Comments

• Keep it anonymous

  2007-07-21 11:42:10

  What is actually going in in Portugal (and I am sure thet in many other countries) is like this:
  
  As seen in Groklaw: http://www.groklaw.net/comment.php?mode=display&sid=2007071812280798&title=Notes%20from%20Portugal%20on%20%20the%20July%2016th%20Meeting%20on%20Ecma-376&type=article&order=&hideanonymous=0&pid=0#c596254
  
  Notes from Portugal on the July 16th Meeting on Ecma-376 Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, July 20 2007 @ 06:48 AM EDT This is as fishy/unfair as it can get.
  
  As a Portuguese, i really don't see the point (besides unfair bullying) of having MS business parters there. In this particular case, these people are mostly sales/account managers who really don't have a clue about what they are talking about. They just wanna have their way (M$ way) through. They are representatives from corporations which their core business is 100% M$ for decades now. Worst even, some these companies have strong political connections thought corporate stock share owned (guess what) by politicians.
  
  I strongly dislike Manuel Cerqueira presence there, who is nothing more than an openly M$ lackey and a clueless wannabe politician. ASSOFT is the Portuguese BSA version strongly focus on fighting software piracy of its two major associates M$ and Autodesk.
  
  ASSOFT is a private association but his tactics and propaganda are strongly backed up the Portuguese government. Being a Software association it should had help ANSOL developing more OSS in Portugal. Instead went through the "money side":It's has done 0%(zero) for OSS and 100% for M$ and Autodesk in Portugal. In fact has damage OSS oportunities here every chance it gets.
  
  The general tactic is the following:
  
  1-MS account managers bury Portuguese companies with expensive "do it all and pay it later" M$ solutions well served with a high poisonous marketing.This is the time and place they say "OSS sucks, go our way". Naivelly, so they do.
  
  2-Most companies here cannot cope with the expensive m$ licencing costs, but as they are all tied up with the M$ solutions, they choose to pay much much later.
  
  3- Meanwhile the extortionists who keep a list a such companies (assoft who else) team up with the portuguese police (in fact on many ocasions they like to pretend they ARE the police) and go to the m$ rescue.
  
  4- The company is then burried in fines and lawsuits, and its managers could face the usual up two 3 years piracy jail sentence, not because they were really software pirates, but because they were defrauded by this kind of ppl, Manuel Cerqueira and his goons.
  
  5-There is a major exception to points 3-4. The Portuguese state and it's public companies.Why? Assoft doesn't want to ruin the beautiful political relationship it has. Ridiculous consequence:The government for instance can use loads of piracy, but the major Portuguese companies don't :)
  
  The same tactic is applied to Autodesk Solutions.
  
  This is the kind of people that they *do really* want in such meetings.
  
  Alex

• Skeptic

  2007-07-21 13:39:41

  @Anonymous: While your comment is very much appreciated, could you please refrain from cheap shots such as "M$"? The problem is that Microsoft fanboys will dwell on that and unfairly try to dismiss your otherwise excellent points. Thank you.

• Keep it anonymous

  2007-07-21 14:51:36

  Ok, thank you for the recommendation on "M$" I just use it as a shortcut to avoid writing "Microsoft" (tm), which is much longer: From now on I will write MSFT (its acronym in Nasdaq) instead. Anyway it was written M$ in the original post I was just quoting (so it was not me).