Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Chinese Will “Get Sort of Addicted, and Then We’ll Somehow Figure Out How to Collect Sometime in the Next Decade” --Bill Gates

Cigarette - tobacco



Summary: Microsoft does more to advertise the fact that its software is no longer gratis in China ("addition" phase expired) and more "piracy" propaganda is unleashed

Bill Gates is a shrewd businessman and his "drug dealer" mentality (seen in his current investments too, not just shown in the quote above where he referenced China) is becoming a lot more apparent in this current decade. Earlier this year we showed that Microsoft software was no longer gratis in China (Microsoft usually turned a blind eye before that), where Microsoft admittedly benefits from counterfeiting and unlicensed copies of Windows.



Microsoft is still suing Chinese companies this year. Their only crime is that they spread Microsoft's software to a wider audience, just as Microsoft desired. Now there is another settlement (meaning that Microsoft gets to take money from another Chinese business) and there was even a press release about it, which is unusual. Microsoft wants to make this publicly known and make a general statement perhaps. From Nasdaq.com:

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) said Thursday it settled a copyright infringement case with China's Citic Kington Securities Co., marking another small victory for the software giant against software piracy in China.


Mark Lee reports in the US and Chinese sites too cover this. Microsoft gets the buzz it craved [1, 2], it is described in the press as the victim thanks to improper language like "piracy" and it turns out that Microsoft also has people sent to prison for distributing Windows/Office.

Microsoft said in April it won a decision from a court in Shanghai against a Chinese insurance company for intellectual property infringement. Last year, four people were sentenced to prison terms for distributing pirated Microsoft products.


We gave an example at the time.

Microsoft's friend Dina Bass (from Bloomberg) has prepared a nice propaganda piece for Microsoft, the poor victim of "piracy" as she calls it.

Microsoft Corp.'s Donal Keating uses a custom-built microscope to take 72 high-resolution images of a counterfeit software disc at a Dublin, Ireland, crime lab.

[...]

In 2007, the company helped Chinese authorities break up a syndicate that had generated $2 billion in counterfeit Microsoft products. In December the company helped Indian police raid one of that country's largest resellers of Microsoft products, which was pairing legitimate goods with knockoffs to boost profits.


But wait. Microsoft actually encouraged this some years ago. It was seeding the market, so to speak. How come? Bass does not explore these questions. To conform to the norm is to stick with Microsoft's revisionism, the "official story" about so-called 'pirates'.

“Narcotics, mafia, piracy, Microsoft Windows... just lump them all together to scare the readers.”In this same article, notice how Bass is associating unlicensed copies not just with piracy but also actual crime (pay attention to sentences like "The probing is part of a campaign by the world's largest softwaremaker to vanquish counterfeiters. Microsoft employs 75 investigators, lawyers and analysts - many with experience in narcotics and Mafia cases - in nine labs around the world.")

Narcotics, mafia, piracy, Microsoft Windows... just lump them all together to scare the readers. After all, at Microsoft it's all about illusions.

"Stewart Alsop, industry gadfly, presented Gates with the "Golden Vaporware" award, saying, "The delay of Windows was all part of a secret plan to have Bill turn thirty before it shipped."

--Barbarians Led by Bill Gates, a book composed
by the daughter of Microsoft's PR mogul



Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft Has Not Much Left to Show Investors, Shares Fall Almost 20%
It's not even clear how Microsoft makes money anymore
The Fall of the Open Source Initiative (OSI): The OSI Election is Rigged, Biased Against People Who Oppose the Openwashing of GPL-Violating Bots Operated by Microsoft for Profit (OSI Gets Paid to Promote This)
they reckon that pretence of calm would serve them best, helped by puff pieces
In Vietnam, statCounter Sees Microsoft Windows Falling Below 7% "Market Share"
Can Microsoft still demand $500 or more per Windows licence?
Fresh IBM Layoffs Reported in Europe and North America, Jobs Allegedly Moved to South Asia (Low Salaries)
As usual, IBM does not talk about this
 
