04.28.08

Gemini version available ♊︎

One Decade Later, Same Tricks Persist

Posted in Deception, Microsoft, Site News at 1:46 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

“The main thing I’m pissed off about right now is that they pulled all the ads, which mean we’re taking a revenue hit.”

Michael Arrington, Microsoft-paid cheerleader in disguise

Large companies continue to thrive in ignorance and seemingly innocent and independent voices on the Web do not always tell the truth. Clarification is probably needed about a character which was originally known as "eet", but has morphed endlessly over the past several months only to be unmasked again and again. As long as IP addresses can be changed, not even a sign-in (account) can prevent or reduce such bad behaviour.

“As long as IP addresses can be changed, not even a sign-in (account) can prevent or reduce such bad behaviour.”In the past few weeks there was even an observed pattern where a nym-shifting troll changes names and immediately uses proxies to then ‘defend’ those other names. It’s a sock-puppet technique and it’s something that readers are not able to see because additional bits of information about comments are not visible to them. When someone uses fake E-mail addresses with fake domains (like an incorrect domain of an Australian university while posting from Germany using the same ISP as ‘another’ Internet troll called “eet”), then it seems rather clear what is happening, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg. Some readers demand evidence, having not followed the saga from the early days or seen all the details. What can a person do?

For those who are interested in specifics or have followed the recent incidents, here is the gist of it all. The name “stevetheFLY” emerged immediately after the “cuss” name was caught for very definitely being “eet”. All names come from or share the same ISP and use the same pattern of insults, which were seen in hundreds of comments already. If readers, who are often attacked by this person too, wish to see evidence, it will gladly be provided. But false accusations against that who is attacked rather than the attacker seem a tad over the line and premature.

It’s always interesting to go back and find roots of bad behaviour. Watch this one for example:

As their business practices come under fire on several fronts, we can expect to see the Microsoft PR machine do whatever it can in an effort sway public opinion. One of the tactics we’re likely to see more of is what I call the “pseudo-grass roots” campaign, in which Microsoft instructs companies they have some degree of control over to act as shills on their behalf (not at all unlike the phoney “write-in” campaign uncovered by the Los Angeles Times a few months ago).

The point of this type of campaign is to try to create the perception of wide support for the Microsoft way of conducting business. But make no mistake — their message comes straight from Redmond.

[...]

There’s nothing “grass roots” about this group — the companies are either partly owned by Microsoft (Vanstar Corp) or highly dependent on them in some way.

Lots of the same type of stuff was found in OOXML [1, 2], with a well-proven record of AstroTurfing and what was referred to in the press as “pseudo-grassroots” (even in 2006). Speaking of such deception, it reaches the press as well.

Microsoft’s simultaneous press release trumpets, “the [European] Commission’s … decision … upholds Microsoft’s right to receive royalty payments from SCO if software code developed by Microsoft is used in SCO’s Unix products,” and insists, rather oddly, that the old Unix code SCO went to such lengths to be free of, “continues to play an important role in SCO’s OpenServer Unix product.” How could this be, in the face of the fact that SCO expressed such blessed relief at the ability to finally consign this code to the bit bucket?

At no point within this press release does Microsoft directly acknowledge the European Commission’s ruling against them. Instead, they attempt to cloud the issue, stating that “the European Commission rejected SCO’s request for further action and approved our request to close the file on this case,” though it is never clear what further action SCO had requested. We also learn of Microsoft’s 1988 award from UnixWorld Magazine, a highly relevant tidbit.

Recall how Microsoft was pretending to have won back in 2007 September, having actually lost. Press releases from Microsoft tend to be amazingly dishonest. Maybe it’s something in the DNA.

Share in other sites/networks: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Reddit
  • email

Decor ᶃ Gemini Space

Below is a Web proxy. We recommend getting a Gemini client/browser.

Black/white/grey bullet button This post is also available in Gemini over at this address (requires a Gemini client/browser to open).

Decor ✐ Cross-references

Black/white/grey bullet button Pages that cross-reference this one, if any exist, are listed below or will be listed below over time.

Decor ▢ Respond and Discuss

Black/white/grey bullet button If you liked this post, consider subscribing to the RSS feed or join us now at the IRC channels.

DecorWhat Else is New


  1. Links 25/03/2023: Gordon Moore (of Moore's Law) is Dead

    Links for the day



  2. Links 25/03/2023: Decade of Docker, Azure Broken Again

    Links for the day



  3. [Meme] Money Deducted in Payslips, But Nothing in Pensions

    Sirius ‘Open Source’ has stolen money from staff (in secret)



  4. IRC Proceedings: Friday, March 24, 2023

    IRC Proceedings: Friday, March 24, 2023



  5. The Corporate Media is Not Reporting Large-Scale Microsoft Layoffs (Too Busy With Chaffbot Puff Pieces), Leaks Required to Prove That More Layoffs Are Happening

    Just as we noted days ago, there are yet more Microsoft layoffs, but the mainstream media gets bribed to go “gaga” over vapourware and chaffbots (making chaff like “Bill Gates Says” pieces) instead of reporting actual news about Microsoft



