06.14.10
Big Financial Link Between Fraunhofer and Microsoft: The Gates Foundation
Summary: A look at financial links that help create a conflict of interests; more new examples of the press in Washington and Seattle museums getting corporate controllers
LAST week we started writing about the relationship between Fraunhofer USA and big-shot financier the Gates Foundation. For those who have missed the lobbying from Fraunhofer FOKUS for Microsoft, here are some posts on the subject:
- Fraunhofer Again Lobbies for Microsoft Lock-in
- Did Microsoft Pay Fraunhofer for Report on OOXML?
- Patents Roundup: Google Versus Patent Trolls, Patents Unrest, Microsoft’s Friend Fraunhofer to Report on Software Patents in Europe
- CompTIA, Martin Bean, Fraunhofer Fokus, and Other Microsoft Boosters
It is sometimes reassuring to find out that millions of dollars are passed from Microsoft’s co-founder to Fraunhofer in order to serve his pharmaceutical agenda which we’ll explain again in a later post (using newer evidence).
The Gates Foundation has provided more than $20 million for Fraunhofer scientists in Delaware to research and develop vaccines for malaria, avian flu and sleeping sickness.
This is also covered here. Both are reputable sources.
In less interesting news, the influence of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on the Washington Post is being recalled in the following new article:
Wagoner Joins Board of Washington Post
[...]
Also serving on the Post board is another Buffett friend, Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and wife of Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
We mentioned this before. The appointment from GM is mentioned also in:
- Washington Post: Former GM CEO Wagoner Elected To Board
- Rick Wagoner gets seat on Washington Post board
- Rick Wagoner lands a seat on Washington Post board
- Washington Post Names Ex-GM CEO to Board
- Muck tracker – Former GM CEO named to Washington Post board
- Former GM boss Rick Wagoner joins Washington Post board
- Ex-G.M. Chief to Join Washington Post Board
This publication sets a lot of political agenda because of those who read it (the other politically-influential publication is the New York Times), but it is driven by business, not by people with background in reporting. Shouldn’t this be a reason for concern? No?
Anyway, here is the official press release, which lacks substance.
In other news from Washington, “Long-time docent, Microsoft executive elected to BAM’s [Bellevue Arts Museum] board”
A long-time museum docent and a Microsoft executive were elected to the Bellevue Arts Museum’s board of trustees, the museum announced Thursday.
Gates puts money in some of these galleries and museums [1, 2]. We gave many examples before and spotted another one a few days ago. So again, corporate influence ought to be remembered. Even museums that record our history are affected.
“Microsoft has had clear competitors in the past. It’s good that we have museums to document them.”
–Bill Gates March 10th, 2005
Later on we see Murdoch's press and also Reuters spouting out corporate propaganda about counterfeiting (these major publications wrongly call it “piracy”), pretending that Microsoft is hurt by it. Here is the latest example from the Wall Street Journal (there were more last week). Have they no sense of decency? █
“They’ll get sort of addicted, and then we’ll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade.”
