“It wanted to see its insiders turn into decision-makers.”You might find yourself wondering if Microsoft only targets the weak and the feeble -- that which cannot defend itself or respond with libel claims (which themselves become a considerable distraction). That is not the case however.
We have already seen coordinated attacks against State CIO whose decision rocked the Microsoft procurement boat. We have already seen international bodies, much like Yahoo Board of Directors at the moment, coming under attack from a corporation that wanted to see heads rolling. It wanted to see its insiders turn into decision-makers.
Today's story comes from another person whom you may be familiar with: Tim Bray. Tim is a well-known trailblazer, much like Vint Cerf, whom Microsoft (ECMA) wishes to characterise as a 'troll' to be ignored ahead of the BRM in Geneva (Vint Cerf is from CERN, so join the dots). Here is Tim's story that was pulled by Groklaw:
Those with long memories might suggest a parallel between Rick’s position and mine when in 1997, I was sitting on the XML Working Group and co-editing the spec, on a pro bono basis as an indie consultant. Netscape hired me to represent their interests, and when I announced this, controversy ensued. Which is a nice way of saying that Microsoft went berserk; tried unsuccessfully to get me fired as co-editor, and then launched a vicious, deeply personal extended attack in which they tried to destroy my career and took lethal action against a small struggling company because my wife worked there. It was a sideshow of a sideshow of the great campaign to bury Netscape and I’m sure the executives have forgotten; but I haven’t.
