Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft 'Inherits' VMware, Republican National Committee, Democrat Influence Also

Summary: Microsoft has its people installed at VMware and RNC; Microsoft lobbying and Obama pressure seen

VMware's latest recruitment of Microsoft folks is something that we've already covered some days ago.



In order to reinforce our analysis, we hereby present more analysis which concurs. InfoWorld's (IDG) virtualisation expert has posted an essay that he titles "Ex-Microsoft execs continue filling the VMware lineup" and he writes:

VMware's executive roster is beginning to look very familiar to the old Microsoft regime. Since Diane Greene's departure, it seems as though a few key executive positions have fallen into the hands of former Microsoft employees.

[...]

From the outside looking in, there has never been much of a positive relationship between VMware and Microsoft. So it will be interesting to see how much the growing Microsoft executive presence within VMware will define and shape the company's vision as well as how it will effect the competition between the two companies moving forward.


VMware was actually prepared to sue Microsoft or at least issue an antitrust complaint about a year before Tucci kicked Diane Greene out of her throne (she left along with her colleagues). It's like she was overthrown by a Microsoft coup, headed by Microsoft's partner of the year. Microsoft's 'planter' Maureen O'Gara proudly proclaims that this 'regime change' is indeed happening. A few days ago she published the article "VMware Continues To Reek of Microsoft." In InternetNews.com, we found the article "Microsoft, VMware Talk Up Lower Power Bills." That too was published a few days ago.

Keep it where it's warm, eh?

Another entity to keep an eye on is the Republican National Committee (RNC). According to this new press release, a Microsoft executive has just been made a director there.

Until September 2007, Todd was a Microsoft executive where he held a number of senior leadership positions, most recently General Manager, Media Strategy and Monetization for MSN. Todd was the Streaming Media Evangelist at MSNBC.com where he wrote the initial strategy and business plan for MSN Video Product Unit. Under his leadership, MSN Video inaugurated over 100 traditional TV brands into broadband video and its revenues grew fourfold over four consecutive years. Prior to joining Microsoft, Todd was Co-Founder and CEO of theDial, a venture-capital backed Internet radio network. theDial's syndication network was the first to welcome Fortune 500 companies and national consumer brands to Internet radio advertising. His most recent company is SpinSpotter, a venture-capital backed, semantic web business and winner of a 2008 DEMOgod Award.


This was also covered in TechCrunch (or via The Washington Post) and some other sites that offer additional details following the announcement from RNC.

The RNC just sent out a press release announcing the appointment of former Microsoft executive Todd Herman as the RNC's new media director. This is a key part of Steele's efforts to get the Republican Party tuned in to digital media and its place in modern politics.


 

The Republican National Committee tapped a former Microsoft executive to spearhead the party's efforts to vastly improve its use of technology, RNC chairman Michael Steele announced Monday.


For those who think that Microsoft influence in the Republican camp is rather futile right now, well... we have some more news. Several days ago we found reports about Microsoft taking its lobbying of the Senate/Democrats up a notch. Watch this: Microsoft Taps Pryor To Lobby Senate

Microsoft has hired David Pryor Jr. as director of government affairs, where he will lobby the Senate.

The company's newest lobbyist has family ties to the Senate. His father, is former Sen. David Pryor, D-Ark. and his younger brother is Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark. who was elected in 2002.


And this:

FedEx lobbyist David Pryor Jr. is joining Microsoft as director of government affairs for the Senate.

He’ll lead the software giant’s efforts in lobbying the Senate, handling pressing economic, education and health issues and promoting online security polices.

Pryor’s younger brother is Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.); their father is former Sen. David Pryor (D-Ark.).

“David’s extensive work with Congress and with various federal agencies and his strong relationships give him the ability to advance Microsoft’s goals on Capitol Hill,” said Microsoft’s managing director for U.S. government affairs, Fred Humphries.


For older information about Microsoft's affairs with the Democrats, see:



This morning we found that Microsoft is even giving instructions to Obama now.

Microsoft tells Obama to spend cash on broadband



THE SOFTWARE giant Vole has told the US government to spend its stimulus money providing broadband fibre networks to critical public institutions. d with various federal agencies and his strong relationships give him the ability to advance Microsoft’s goals on Capitol Hill,” said Microsoft’s managing director for U.S. government affairs, Fred Humphries.


Was that 'Microsoft bridge' which taxpayers fund not enough for Microsoft?

Hands grab money



Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

The European Patent Office Cannot Attract Proficient Patent Examiners Who Master Their Domain
They are enablers and facilitators of corruption
[Meme] 9AM Meeting at Brett Wilson LLP
Brett Wilson LLP in space
 
