Bonum Certa Men Certa

US Taxpayers Spend Money to Repair Microsoft-Imposed Damage

White house



Summary: Conficker tools developed by the DHS shortly after Microsoft had entered it

THE Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seems to have already become somewhat of a department of Microsoft. It happened soon after they had appointed a Microsoft executive to take charge [1, 2] under pressure from BSA folks (some of whom are former employees of Bill Gates' dad, who habitually assists his son's business [1, 2, 3]).



The DHS has just developed and released Windows-only software -- a tool that should have been made at Microsoft's own expense, not by a department of the government. The DHS essentially has taxpayers pay for the damages caused by Microsoft's incompetence/negligence, namely Conficker, which we wrote about earlier today.

Speaking of the BSA, which routinely fights against Free software [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], here it is bragging about the bullying of yet another business that mistakenly chose non-Free software. The BSA even uses a press release which appears in Fox and comes from Washington. It's a brand-new example.

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) today announced that Taney Engineering, Inc. and Taney Cunningham Equipment, LLC of Henderson, Nevada, a joint civil engineering and land survey services company, settled a lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (Docket #C08-03132) alleging copyright infringement. BSA initially contacted the companies through its out-of-court audit program. When that proved unsuccessful, a lawsuit seeking an injunction to stop the defendants from making or distributing unauthorized copies of Autodesk software as well as an unspecified amount of damages and attorneys' fees in connection with the litigation, was filed on behalf of Autodesk, Inc., a BSA member company. The suit was filed on June 30, 2008 and settled in December.


So, what is the contribution of non-Free software to local businesses? Apart from promoting cheaper foreign labour [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] at the expense of decent working conditions, Microsoft is now also advancing more of the same (Abramoff visas).

Microsoft reiterates H-1B support despite layoffs, tough economy



In a new blog post, Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith voices continued support for the H-1B visa program that Microsoft and other technology companies use to bring foreign guest workers into the United States. Smith's post, titled "Appreciating our Immigration System," come in advance of the annual window in which companies file for the visas.


What's good for Microsoft is good for Microsoft (a privatised monopoly abuser), not for America. Let us not forget that Microsoft is using stimulus money to build bridges. That would be American taxpayers sponsoring Microsoft and there are similar blunders in other parts of the world [1, 2]. It is looting of the public, plain and simple.

Someone has anonymously sent us this presentation about "European ICT Strategy: Software Tea Party."



Microsoft-sponsored infiltrators like ACT [1, 2] are trying to ensure countries across the world remain digital colonies to Microsoft. And in a special April Fool's prank, IDG states that Microsoft is asking the government for taxpayers-funded bailout.

Microsoft asks feds for a bailout [Joke]



[...]

Pepper also said that his sources within Microsoft were indicating that the money might be used for a surprising purpose: suing Apple, Google, open source companies, and other entities Microsoft has labeled "revenue stealers" in internal communications. Microsoft has antagonized the companies in the past and most recently sued Linux vendor TomTom over alleged patent violations.

According to Pepper, Microsoft sees litigation as a possible revenue stream, although he believes such a strategy would be for the short term only. "I don't see Microsoft getting into the business of suing everybody willy-nilly," he said. "But as a stopgap measure while it struggles with the economic climate, Microsoft believes litigation can be a revenue-positive undertaking."


Yes, to be a little sarcastic here, the American public absolutely must invest in lawsuits against 'nasty' European companies like TomTom because they dare to use Linux, which is not American.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Instant Bluewashing at Confluent: Mass Layoffs Alleged at IBM
So the main question is, did IBM just fire 800 people?
British Justice Minister Sarah Sackman Blasts Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)
The "legal industry" is due for "some reckoning"
 