  6. Sirius 'Open Source' Pensiongate: Time to Issue a Warrant of Arrest and Extradite the Fake 'Founder' of Sirius

    Sirius ‘Open Source’ is collapsing, but that does not mean that it can dodge accountability for crimes (e.g. money that it silently stole from its staff since at least 12 years ago)



  7. Links 24/03/2023: Microsoft's Fall on the Web and Many New Videos

    Links for the day



  8. IRC Proceedings: Thursday, March 23, 2023

    IRC logs for Thursday, March 23, 2023



  9. Links 24/03/2023: Social Control Media Bans Advancing

    Links for the day



  10. Links 24/03/2023: GNU Grep 3.10 and Microsoft Accenture in a Freefall

    Links for the day



  11. Links 23/03/2023: RSS Guard 4.3.3 and OpenBSD Webzine

    Links for the day



  12. Experiencing 15 Years of LibrePlanet Celebration Firsthand as a Volunteer: 2023 - Charting the Course

    Article by Marcia K Wilbur



  13. [Meme] Grabinski the Opportunity

    Reports of European Patents being invalidated (judges do not tolerate fake patents) have become so common that a kangaroo court becomes a matter of urgency for the EPO‘s Benoît Battistelli and António Campinos; will the EU and the EPO’s Administrative Council go along with it, helping to cover up more than a decade of profound corruption?



  14. Union Syndicale Fédérale Cautions the EPO's Administrative Council About Initiating an Illegal Kangaroo Court System for Patents (UPC) While EPO Breaks Laws and Sponsors the Ukraine Invasion

    Union Syndicale Fédérale (USF) is once again speaking out in support of the staff union of Europe's second-largest institution, which lacks oversight and governance because of profound corruption and regulatory capture



  15. Investigation Underway: Sirius 'Open Source' Embezzled/Stole Money, Robbed Its Own Staff

    In light of new developments and some progress in an investigation of Sirius ‘Open Source’ (for fraud!) we take stock of where things stand



  16. [Meme] Sirius 'Open Source' Pensions: Schemes or Scams? Giving a Bad Name to Open Source...

    What Sirius ‘Open Source’ did to its staff is rightly treated as a criminal matter; we know who the perpetrators are



  17. Sirius 'Open Source' Under Investigation for Pension Fraud, Several Pension Providers Examine the Facts

    2 pension providers are looking into Sirius ‘Open Source’, a company that defrauded its own staff; stay tuned as there’s lots more to come. Is this good representation for “Open Source”? From a company that had many high-profile clients in the public sector?



  18. Links 23/03/2023: Sparky 2023.03 Special Editions and SUSE Changes CEO (Dirk-Peter van Leeuwen)

    Links for the day



  19. Links 23/03/2023: Linux 6.2.8 and XWayland 23.1.0

    Links for the day



  20. IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, March 22, 2023

    IRC logs for Wednesday, March 22, 2023



  21. Apple 'Porn' Filter

    Guest post by Ryan Farmer: Apple and US State Governments Developing System to Require People to Report Themselves for Watching Porn.



  22. 3.5 Years Later Gemini Protocol and Geminispace Are Still 100% Community-Controlled

    Community-centric alternatives to the World Wide Web have gained traction; one of them, Gemini Protocol, continues to grow in 2023 and we're pleased to report progress and expansion



  23. Windows Falls to 16% Market Share in India (It was 97% in 2009), Microsoft Layoffs Reach India Too

    This month’s picture from the world’s most populous nation does not look good for Microsoft (it looks good for GNU/Linux); anonymous rumour mills online say that Microsoft isn’t moving to India but is actually firing staff based in India, so it’s a case of shrinking, not offshoring. When even low-paid (much lower salaries) staff is discarded it means things are very gloomy.



  24. Links 22/03/2023: GNOME 44 “Kuala Lumpur”

    Links for the day



  25. Microsoft Has Also Infiltrated the OSI's Board of Directors After Rigged Elections

    Weeks ago we warned that this would happen and for the third or fourth time in 2 years the OSI’s election process broke down; today the Open Source Initiative (OSI) writes: “The polls just closed, the results are in. Congratulations to the returning directors Aeva Black…” (Microsoft employee)



  26. Links 22/03/2023: Official Thunderbird Podcast Starts

    Links for the day



  27. IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, March 21, 2023

    IRC logs for Tuesday, March 21, 2023



  28. Many More Microsoft Layoffs Later Today

    Yesterday we shared rumours about Microsoft layoffs being planned for later today (there were 3 waves of layoffs so far this year). There are several more people here who say the same. How much noise will Microsoft make in the “media” in order to distract? Will the chaffbot "ChatGPT" help create enough chaff?



  29. Links 21/03/2023: JDK 20 and GNOME 43.5

    Links for the day



  30. Germany's Lobbyists-Infested Government Sponsors the War on Ukraine via the European Patent Office (EPO)

    The chief UPC ‘judge’ is basically seeking to break the law (and violate constitutions, conventions etc.) to start a kangaroo court while dodging real courts, just like Vladimir Putin does


RSS 64x64RSS Feed: subscribe to the RSS feed for regular updates

Home iconSite Wiki: You can improve this site by helping the extension of the site's content

Home iconSite Home: Background about the site and some key features in the front page

Chat iconIRC Channel: Come and chat with us in real time

Recent Posts