THE relationship between the NSA and Microsoft isn't as secret as it used to be, thanks in part to Edward Snowden with his leaked documents. Over the past few months I was challenged by people who had left Microsoft. They denied what Snowden offered and when confronted with links to press reports about it they didn't bother apologising, they just fled. We actually catalogued some of these things in this Wiki page, which helps keep things organised (with external links to hard material, proof, substance). It includes articles like "Former Microsoft Engineer Working on Windows BitLocker Confirms Government Asks Microsoft for Back Doors" and much more. Microsoft hopes people will forget and it very well knows that puff pieces in the media will make such reports hard to find/access/assess.

"Microsoft hopes people will forget and it very well knows that puff pieces in the media will make such reports hard to find/access/assess."I won't lie about it; I never shy away from polite confrontations with former (and existing) Microsoft staff as sometimes they unwittingly expose evil agenda. For instance, managers of the WSL team love or at least accept the patent blackmail (of Linux!) and managers at Microsoft totally support GitHub's war on GPL/copyleft. It's the same old company; speak to individuals rather than some carefully-drafted press releases from liars at the top (upper echelons and PR department).

This morning I was greeted with a special -- albeit not rare -- badge of honour. After losing an argument (regarding NSA back doors in Microsoft's systems) the former employee not only fled but also blocked me in Twitter. The funny thing is, I said nothing to offend him; it was someone else who brought forth evidence to contradict Microsoft talking points (there's ample evidence and when shown evidence the sceptics tend to run away!). Who was blocked for this inconvenient fact? Me, not him. From following me in Twitter he turned to blocking me. Without me saying a thing! I almost never speak to these people; 90% of more of the time it is them who initiate contact.

Great. Well done, Microsoft alumni. Your own actions say a lot about you. ⬆