Bonum Certa Men Certa

Rise of Autocracy Everywhere

Hungary recently declared itself a non-republic, having done the opposite after escaping Soviet clutches [1, 2]

Budapest

Summary: Erosion of democratic principles around the world can be seen in the impunity various institutions and corporations nowadays enjoy (there's almost nobody left to represent or effectively uphold public interest)

THE advent of strongmen as "strong" (oppressive) leaders isn't unprecedented. From my understanding of history when people sense there's nothing left to lose and when they reject "traditional" leaders (whom rightly and wrongly they blame for their misfortune) they go for the "crazy" alternative. It's a bit of a gamble; if the less "traditional" leaders screw things up even more badly than before, then "OK, tough luck..."



There's no "reset" button; by their very definition and nature the strongmen don't quite respect fair elections (or honour the results, which they already attempted to manipulate anyway by muzzling critics, reducing turnout selectively and so on). Examples include a lot more than Donald Trump; Hungary, Turkey and Brazil are coming to grips with their own strongmen, joining the ranks of China and Russia.

"Examples include a lot more than Donald Trump; Hungary, Turkey and Brazil are coming to grips with their own strongmen, joining the ranks of China and Russia."Dictatorships aren't a "feature"; strongmen aren't benevolent, either. They like to pretend to be defenders in the face of chaos and disruption ("law and order"), even if they themselves are the chaos and disruption. Exposing corruption becomes a crime (or becomes too risky to even attempt). Ask insiders from the European Patent Office (EPO) how likely they are to speak to their supervisor/line manager about unlawful guidelines from Benoît Battistelli and António Campinos. If they refuse to grant software patents in Europe, citing the law (e.g. EPC and courts/caselaw), guess what will happen...

"Instead of the general population being scared of these strongmen it should be the strongmen constantly terrified of law enforcement that actually serves the public, not brutalises the public."The media's inability or unwillingness to engage and to expose abuses means that strongmen blend in more easily. They don't need to worry about negative publicity or even accountability. In the case of Microsoft, it seems rather clear that they're defrauding their shareholders and have done so for a very long time. They even get to bribe people and get away with it. They know or feel like they're simply above the law. They act accordingly.

A Microsoft whistleblower told us about his SEC complaint: "I had very low expectations going into that. If the SEC were competent, then they wouldn’t need someone like me pointing this stuff out to them and would be regulating the hell out of Microsoft and the like. Hell, 99% of the reason that I feel compelled to even write anything about Microsoft at all is because I maintain a firm belief that regulation exists purely in the realm of theatrics in this country."

In technology and in the world/realm of patents we're seeing the rise of strongmen, just like in general politics. Society will be worse off for it. We need to fight back. We need to get accountability back. Instead of the general population being scared of these strongmen it should be the strongmen constantly terrified of law enforcement that actually serves the public, not brutalises the public.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Banned evidence: Ars Technica forums censored email predicting DebConf23 death, Abraham Raji & Debian cover-up
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Intimidation, Threats, and Bullying Not Tolerated by Techrights
When it comes to our reporting, safety always comes first
Something to Celebrate in Gemini Protocol
More capsules and users join in
 
Costa Rica Almost Bankrupt Because of Microsoft
the incidents in Costa Rica are Windows incidents
Gemini Links 29/03/2025: Art of Looking, Wireguard, EMacs
Links for the day
Links 29/03/2025: Attacks on Social Security and War Updates
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, March 28, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, March 28, 2025
A World Without Rules
We're long insisted on better laws and actual enforcement of them (applicable to all, not selectively applied)
IBM's BS (Bait, Switch) Regarding Ways to Stay Onboard
PIPs, RTOs, and forced relocations are just an illusion of choice (or ability to recover)
statCounter Sees Microsoft Windows Falling to New, Unprecedented Lows in Palau
Taking Android into account, Windows is now down to an all-time low of 14%
Google News Lost the Fight to LLM Slop (While Google Itself Sells Slop, Nowadays Under the Name "Gemini")
Many people say that "Google is getting worse"; that's almost an understatement
Links 28/03/2025: AirAsia Trouble Again, UMich Culls All DEI Programs
Links for the day
Gemini Links 28/03/2025: Alexa is for Gullible People, Rant About Feature Overload
Links for the day
The SLAPPs From the Microsoft Strangler (and Sidekick) No Better Than Patent Trolling
one must never settle with trolls
Links 28/03/2025: Last Reminder "to Delete Your 23andMe Data", "UK's First Permanent Facial Recognition Cameras Installed"
Links for the day
Microsoft Canonical Continues Its FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) Campaign, Reveals Google Too Sponsored It
They're paid-for lies from a Chinese company that takes GAFAM money to write puff pieces about them
Android Rises Above 76% in Mozambique, Leaving Windows in the Dust
Windows may soon be measured as smaller than Apple's iOS
IBM, Red Hat and Microsoft Probably Also Manipulate Metrics (It Helps Con the Shareholders)
Wall Street's credibility will depend on enforcement of "checks and balances"
Slopwatch: trendhunter.com and Other Pure Junk From "Google News"
The need to vet sources is hardly new; anyone can spew out anything, anywhere. There's a need for vetting.
Gemini Links 28/03/2025: Rewatching The X-Files, Slop Concerns, and NOSTR Censorship
Links for the day
Links 28/03/2025: Australia at Risk, EPO Grants Illegal Patents With Illegal Effect
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, March 27, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, March 27, 2025
Links 27/03/2025: Obituary to a Shop, Russia Trying to Buy Time
Links for the day
Links 27/03/2025: Slop, Autosuggestions, and Nostr
Links for the day
Apparently Confirmed: IBM Layoffs in Canada Today, Hundreds Affected
Impacting "177 people", says one person, "in Ottawa"
When Windows Was Dominant (1990s) Browser Monopoly Meant MSIE, But Now Google Android is Dominant and the Web in a 'Webapps' Era Works With (or Is Designed for) Chrome-isms
We've been there before
Slopwatch: BetaNews, LinuxSecurity.com, and the Attack on Web Search Using Fake and Likely Plagiarised Pages
Changing a few words here and there won't change the fact that it's not properly authored
Links 27/03/2025: U.S. Honeybee Deaths Reach Record High, Legal Occupation Next in Line After War on Science
Links for the day
Using Courts for 'Revenge' is Always a Losing Strategy
Trying to cause someone you dislike to spend a lot of money
IBM CFO James Kavanaugh Refers to Firing of Almost 10,000 Americans as "Workforce Rebalancing" (Shifting IBM's Centre of Balance to Low-salary Contracts/Countries)
The scale of IBM layoffs is getting too large to evade WARN Notices
[Video] Dr. Richard Stallman's Keynote Speech in Kerala Finally Uploaded
In non-free format and proprietary YouTube, but perhaps that's better than nothing
Islands Are Leaving Microsoft Behind, According to statCounter
Android has had a very strong year
EPO Management Fails to Deny That the Office is Discriminating Against Women
Europe's second-largest institution isn't just exceedingly corrupt but also immoral
In Some Countries the Market Share of Vista 11 is Going Down, Not Up
despite being released in 2021
Rumour: Mass Layoffs in IBM Canada Today
Maybe later today some people from Canada will say something firmer and maybe some media will even talk about that
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, March 26, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, March 26, 2025
Gemini Links 27/03/2025: X-Files' "Kill Switch", Orlando, and ASN (Autonomous System Number) 'Hack'
Links for the day