Illuminating Injustice is Critical When Reckless Microsofters and Law Firms Try to Silence Reporters of Violence Against Women
I want to clarify that I'm well within my right (and not running afoul of any rules) by explaining what goes on here
EPO Central Staff Committee: "The Strategy of the Office Lacks Transparency and Cannot be Understood"
Microsoft and the EPO violate data protection laws
Links 11/03/2025: Spring and Misfin Server
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, March 10, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, March 10, 2025
Latvia (and Lithuania) Stepping Away From GAFAM, Microsoft
Windows becomes unessential as Android and GNU/Linux rise
Microsoft Layoffs Are Infectious (Don't Get Acquired or Become a Partner)
It seems like companies choosing to become "buddies" with Microsoft are dooming themselves and their products
A Closer Look Inside the EPO, Courtesy of Benoît Battistelli's Submissive Lapdogs Roberta Romano-Götsch and Elodie Bergot
new report comes from the Local Staff Committee Munich (LSCMN)
Links 10/03/2025: Staff Strikes, Mass Layoffs in Gaming Industry
Links for the day
Gemini Links 10/03/2025: "Eat The Rich" and Two-Year Anniversary of the 'Space Elevator' Orbit (Like 'Webring')
Links for the day
Links 10/03/2025: Small Web Praised, LLM Chatbots Exposed as Worse Than Useless Again
Links for the day
A Call for GNU/Linux and BSD Developers to Unite Against GAFAM and the Regime They Empower
We have long encouraged and continue to encourage people who value Software Freedom to altogether boycott GAFAM
The Ludicrous Mythology of Commonality as Signal of Value, Merit, Popularity
Devalue what's true, promote marketing?
[Video] Richard Stallman on the Four Essential Freedoms (Manuel Cuda News, 2025)
Added to a channel several days ago by Manuel Cuda News
Gemini Links 10/03/2025: Realisation About Young People, Punks, and Discord IPO
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 09, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, March 09, 2025
[Video] Richard Stallman on Understanding the Misconception of So-called 'Artificial Intelligence'
to "know and understand"
FSF's Defective by Design (DBD): Amazon Tightens the Digital Handcuffs
Reproduced verbatim
The Fall of the Open Source Initiative (OSI): Plenty of Issues, Plenty of Censorship
The OSI is abusive on many levels!
EPO Staff Appraisals Apparently Benefit Kakistocracy, Including Cheaters Who Grant Illegal Patents and Punish Good Patent Examiners (Who Find Valid Reasons for Denials)
In prior reports the staff representatives said that rewards typically went to people who granted many patents, i.e. didn't do proper examination and instead just allowed many fake patents get enshrined as EPs, causing fiasco (from which some patent attorneys could profit)
As The Web Gets Drowned Out, Sinking in a Pool of LLM Slop, Real News Sites With Real News Become Increasingly Rare If Not Extinct
This is a real problem
Links 09/03/2025: Moderna Patents Thrown Out, Climate United Sues E.P.A.
Links for the day
Gemini Links 09/03/2025: Lagrange 1.18.5 and Writing Mannerisms
Links for the day
Links 09/03/2025: FiveThirtyEight Killed by Disney, Nature (Journal) Chooses Suicide by Slop
Links for the day
Links 08/03/2025: International Women's Day, Software Patents Being Squashed
Links for the day
Hiding Problems Doesn't Work
transparent organisations will be more stable and sustainable
The Harder They Try to Censor, the Bigger the Scandal (and the Impact) Will Be
We don't plan to self-censor our coverage; sometimes we just delay publication a little
Gemini Links 09/03/2025: Leasehold Derangement Syndrome, Raspberry Pi, and More
Links for the day
All-Time Low for Microsoft in Africa
it helps show how irrelevant Microsoft is becoming
French woman (frontaliere) trafficked to promote unauthorised cross border Swiss insurance
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
New York Times & Guardian reporting on Modern Slavery Act prosecution of Glodi Wabelua
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Diana & Adrian von Bidder-Senn, EVP, Palm Sunday & Debian death on wedding day
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
The RTO (Return-to-office) Layoffs or 'Soft' Layoffs at IBM and Red Hat
There are certainly many layoffs going on there, but many are described as "resignations" or "retirements" after RTO or some other form of relocation
Under the Pen Name "John O'Donnell" (LLM Slop, Not Real Article or Author) LinuxLinks Pushes Spammy Page
it happened some hours ago.
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 08, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, March 08, 2025