Summary: Monopolies are trying not only to control the market -- including the military sector -- but also to control the narrative of opposition to them (those who raise ethical concerns about such actions)

TECHRIGHTS would be no newcomer or stranger to the disturbing trend (we've been making site changes recently so as to more effectively tackle emerging threats). Companies that have in essence monopolised (or 'oligopolised') imperialism, militarism, internment camps etc. claim to also have a monopoly over various groups that claim to represent the public interest. As the old saying goes, "money talks" and they offer/take money. "Follow the money" is another saying...

"Enough money and persistence can destroy just about anything."Where does that leave the rest of us, who are governed -- or spoken 'on behalf of' -- by those who assert they stand for manners and ethics (while accepting money from rude, brutal and unethical corporations)? Or even directly by those corporations? Does IBM really fight for social justice? Or is that just some shallow PR tactic? Obviously the latter.

The problem isn't unique to software. When mass movements and popular actions (activism/campaigns) emerged against corrupt banks the corporate-led wars (looking to profit from deaths by the millions, amassing trillions of dollars by killing millions of people of 'lesser value') attempts were made to infiltrate and control the opposition. Did that always work? To some degree, yes. Enough money and persistence can destroy just about anything. In the case of software, look no further than the OSI and the Linux Foundation, especially after they took Microsoft bribes and blessed the aggressive acquisition of GitHub as though it was an act of "love"...

Apple Computer Senior VP Avadis Tevanian Jr. once said:

"Microsoft does not hesitate to use its operating system monopoly power and application program dominance to try to eliminate competition."

Now, with GitHub, Microsoft has another monopoly paradigm, which it is already misusing to create lock-in and "eliminate competition." Is GitHub ethical? Not only is it proprietary software, it's also working for ICE on internment camps. It's censoring the Web, along with Google...

Distortion or obfuscation of facts may be effective (like taking about some mythical "Arctic vault" to distract the media from ICE-GitHub), but provided we have the capacity to respond and rebut we can win the argument and show people what's really going on. ⬆