Debian Can Dump Blind Users Because I am Not Blind
the sort of mentality we're up against
Fascistic Policies Got 'Normalised' in 'Public Office'. Let's Not Let the Same Happen in 'Tech'.
Political discourse typically guides what's "normal" and what "good citizens" should believe/feel
Yes, Your Mastodon Instance Will Also Shut Down
Few people run a one-person instance in the Fediverse
The Demise of GAFAM Necessitates Greater and Broader Awareness
Morale at Microsoft is really bad
Free Software Foundation Reaches 75% of Funding Goal
Not bad for this "Fosschild"
Slopwatch: 7 New Examples of Fake 'Linux' Slop Pieces (Plagiarism With Misinformation)
Serial Sloppers need to be shunned
Links 19/07/2025: Kapo-berg Settles, Software Patents Challenged
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 18, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 18, 2025
Links 18/07/2025: Peace With PKK and Connie Francis Dies
Links for the day
Gemini Links 18/07/2025: Alhena 5.1.8 and Bornhack 2025
Links for the day
How to Top Up a "Limited Liability" With Even More Limitations (Dodging Accountability in the UK)
Some people call it a "shell game". Sometimes it's done for tax evasion purposes.
Free Software Foundation, Inc. (FSF) Inches Towards 75% of Fund-Raising Target
Will the cutoff date be extended again?
Gemini Space (or Geminispace) Grows, But Usage of Certificate Authority Let's Encrypt Drops Further
Ideally, all Gemini capsules should use self-signed certificates
Links 18/07/2025: More Microsoft Layoffs in Activision, The New Stack (Sponsored by Microsoft) Complains About Openwashing
Links for the day
Gemini Links 18/07/2025: OCC25 Gnus for Reading Usenet and RSS Feeds, Small Web Updates
Links for the day
Listing as Staff People Who Left the Company More Than Six Years Earlier
There are apparently no laws against that
Brian Fagioli Shovels Up LLM Slop (Plagiarism) Onto Slashdot, Then Uses Slashdot for Affirmation or as Badge of Honour
Notice how some of his latest slop is presented ("as featured on Slashdot")
Social Control Media Productivity
Snapping photos of the bone
The Law Firm SLAPPing Us For the Microsofters Lost 72% of Its Tangible Assets in the Past Year, According to Its Own Reports
That might help explain why they're willing to tolerate serial stranglers from Microsoft as clients
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity.com Slopfarm and Slopfarms Propped Up by Google News
"As LLM slop is foisted onto the WWW in place of knowledge and real content, it now gets ingested and processed by other LLMs, creating a sort of ouroboros of crap."
Links 18/07/2025: Weather Events and Health Hazards
Links for the day
Microsoft's All-Time Low in Finland
Microsoft is in a freefall
Security: Shane Wegner & Debian statement of incompetence
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 17, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 17, 2025
Gemini Links 17/07/2025: "Goodreads for Gemini" and Defence of "The Small Web"
Links for the day
Links 17/07/2025: Anger and Morale Issues at Microsoft, Wars and Conflicts Get Digital
Links for the day
CALEA / CALEA2 is the Real Problem, Not Chinese Operatives Exploiting CALEA / CALEA2 (as Any Other Nation Can)
CALEA / CALEA2 is more of a front door than a back door
99.99% Uptime in First Half of 2025
Since January there was only one noticeable outage
Nils Torvalds and Anna "Mikke" Torvalds (née Törnqvis) Hopefully Use GNU/Linux by Now
"Torvalds Family Uses Windows, Not Linus’ Linux"
Attack of the Slopfarms
FUD-amplifying bots with slop images, slop text (LLM slop)
When People Call a Best/Close Friend of Bill Gates a "Serial Rapist"
Good thing that the Linux Foundation keeps the "Linux" trademark ("Linux Mark") clean
Not My Problem, I Don't Care
Context/inspiration: Martin Niemöller
Honest Journalism About the European Patent Office Ceased to Exist After SLAPPs and Bribes to the Media
The EPO is basically a Mafia
Microsoft Bankruptcy in Russia, Shutdown in Pakistan, What Next?
It seems possible that in 2025 alone Microsoft will have laid off over 50,000 workers
Life Became Simpler When I Stopped Driving and I Don't Miss Driving When I See "Modern" Cars
Gee, wonder why car sales have plummeted...
Why I Believe Brett Wilson LLP and Its Microsoft Clients Are All Toast
So far our legal strategy has worked perfectly
EPO Jobs Are Very Toxic and Bad for One's Health
Health first, not monopolies
Response to Ryo Suwito Regarding the Four Freedoms
the point of life isn't to make more money
Microsoft's Morale Circling Down the Drain
Or gutter, toilet etc.
What Matters More Than "Market Share"
The goal is freedom, not "market share"
Tech Used to be Fun. To Many of Us It's Still Fun.
You can just watch it from afar and make fun of it all
Links 17/07/2025: "Blog Identity Crisis" and Openwashing by Nvidia
Links for the day
Greffiers and the US Attorney of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft
The lawsuit can help expose extensive corruption in the American court system as well
Credit Suisse collapse obfuscated Parreaux, Thiébaud & Partners scandal
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
The People Who Promoted systemd in Debian Also Promote Wayland
This is not politics
UK Media Under Threat: Cannot Report on Data Breach, Cannot Report on Microsoft Staff Strangling Women
The story of super injunction (in the British media this week, years late)
Victims of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft, Alex Balabhadra Graveley, Wanted to Sue Him But Lacked the Funds (He Attacked Their Finances)
Having spoken to victims of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft
Links 17/07/2025: Science, Hardware, and Censorship
Links for the day
Gemini Links 17/07/2025: Staying in the "Small Web" and Back on ICQ
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 16, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 16, 2025