Bonum Certa Men Certa

Inside the Minds of Microsoft's Media Operatives — Part I — Bishops in Rooks

Series parts:

  1. YOU ARE HERE ☞ Bishops in Rooks


Microsoft dirty tactics



Summary: A new series that looks at how so-called 'journalists' who are more like Microsoft moles justify their actions (at least to themselves)

A LOT of time has passed since we last updated this page on Microsoft AstroTurfing or the index of Microsoft's PR agencies, explaining how the company operates behind the scenes (policing the media, blogs, Wikipedia and so on). But a lot of what we said back then has hardly changed. The same is true for IAM et al as media operatives of the EPO, burning sources and betraying truth-tellers.

One must understand that Microsoft has the equivalent of what can rudely be dubbed "moles"; they're meant to look like editors, reporters, and journalists. In reality, however, they're like marketing operatives and spinners/liars of Microsoft. There are quite a lot of them and one was even arrested for pedophilia a few years ago (Microsoft Peter). Sometimes they get detected and ousted, at least as soon as publishers sniff them out. Publishers aren't interested in such corporate interferences unless Microsoft pays them to tolerate this. Money can poison almost everything.

"I’ve killed at least two Mac conferences. [...] by injecting Microsoft content into the conference, the conference got shut down. The guy who ran it said, why am I doing this?"

--Microsoft's chief evangelist



This new series concerns a Microsoft operative who burned a Microsoft whistleblower almost as though he was looking to eliminate/weed out dissenting voices from within Microsoft. Dissenting in the sense that they said the truth whilst outwardly Microsoft was lying to the public, disseminating lies through its media operatives. Microsoft is a lot like a religion; the clergy, e.g. the promoters/fixers as seen in Scientology, intimidate critics.

In the coming few parts we'll show how the 'clergy' justifies the cult. Or how it's trying to rationalise its own highly unethical behaviour.

Our focus will be on Todd Bishop* (yes, the irony given clergy analogies!), but there are many like him that for a number of decades acted like unofficial Microsoft spokespeople, only pretending not to be associated with the company. Amid image-shaping PR and media consolidation we must understand that a lot of what mainstream/corporate media tells is as simple as a "sponsored narrative", to quote how ZDNet puts it. They take money for reputation laundering services.

"Tech journalists really are as stupid and compromised as we think," a reader told us about Bishop. "At least he was cordial..."

"Don't be misled by the smiles," I replied. "They make a living by propping up very malicious agenda. The smiles just keep them at it..."

In the words of former Microsoft VP James Allchin : "This really isn't that hard. If you're going to kill someone there isn't much reason to get all worked up about it and angry -- you just pull the trigger. Angry discussions before hand are a waste of time. We need to smile at Novell while we pull the trigger."

“We are not on a path to win against Linux”

--Jim Allchin, Microsoft's Platform Group Vice President



Microsoft's media operatives can be defeated. They keep quiet (self-silencing) if rebutted effectively and frequently. They refrain from repeating lies if challenged 'too much'.

Some of them get 'exposed' or 'unmasked', whereupon Microsoft needs to get rid of them as soon as possible, e.g. Microsoft Peter. ______ * We've called out Bishop for over 15 years. He's a male version of ZDNet's Microsoft Mary. Some of them come and go, e.g. Microsoft Emil, Microsoft Ina, and even Mr. Wilcox. Sometimes they do move on or just vanish.

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