Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Uses the Press to Promote Cheaper Labour for Microsoft; Other “Independent” Studies (Propaganda) Funded by Microsoft

Thomas Friedman in 1990
Thomas Friedman, 1990



Summary: Thomas Friedman is spreading Microsoft's disinformation in the New York Times, thus further substantiating the allegation that the New York Times exists to serve big business, not the readership; Microsoft also pays to produce propaganda about its role in Washington (despite tax dodging)

Microsoft has a lot of news sites, some of which are wholly owned by Microsoft, some are funded by Microosft, some are funded by Bill Gates, and many receive their income from Microsoft in the form of advertising business. Microsoft adds another Web site called "Glo" [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], which one of the Microsoft-funded sites (in the form of sponsorships) describes as follows:



Microsoft's MSN this morning rolled out a new site called "Glo," an online lifestyle magazine developed in conjunction with BermanBraun Interactive -- its partner on the "Wonderwall" celebrity site -- and Elle and Woman's Day publisher Hachette Filipacchi Media.


This will be another Web site masquerading as news while totally controlled by a software company. We have given many similar examples in the past. One really has to know which is which because there are many Microsoft sites where the affiliation is not stated explicitly and bias would be telling only based on a large sample set.

“Right now it looks like Mundie inherits a role once taken by lobbyist and convicted criminal Jack Abramoff.”One of Microsoft's top lobbyists is Craig Mundie, who is already close to Obama [1, 2]. Many of his activities which we've covered here characterise him as a Microsoft lobbyist, not just an executive (he also hangs around with the Bilderberg group [1, 2]). Here is a recent example of Mundie's activities that affect government.

Right now it looks like Mundie inherits a role once taken by lobbyist and convicted criminal Jack Abramoff. Mundie is influencing the New York Times just like Bill Gates did back in January. Mundie uses the publication to lobby for more visas (i.e. foreign workers) and Friedman acts as though he is a Microsoft mouthpiece for hire. He repeats everything he is told and the Microsoft boosters then reference him as though it's an authority that's reliable.

So, did you read Thomas Friedman's column in Sunday's New York Times? In it he floats an idea for saving the U.S. economy by creating jobs here for "high-IQ risk-takers" from overseas. And it seems to be based off of an interview he did with Craig Mundie, Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer.


Classic Abramoff maneuvers. More here:

Friedman's argument springs from what appears to be an interview with Craig Mundie, the chief research and strategy officer of Microsoft (MSFT). Although Microsoft has been a relative laggard technologically for at least the last decade, Friedman appears to be swept away by Mundie's viewpoint.


Some of our readers dislike Friedman with a great passion. Here he is just printing the words absorbed by him after chatting with a lobbyist/executive. What room does that leave to critical thinking?

It is unfortunate to see other new "independent" studies from Microsoft being covered as though they bear a meaning and can be trusted. These are funded by Microsoft, yet Microsoft shamelessly calls them "independent". Here is Microsoft paying Forrester (whom Microsoft sometimes pays to attack GNU/Linux [1, 2]):

New Independent Study Reveals Enterprises Are Under-Investing In the Protection of Corporate Secrets



RSA, The Security Division of EMC (NYSE: EMC) and Microsoft (MSFT) today announced the results of a commissioned global survey conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of RSA and Microsoft, entitled "The Value of Corporate Secrets: How Compliance and Collaboration Affect Enterprise Perceptions of Risk." The survey of 305 IT security decision-makers worldwide revealed that enterprises are investing heavily in compliance and protection against accidental leaks of custodial data (such as customer information), but under-investing in protection against theft of far more valuable corporate secrets.


Microsoft told them exactly what to produce and how. From now on Microsoft will be able to cite an "independent" Forrester report to corroborate. That's just their business model.



Here is another new case of Microsoft security 'studies'. They come down pouring.

Only Microsoft boosters (2 sites in total [1, 2]) covered another 'study' which was funded entirely by Microsoft. One of those two reports says:

The study, funded by Microsoft, says the company was directly (through employment) and indirectly (through spending by Microsoft and its workers) responsible for 8.4 percent of the state's employment as of 2008, or approximately 267,600 jobs. That was up from approximately 6 percent in 2005, 3.5 percent in 2000, and less than 1 percent in 1990, according to the study by UW economics professor Theo Eicher.


