsoft. Prior to that, it was privately registered, and just before that, Domain Capital was shown as the registrant.
“Fending Off Microsoft, Google Invests In TV Ad Startup,” says another article. Google’s role as a gateway to many news sites is also a serious issue which we’ll address at a later date. It’s a global problem.
Two weeks ago we wrote about Microsoft exploiting poor people in South Africa using an EDGI-like action and this currently gets published in the ‘news’ sites of South Africa (feeding on US ‘news’ sites for material), still full of spin and nonsense.
This was one of Microsoft’s biggest equity equivalent deals seen in South Africa to date and was part of its broad-based black economic empowerment (B- BBEE) programme.
How come nobody dares to explain Microsoft’s real motives? In this case, Microsoft is blocking use of Free/libre software. It also pretends that putting a retail price tag on some zeros and ones constitutes huge and generous donation and then makes a public relation scene out of the whole thing. █
“It’s easier for our software to compete with Linux when there’s piracy than when there’s not.”
–Bill Gates
