Bonum Certa Men Certa

Comes, Iowa, Suppression of Truth, Collusion and Tax Evasion

Vortex or misconduct and hints of favour-making

A reader has just sent us a pointer to this recently-modified Web page, suggesting that Microsoft might be getting an easy ride in Iowa. Watch and judge this one for yourself (the formatting and layout make it somewhat of a necessity anyway). The Microsoft items on the list are the only ones highlighted in red.

This listing is an attempt to track tax bills for Iowa's 2008 legislative session. While we will do our best to keep it up to date, we appreciate any updates or corrections our readers may have. Direct them to Joe Kristan (jkristan -at- rothcpa.com).

[...]

HF 2233 Great big sales and property tax giveaway to Microsoft Signed into law 2/28/08 Sure thing HF 2233c

[...]

SSB 3184 Senate version of Microsoft giveaway; same as HF 2233, which was signed 2/28/08 Introduced 2/14 Sure thing


The reader's interpretation: "I'm guessing based on almost no data that Microsoft folded in the Iowa case (Comes v Microsoft) when all that material was posted publicly. In one earlier case (was it Corel or Caldera?) the settlement required that the court records be destroyed. So this one is probably some way get back at Iowa or at competitors based in Iowa."

“Last week Microsoft failed to prevent the court from divulging some more damaging information about Windows Vista collusions.”You can find a bit of background about Microsoft in Iowa here, with more pertinents details right here. Microsoft was seemingly suspected of tax games in Wisconsin recently (broader picture here). Our reader adds, with respect to the find above, "perhaps [it is] in retribution for Comes v Microsoft." And speaking tax evasion, another new case was noted just days ago. It's systematic and endemic.

It is worth adding that Iowa has also been trying to kiss and make up with Microsoft recently. It was hoping to put pressure on the monopoly to build a datacentre there (you know, give some jobs to locals), having been compensated with some software coupons ('funny money') to escape prosecution last year. It suppressed disclosure, as usual (terms of settlement withheld initially, then followed by the prompt closure of the site with court evidence), just as it currently tries to do in a 2008 case. Last week Microsoft failed to prevent the court from divulging some more damaging information about Windows Vista collusions. This is nothing new because Microsoft has done this for well over a decade it has gone almost unnoticed and virtually unpunished.

But Microsoft's pricing strategy has seldom been considered a criminal act, an act of monopoly price-fixing intended to squeeze more money out of computer buyers by raising prices. Microsoft has been able to "spin" the arguments to avoid the non-price issues while keeping its long-term pricing strategies a secret.

Until now.

Read carefully the following excerpts from an internal Microsoft memo released during the ongoing federal antitrust case...

[...]

Could things be any clearer than that? Microsoft is apparently engaged in a conspiracy to commit price-fixing in the market for personal computers. Read that again: price fixing not merely in the OS marketplace, but in the PC marketplace itself. Note also that Microsoft is not practicing collusion with any OS competitors because it does not have to. Microsoft has a literal monopoly on the price of PC operating systems; otherwise, this scheme would require collusion with their competitors.


It continues to fascinate how Microsoft never changed its ways. It only became more prudent when it comes to allowing truths to go public. The Vista scandal is just the more recent illustration of it.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Stefano Maffulli and His Microsoft-Funded OSI Staff Are Killing the OSI and Killing "Open Source" (All for Money!)
This is far from over
Techrights Headlines as Semaphore
"If you are hearing this, thank you"
 
Links 01/04/2025: Mass Layoffs at Eidos and "Microsoft Pulls Back on Data Centers" (Demand Lacking); "Racist and Sexist" Slop From Microsoft
Links for the day
Gemini Links 01/04/2025: XKCDpunk and worldclock.py
Links for the day
50 Years of Sabotage and a Gut Punch to Computer Science (and Science in General)
Will we get back to science-based computing rather than cult-like following?
3 Months in 2025, 4 Waves of Mass Layoffs at Microsoft, Now Offices Shut Down Permanently
"A recent visit by the South China Morning Post confirmed that the office was dark, unoccupied, and had its logo removed."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 31, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, March 31, 2025
Links 31/03/2025: China Tensions, Bombs Falling in Myanmar After Earthquake
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/03/2025: Falling Out of Love With Tech, Sunsetting openSNP
Links for the day
R.T.O. at IBM in Texas and Atlanta (State of Georgia) Expected as "Soft Layoffs" Catalyst This Coming Year
It also sounds like more IBM layoffs are in the making
Law Firms Can Also Lose Their Licence for Clearly Misusing It
The bottom line is, never made the false assumption that because you can pile up SLAPPs in a docket you will not suffer from bad reputation or even get disbarred
Link between institutional abuse, Swiss jurists, Debianism and FSFE
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
LLM Slop Piggybacking News About GNU/Linux and Distorting It
new examples
Links 31/03/2025: Press and Democracy Under Further Attacks in the US, Attitudes Towards Slop Sour
Links for the day
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Privacy Fiasco in Detail: The OSI Does Not Respect Anybody's Privacy
The surveillance mafia that bans dissent or key people (even co-founders) with dissenting views
Gemini Links 31/03/2025: More X-Filesposting and Dreaming in Emacs
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 30, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, March 30, 2025
Links 30/03/2025: Security Breaches, Crackdowns on Dissent/Rival Politicians
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/03/2025: London Soundtrack Festival, Superbloom, gmiCAPTCHA
Links for the day
Phasing Out Vista 10 in Nations Where ~90% of Windows Users Still Rely on It
Recipe for another Microsoft disaster
The Cost of Pursuing the Much-Needed Reform/Shield Against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs)
“It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.”
The LLM Bubble is About to Implode, Gimmicks and Financial Shell Games Cannot Prevent That, Only Delay It
To inflate the bubble MElon is now doing the classic trick of buying from oneself for a fictional value
Links 30/03/2025: Contagious Ideas, Signal Leak, and Squashing Lousy Patents
Links for the day
Links 30/03/2025: "Quantum Randomness" and "F-1 Visa Revoked" in US
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/03/2025: US as a Threat, Returning to the WWW
Links for the day
Links 30/03/2025: Judge Blocks Dismantling Of VOA, Turkey Arrested Many Journalists
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 29, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, March 29, 2025