This is just more propaganda whose message is that Microsoft saves Washington's economy. This is utter nonsense. The article states and shows that "Microsoft's Brad Smith discusses the report today on the UW campus." Is that the same Brad Smith who is named by Jeff Reifman as one of the perpetrators of Microsoft's tax avoidance [1, 2, 3], which has already cost Washington about a billion dollars in missing money? It is worth adding that a lot of Microsoft's workforce in Washington is brought from overseas and Washington residents openly complain about this.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Representing and Speaking for Animals
If I ever choose to take this matter to tribunal with animals-centric NGOs on my side, it'll get some press coverage for sure
Slopwatch: Fake Articles About "Linux", Slop Images in VentureBeat, Linux Foundation Spam Made With LLM Slop and Slop Images
The only relief or upside - if any exists - is that the pace of slop was down a bit this week
 
Financiers and Sponsors of the Slop Hype (Pyramid Scheme Waiting to End, Bubble That Will Inevitably Implode)
It's also burning the planet
Slopwatch: Fake Articles About "Linux", Google Helps Ponzi Schemes and Slopfarms in Google News
Slopfarms are a real pain
Gemini Links 29/08/2025: Retiring at 62 and URL Filtering HTTP(S) Proxy on Qubes OS
Links for the day
Links 29/08/2025: Lisa Cook Sues Convicted Felon and Backdoor Mandate in UK Resisted
Links for the day
Links 29/08/2025: Arti 1.5.0, War on Public Health (CDC), and Slop 'Bros' Made to Pay for Their Mass Plagiarism
Links for the day
No, 4Chan is Not Fighting for You by Lawyering Up Against Ofcom (UK)
Don't mistake proto-fascists for people who "fight for you". They don't.
Downlplaying the Impact of "UEFI 9/11" is a Losing Strategy
we won't publish much whilst on holiday
In Many Places in the World Vista 11 "Market Share" is Going Down, Not Up
In some countries Windows is already down to third place or lower
More Microsoft-Connected Layoffs, at Least Third Time This Month! (Also Another Death on Campus)
Microsoft as a "gaming" company is where studios, projects, games, and even developers come to die
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 28, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, August 28, 2025
Gemini Links 29/08/2025: Poems, Games, and Java 25 Performance
Links for the day
Links 28/08/2025: Greenland 'Interferences' by US and Skinnerboxes to Get Banned in Korean Schools
Links for the day
Richard Stallman (RMS) Talk in Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress Will be Remote
This past week RMS received lots of accolades online
The Register MS (Run by Microsoft Operatives): Free Software is Putin, Hence Evil and Dangerous
The current editor in chief is an American Microsofter, the previous one went to work for Google (US)
Links 28/08/2025: Chatbots Distorting/Fabricating History and Also Driving Suicide
Links for the day
Gemini Links 28/08/2025: Back in Japan and Why "Hacker News" Sucks
Links for the day
A Much-Needed Wake-up Call to Users of Wordpress.com, Blogspot, Substack and All Those Other Outsourced (and Centralised) Platforms
There are several lessons in there
The UEFI 9/11 - Part II - Campaign of Censorship and Defamation Against Critics
In dictatorships, humour serves an important role. It's tragic.
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Resists Software Freedom, Even by Attacking Its Own
The OSI is compromised
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, August 27, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, August 27, 2025
Slopwatch: linuxsecurity.com, Slopfarms in Google News, and More
Some readers of ours end up sending us links that are from slopfarms, not realising those are slopfarms
Gemini Links 27/08/2025: Katrina Memories and Google Versus Software Freedom
Links for the day
Links 27/08/2025: Police Against Media Freedom in the UK, Energy-Hungry Countries Targeted by China
Links for the day
Microsoft Windows Fell to All-Time Lows in Egypt This Summer, Vista 11 Adoption Decreases While GNU/Linux Increases
Vista 11 is going down rather than up
Links 27/08/2025: Microsoft Demoralises Staff With Slop Demands, Leaving Mastodon Explained
Links for the day
12 Hours Ago The Register MS Published a Fake (Paid-for) Article, But This One for a Change Did Not Promote a Ponzi Scheme
There are also Free software alternatives, but they don't pay The Register MS for "synthetic" so-called 'journalism'
More People Need to Call Out and Put a Stop to Serial Sloppers
Unless slopfarms are stopped, people will read and share Microsoft propaganda made by chatbots
Gemini Links 27/08/2025: Headphones and Tartarus
Links for the day
Morale at Microsoft is Terrible (Proprietary Plagiarism Machines Have No Future, LLM Slop is a Bubble)
The slop sceptics/critics are going to have lots of "told you so" moments
GNOME "governance issues, staff reduction, etc." amidst Albanian whistleblowing and women trafficking
Notice the connection to Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC) and GNOME
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, August 26, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, August 26, 2025