Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO Management is Hiding Under the 'Cloud' While Violating Privacy Laws

Video download link | md5sum 8ba68be0bc49f72049d0d1edbb9a3d61



Summary: Facing a barrage of scrutiny for outsourcing the EPO's systems to Microsoft, the EPO has just arranged yet another expensive PR stunt, looking to somehow 'normalise' the unacceptable and the likely illegal

Earlier this year we published a long series about the EPO's biggest privacy violation. See the last part with that series' index ("EPO Administrative Council Still Asleep at the Wheel"); this was hardly the first privacy scandal at the EPO because we've covered such scandals for years. The EPO is aware of a perceptual problem, so it keeps name-dropping 'privacy' and 'data protection' just like oil companies keep mentioning words like sustainable and renewable (greenwashing).



"We've currently aware of potential legal action over this matter; some greenwashing and buzzwords as headlines won't weaken such lawsuits, but they can help change the media's (or public) perception of any imppending/ongoing lawsuits."Towards the end of last week the EPO reaffirmed its concern about the perception of privacy. It did a PR stunt, as explained in the video above.

We're currently aware of potential legal action over this matter; some greenwashing and buzzwords (even as headlines!) won't weaken such lawsuits, but they can help change the media's (or public) perception of any imppending/ongoing lawsuits.

"They keep writing press releases about it and the supposed 'media' sometimes reprints every single word."All this cloudwashing (outsourcing disguised as advancement) won't impress privacy professionals, who look at underlying facts rather than pseudo-technical jargon. The EPO managers asking their provider on the subject is akin to a government accused of war crimes interviewing a bunch of mercenaries; the fact that the EPO is inviting other patent offices to this brainwash/marketing session is rather telling, especially considering the timing.

Days ago we wrote about Azure back/bug doors, which aren't a new problem. It's part of the design. It was never about security but US national security (remote access, espionage); the EPO adding lots of Microsoft links to sidebars, not to mention some acronyms and legalese, is akin to proactive legal defence. They keep writing press releases about it and the supposed 'media' sometimes reprints every single word. Fact-checking? None. Astoundingly enough, JUVE's Amy Sandys is still lying for EPO management like she keeps lying for Team UPC. She seems to be under the impression that copy-pasting press releases from thugs who hijacked the EPO is "journalism"... with the same being done for Team UPC. It comes to show what happened to so-called 'journalism' about patents (where conflict of interest is so prevalent and supposed 'experts' cheer for 'Hey Hi' patents or patents for bots, as if patents for pets and insects are next, calling spiders "inventors" with patents on their webs and web-weaving).

"As noted in the video above, there are good reasons to suspect the issue might trickle out to what's left of the media."That the EPO is defensive of its Microsoft outsourcing deal isn't surprising. They're colluding with them in the abuse; only the EPO is legally immune from prosecution, but Microsoft bribes officials to look the other way and focus on other companies (mostly Google).

As noted in the video above, there are good reasons to suspect the issue might trickle out to what's left of the media. The media that's not already bribed by the EPO for puff pieces or silence...

We are going to write a lot more about that separately as it merits more attention. Maybe this coming week...

Recent Techrights' Posts

Computers Got Smaller, So GNU/Linux Got Bigger
Many people here recognise the lack of urgency (or need) to get expensive new laptops
GNU/Linux Grows at Windows' Expense and Microsoft Trolls Infest and Maliciously Target Articles About It
Microsoft is - and has long been - organised crime
They Say I'm Mr. Bombastic
They didn't take good lawyers
 
Links 09/06/2025: Science, Hardware Projects, and Democracy Receding
Links for the day
BetaNews is a Plagiarism and LLM Slop Hub, the Chief Editor Isn't Addressing This Problem Anymore
SS Fagioli is basically a parasite leeching off or exploiting other people's work
Links 09/06/2025: Chaos in Los Angeles and Hurricane Season
Links for the day
Links 09/06/2025: Windows TCO and Many Data Breaches
Links for the day
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part VI: Political Stunts by Former President Edyta Demby-Siwek and the Connection to Profound Corruption at EUIPO
it's like a money-laundering operation where one politician rewards another at taxpayers' expense
Gemini Links 09/06/2025: Pipelines and Splitgate
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 08, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 08, 2025
Links 08/06/2025: Tiananmen Carnage Censorship Persists, North Korean Goes Offline
Links for the day
Gemini Links 08/06/2025: Love as an Ethnographic Method and Monitorix Gemini-Frontend v0.1
Links for the day
Links 08/06/2025: Exposure of More GAFAM Surveillance and Social Security Records Compromised
Links for the day
Linux Foundation is a Mediator for Microsoft et al, Not for Small Companies That Support Rather Than Attack the GPL
Many people still wrongly assume that because it is called "Linux Foundation", then it is pro-Linux and represents the same mindset
This Past Friday, Confirming What We Said All Along About Brett Wilson LLP: It's Shrinking, Has Considerable Debt, Loss of Net Assets Despite the Microsoft SLAPP Money
The documents only became publicly available less than 2 days ago
Some of the Many Reasons We Sued Microsofters for Harassment
perpetrators of harassment
For 20 Years Many People Were Sharecropping for Canonical's Oligarch, Now He's Deleting All Their Contributions
"Ubuntu has erased instead of archiving the trove of material at Ubuntu Forums"
There Was Always Too Much 'Crazy Stuff' Going on Around Freenode
What many IRC users lost sight of
Exposing Crime is Not a Crime (It Never Was)
In the eyes of rich and powerful people, those who speak about their crimes are the "criminals"
GNU/Linux Distros Abandoning Microsoft GitHub
Will curl be next to leave Microsoft GitHub?
Expect More XBox Mass Layoffs Soon If the Rumours Are True
From a Microsoft media operative
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, June 07, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, June 07, 2025
Europe Needs to Move Away From GAFAM; The Sooner, the Better
Europe - not just the EU - must abandon GAFAM as soon as possible
The Issue Isn't GNOME's Promotion of Diversity But GNOME Corruption, Abuse, Censorship, and Worse
So-called "Conservative" (republican, pro-Trump, bigoted) people want you to think the problem with GNOME is politics
When the News Sources Become Scarce and Increasingly Full of Polluted/Contaminated 'Content' (With LLM Slop and Slop Images)
Integrity matters
"Linux" Sites That Spew Out LLM Slop
We're lacking enough material for another "Slopwatch"
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part V: Breaking the Law, Just Like EPO
We'll hopefully cover some of the pertinent details later this year
Links 08/06/2025: Security Lapses, CISA Cuts, and More
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/06/2025: Mime Types and Geminisphere Introduction
Links for the day
Links 07/06/2025: Slop Companies Retain All Private Data, More Books Banned in the US
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/06/2025: "A Monk's Guide to Happiness" and "Wireless Earbuds"
Links for the day
Links 07/06/2025: More Rumours of Mass Layoffs in Microsoft's XBox Division, New COVID Variant
Links for the day
Drug Addiction is a Real Problem, It Destroys Families
a rather sensitive matter
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part IV: Political Scrutiny and Errors/Inconsistencies in Official Documents
When such organisations receive scrutiny they start focusing on cover-up and muzzling of facts (or crushing people who say the truth)
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, June 06, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, June 06, 2025