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, March 17, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, March 17, 2026
Microsofters' SLAPP Censorship - Part 14 Out of 200: Men Who Strangle Women (and Worse) Trying to Force Us to Write Public Apologies to These Men
For those who never before saw a SLAPP, they basically make many demands
"Vibe-forking" and Why It'll Ultimately Fail (Hype on Top of Hype)
Code made with LLMs sucks; converting solid, human-tested code into slop only complicates matters and increases risk
Updates About Richard Stallman's Free Software Foundation
After all those years (a decade) and in spite of phony scandals many people out there still respect him
LLM Slop With "Linux" in the Domain Names
This is becoming a pain and a problem also in the arts and in software engineering
The EFF Has a Bug, Fixing This Bug is Likely Not Possible Anymore
"the EFF's continued existence impairs the arrival of a replacement organization, one which will actually champion digital rights."
Sophie Brun, Raphel Hertzog & Debian sexual conflicts of interest
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 17/03/2026: Microsoft Windows Broken by Samsung, Afghanistan-Pakistan War Escalation
Links for the day
Gemini Links 17/03/2026: Newcomers and False-Positive 'Slop'
Links for the day
Héctor Orón Martínez & Debian shadow candidate pressure on Sruthi Chandran
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 17/03/2026: American Fentanylware (TikTok) Investors Implicated in Kickbacks, "Big Oil Knew It Was Wrecking Louisiana’s Coast"
Links for the day
For Third Time in a Week The Register MS Runs Google SPAM That Paints Google as an Ally of Women (Which is False, They're Womanisers)
What does that make The Register MS to women?
GAFAM Deprecating Old Videos ("Content") by Removing the Support for Their Format for No Good Reason
"Security" is not a valid excuse
Credit/Debit Cards Have Long Been Called Plastics, Over Time They're Becoming More Like Pure Plastics
They cost less than a dollar to manufacture
The European Patent Office (EPO) Holds a Public Demonstration Tomorrow and It'll be Live-streamed
The EPO's workforce was meant to be capable of speaking many languages and have extensive experience in the sciences
People Who Attacked Techrights Also Attacked My Mother
Picking on old ladies because you don't like Free software advocates is never OK
Little Community Element Left in CentOS
CentOS, unlike Fedora, was meant to be long supported and solid
Social Control Media is Cancel Culture (Companies Like Facebook Also Punish/Ban Accounts for Mentioning "Linux" and Lobby for Anti-Linux Legislation)
The masters of Social Control Media decide what ideas can and cannot be expressed
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 16, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, March 16, 2026
Someone at Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is Censoring the Birthday Greetings to Richard Stallman
Some people remember
The European Patent Office (EPO) Illegally Transitioning Into 'Gig' 'Economy' Equivalent (a Shop for Patent Monopolies in Europe)
for scabs aka SEALs
At Least Six EPO Strikes Next Month (Yes, Six!)
The pressure intensifies over time
Several MPs Blast Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) for Inaction and Ineffective Action This Week
"Four MPs have written to the SRA"
Microsofters' SLAPP Censorship - Part 14 Out of 200: The Abusive Cases of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft and His Litigation Buddy Garrett Did Cause "Serious Harm"
claims were de facto abandoned at the trial
Today's Discussions About How IBM Pushes Workers Out
The corporate media keeps trying - baselessly and in vain - to paint everything that happens with the "hey hi" brush
Linux Teck (linuxteck.com) and Ubuntu PIT (ubuntupit.com) Are Botspam
now they just keep experimenting by trashing their sites and reputation
Links 16/03/2026: Moscow Experiencing Cellphone Internet Outages, "Salman Rushdie Is Tired of Talking About Free Speech"
Links for the day
Links 16/03/2026: Arctic Security and 'Mr. Nobody Against Putin'
Links for the day
Gemini Links 16/03/2026: KN95 Skins and CSS Surprises
Links for the day
Debian is Dying for Some of the Same Reasons IBM's Fedora is Rapidly Dying
Prioritising CoC censorship, not communities
The Register MS is Again Femmewashing GAFAM (Which Makes Widows) in Exchange for Money
This is a moral issue because they betray or harm women and prop up authoritarian regimes
Gemini Links 16/03/2026: AB 1043, Lagrange Android Beta 47, and Poetry
Links for the day
"Slop-forking" or "Vibe-forking" as the New 'Noble' Plagiarism
New Cloudflare Slop Project?
EPO "Cocaine Communication Manager" - Part VII - Cult Mentality, Mobbing, Nepotism
Does the EPO actually believe in the law?
2026 Microsoft Layoff Rumours
Surely if we had properly-functioning media, then someone would investigate this rather than rely on official statements from Microsoft and WARN notices
EPO Strike This Week
contact your national representatives about it
Gemini Links 15/03/2026: "Create Opportunities for Good Things to Happen", DOSbook, and Bitcoin Criticism
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 15, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, March 15, 2026
Pirate Praveen Arimbrathodiyil & Debian denouncing volunteers, hiding romances
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock