Government of Slovakia Sells Out to Microsoft (Updated)

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2012-05-26 15:19:58 UTC
Modified: 2012-05-27 08:41:46 UTC

Summary: Reports from Slovakia suggest that another outrageous government deal has been signed with the monopolist from Redmond

"Yesterday [the] Slovak government approved controversial MS deal: 52 mil EUR for (mostly) useless licenses," wrote to us a reader some days ago. "Subsequently," he added, "Slovakia has been chosen by MS as testing country (market) for their new (unspecified) products."

"Slovak language only articles so far," claimed the reader, who also informed us of this thing before. We'll post an update if/when we receive more information. ⬆

Update: We have received additional information from our source:

...some info about recent issues in Slovakia:

1. MS agreement

http://spectator.sme.sk/articles/view/46462/10/government_approves_extension_of_microsoft_agreement.html - this is the only news article in English language I was able to find - source - TASR (The news agency of Slovak republic)

http://www.soit.sk/sk/aktualne/oit-doma/2012-05-23/186-vlada-schvalila-problematicku-zmluvu-s-microsoftom-a-prislubila-hladat-alternativy - it's very good analysis made by SOIT (The Society for Open Information Technologies) - unfortunately only in Slovak language - I've asked original authors to write short info in English language for you (but I'm not sure they will do that actually)

2. Slovakia as testing ground

I have written recently: “Slovakia has been chosen by MS as testing country (market) for their new (unspecified) products.”

I'm sorry, It looks like it's not 100% true. The truth is that Laura Ipsen (MS VP) was 23.5.2012 here in Slovakia and she's met with government officials from the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak republic. She was probably just lobbying for MS agreement approval (#1 issue), but they had to tell news reporters something else of course, so they told them they were discussing an opportunity for Slovakia to become a testing ground for new products. But MS refused to comment or confirm this statement.

Related article in Slovak language: http://ekonomika.sme.sk/c/6388754/microsoft-moze-na-slovensku-testovat-nove-produkty.html

3. Eura Slovakia

- a couple of articles about an older issue:

http://www.cio.com/article/706053/Critics_Say_EU_Guidelines_on_Avoiding_Software_Vendor_Tie_in_Ignored_By_Slovak_Authorities

http://fsfe.org/news/2012/news-20120509-01.en.html

A Note on SimilarWeb: Or why SimilarWeb is meaningless for more than 99% of the sites on the Web
IBM Said to be Shutting Down Offices or Sites in the United States: the press can no longer avoid admitting that IBM moves many jobs to India
LLM Slop as Attack Vector on the Reputation of Linux: The attacks on Linux have escalated to information warfare
Traf-O-Data, the Company That Jeffrey Epstein's BFF (Bill Gates) (Co)Founded 53 Years and Went Out of Business Due to Heavy Losses: Who will die first, Bill or Microsoft?
Why Microsoft's Shares Sank Almost 20% in Recent Months (the Bubble is Imploding): verified press reports from the past 24 hours
GNU/Linux Rises to Almost 5% in Algeria While Windows Sinks to All-Time Low: GNU/Linux grew tenfold
Where to Get More Gags: A valued reader recommended that to us
Links 04/04/2025: Tech Stock (Inc. GAFAM) Fall, Google Pretends to Do End-to-End Encrypted Emails (With Google in Control): Links for the day
To Participate in Fedora Diversity You Must Use Proprietary Software: Not for the first time either
Yandex About to Be Three Times Bigger Than Microsoft (Bing) in Asia: That's about 60% of the world's population
Gemini Links 04/04/2025: Decoupling Updates, Elaho as Gemini Client: Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, April 03, 2025: IRC logs for Thursday, April 03, 2025
Microsoft's Trouble in Africa and Asia: A new all-time high for GNU/Linux
Brett Wilson LLP Reported to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA): The saddest thing in all this is that law firms can maintain high standards shall they wish to
Links 03/04/2025: Tariff Pains and C.D.C. Cuts: Links for the day
StatCounter: Microsoft is Masking a Disaster, It's Way Behind DeepSeek Already and Interest in LLMs Has Waned: it turns out the money "raised" for "Open" "AI" may not even exist at all
Links 03/04/2025: SoftBank Money for Microsoft "Open" "AI" Probably Doesn't Even Exist, Wikimedia Foundation Blasts LLM Nuisance While Microsoft Admits Demand Has Shrunk: Links for the day
Gemini Links 03/04/2025: Patch Panel and Pictures: Links for the day
Islamic Republic of Iran: GNU/Linux at All-time High This Month, Windows Falls to 12%: Vista 10 is up this month despite being "end of life" (EoL) soon
Indonesia: All-Time Highs for GNU/Linux: What's noteworthy right now is the growth of GNU/Linux
statCounter Says GNU/Linux Usage is Up Again (Internationally): some preliminary April data
Only on April 1st Can the Free Software Foundation Associate With Microsoft's Open Source Initiative (OSI): We saw some pranks that day linking the FSF to Microsoft (e.g. "endorsing" Windows)
Confirmed in the Mainstream Media: A Lot of Microsoft "Workloads" Were Just LLM Slop (Helping to Fake Growth for Years, as Microsoft Had Paid "Open" "AI" to Become a "Client") and Demand is Rapidly Waning, Datacentres Canceled and/or Shut Down: Anything to facilitate further accounting fraud
Taiwan's Media Covers Closure of Microsoft's "AI" Lab, It's Time to Talk About the Gradual Death of Windows and Implosion of the "AI" Bubble: Earlier this week we showed that mostly Asian media had the 'nerve' to mention Microsoft silently shutting down its 'AI' lab
IBM Gets Rid of Kelly Chambliss as Mass Layoffs Reported in IBM Consulting, IBM Loses Key Contracts/Graft: IBM Consulting has been in disarray lately
More Gains for GNU/Linux, Based on Web Surveys: the Steam site shows rapid growth for "Linux" this month
Slopwatch: Anti-Linux Articles, Not Even Written by Humans: Why aren't Web sites more vocal about this problem?
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 02, 2025: IRC logs for Wednesday, April 02, 2025
Links 03/04/2025: Apple Fined Over Secret Surveillance, "Elegant Writer For A More Civilized Age": Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/04/2025: Books and Cold Tea: Links for the day
Links 02/04/2025: More Layoffs, Nokia Again Takes Advantage of Illegal and Unconstitutional Patent Court With Nokia Staff as 'Judges': Links for the day
Links 02/04/2025: Seizures and Returns to Windows of 24 Years Ago: Links for the day
LLM Slop Helps Obscure and Distort News About Layoffs (IBM, GAFAM): It's hard to find accurate information
Links 02/04/2025: Microsoft Developers Are Threatening to Go on Strike, World Backup Day Noted: Links for the day
Gemini Protocol Has Growing Appeal (the Web Got Too Bloated and Full of LLM Slop): For any "data plan" with bandwidth limits or "tiers" it would be cheaper to use/browse Geminispace
The Web Can Survive LLM Slop, But Only If We Collectively Shun and Discourage Serial Sloppers: Doing nothing ought not be a possibility
Amid Secret Shut-downs and Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (4 Waves of Layoffs in 3 Months of 2025) Some Microsoft Staff Expected to Go On Strike: workers going on strike
Gemini Links 02/04/2025: No more on Mastodon and Gemini Mention Script in Go: Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 01, 2025: IRC logs for Tuesday, April 01, 2025
My Motion Disbarring or “Striking Off” Brett Wilson LLP for Enabling Violent Americans Who Try to Crush Microsoft Critics in the United Kingdom by Multiple SLAPPs: "Guns for hire" (for Microsoft people who received Microsoft salaries)
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Hijacked Again by Patent Litigation Industry, as President Cheeto Prioritises Aggressors: The "mafia" has taken over the "industry" and the Federal system (justice and constitutions trampled upon)
Ubuntu Slop and FUD Manufactured With LLMs and Funded (by Oneself) 'Studies': Slop and FUD are ruining the Web

Government of Slovakia Sells Out to Microsoft (Updated)

Recent Techrights' Posts