Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft's Last Breath: BAD (Bribing, Addicting, Dumping)

"[Microsoft] have the deepest of pockets, unlimited ambition, and they are willing to lose money for years and years just to make sure that you don't make any money, either. And they are mean, REALLY mean."

--Robert X. Cringely



SHAMELESS tricks are back again, so below we offer just a quick overview with appropriate links.



Paying One's Way to Polluting the Web



It's one thing when Microsoft spreads its DRM and binaries using airlines, football tournaments and the Olympic games [1, 2]. It is much worse when this competition-hostile technology reaches the public sector. The Library of Congress, which is a public institute, received millions of dollars in 'incentives' to lock public assets into Microsoft [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11] and it could get even worse. What would taxpayers have to say?

According to Adobe, those millions of dollars handed over to a public library by Microsoft are not the exception. Adobe's CEO is now accusing Microsoft of simply buying market share, just as it's trying to do with Yahoo. it's trying to starve the competition to make itself the only option and thus a de facto standard.

Shantanu Narayen says Microsoft is 'opening its chequebook' in a failed attempt to get companies to move from Flash to its own Silverlight player


At the moment, under the disguise which is charity (yes, that kind), Bill Gates is also boasting 'free' (gratis) tools that enable Microsoft to poison the World Wide Web with Silverlight, using the help of young people to whom this is marketed, almost fed.

Addiction Now, Rehabilitation Later



We already know that Microsoft is 'bribing' journalists, bloggers, and analysts in exchange for positive publicity [1, 2] and even offering $15,000 for Mac bloggers to slam Apple.

A couple of days ago we also covered Microsoft's latest mischief in Korea (paying them to discourage the spread of Free software). Microsoft brings similar tactics to small and poor businesses now, trying to have them dependent on Microsoft while they are still young. Luckily, some reporters were not naive enough for Microsoft (and even Port 25) to fool. Here are some examples of coverage:

1. Microsoft's Biz Spark is Another Direct Shot at Open Source

2. A 'First One's Free' Strategy To Lure Startups

3. Microsoft's Answer to The Open Source Threat

The introduction of BizSpark clearly indicates that Microsoft wants start-ups to defer from using open source software such as Linux.


4. Microsoft offers free software to start-ups

Microsoft has slashed the cost for internet and technology start-ups to use its software and servers in an attempt to attract the latest generation of programmers away from Open Source rivals like Linux.


The BBC, quite unsurprisingly perhaps (see [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15] for some history), advertised this thing rather than warn about the dangers. It described it as some sort of charity, as opposed to an attack on Free(dom) software. Glyn Moody wasn't entirely happy, to say the very least.

Why is the BBC Running Microsoft Ads?



[...]

But it's obviously too much to expect a technology reporter in Silicon Valley to mention such trivia in the face of the *real* story about Microsoft's perfervid altruism.


It is unfortunate to see the BBC devolving and descending from a status of "trust" to a apparatus of "spin" or "marketing". Microsoft deserves much of the blame.

Prison
Prison provides 'free' meals too, but you
don't want to go there

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Weeding Out Extremism in Our Community
To me it seems like Microsoft Lunduke is rapidly becoming like a "hate preacher" who operates online, breeding an extremist ideology or trying to soften its image
Censorship Versus Fact-Checking and Quality Control
It's not censorship but a matter of quality control
Gemini Links 07/07/2025: BaseLibre Numerical System and TUI Rant
Links for the day
Two Risks to Companies: The Microsoft Culture and the Microsoft Tools
Novell was killed by a form of "social engineering" by Microsoft
It's Hard to Trust People Who Worked - Not Only Those Who Still Work - at Microsoft
Bryan Lunduke is just what people would call an "arsehole of a person"
 
Microsoft's Nat Friedman Became Unemployed the Same Time the SLAPPs Against Techrights Started Coming From His Friends (Weeks After We Had Exposed Scandals About Him and the Serial Strangler, His Best Friend, Who Got Arrested a Few Days Later)
Nat Friedman is not "Investor, entrepreneur"
Brett Wilson LLP Uses Threats to Demand Changes to Pages or Removal of Pages Without Even Revealing Which Staff Member Does That (Sometimes People From Another Firm!)
This has been in the public for years
Dan Neidle Said "It Really Then Became a Job of Tormenting" Lawyers Like Brett Wilson LLP (Who Threatened Him for Exposing Crimes, Just Like They Threatened My Wife a Few Months Later)
he and his wife decided to take on the evil people and their evil lawyers
Large Language Models (LLMs) Externalise Their Cost to the Free Software Foundation (FSF)
"The forty-sixth Free Software Bulletin is now available online!"
Reinforcing the Allegations Some More, Bryan Lunduke Digs His Own Grave
In his latest episodes he merely repeats his own lies, which I debunked using evidence right from his own mouth
Global Warming and Free Software as a Force of Mitigation
we'll need to think about Software Freedom, not just brands like "Linux"
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 06, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 06, 2025
[Video] "Copyleft Isn't a Bug."
"Copyleft isn’t a bug. It’s a feature. GNU GPL forced the world to treat code like a public good."
Being in Social Control Media Means Exposing Oneself to Heckling
Richard Stallman does not (either himself or directly) post to any social control media
Links 06/07/2025: Airlines Perils, Scams, and Breaches
Links for the day
For the Second Time, Bryan Lunduke From Microsoft is Siccing Racist Trolls and Vandals at Me
You're only reinforcing the point we made yesterday
Links 06/07/2025: End to End Encryption at Risk, Reuters Twitter ("X") Account Withheld in India
Links for the day
Gemini Links 06/07/2025: Tinylog and Certification Rotation
Links for the day
Links 06/07/2025: Climate Change and "The Right to Criticise"
Links for the day
PCLinuxOS Sites Coming Back, Gradually
let's just be patient
Social Control Media, Even If Based on Free Software, Still Has Many Problems
a distraction from what actually mattered and still matters
IBM is Not Your Master
IBM makes friends with people who exclude the majority of the population: women
Help Fund the Free Software Foundation (FSF)
If you have some dollars to spare, go support the FSF
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 05, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 05, 2025
A Short History of Attacks on Techrights (and Boycott Novell Before That)
good opportunity to tell again the story of several (not all) attempts to silence us
The Mainstream Media Took 4 Days to Realise Microsoft Shut Down Its Operations in Pakistan and Fired Everybody
We estimate that Microsoft has had about 29,000 layoffs since January
Leadership in Free Software
Don't let IBM lead. It's a terrible flag bearer.
“Twibel” Actions Against Comedians (and Why It's a Truly Low Blow)
they try to make up in quantities for a lack of merit or quality
Linux Foundation Apparently Flirting With Slop (Marketing by LLM-Generated SPAM)
The Web is in a really bad state!
COVID-19 Sped Up Site Improvements in Techrights
A few months later we created our very own IRC network
Gemini Links 05/07/2025: Negative Questions and 'Touching Grass' (Going Outside)
Links for the day
Links 05/07/2025: Dalai Lama Succession as 90th Birthday Approaches, 40 deg C in China
Links for the day
Links 05/07/2025: Hungary and US Defecting to Russia, "Google's Hotseat Hypocrisy"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/07/2025: 4th of July 2025 and "Zig Roadmap 2026"
Links for the day
How to Combat the Exploitation and Abuse by Microsoft GitHub
Not to mention corruption and crimes against women
Bryan Lunduke is Actually Sending His Audience to Attack People
"[Lunduke] is actually sending his audience to attack people."
Even The Right Wing is Rejecting Bryan Lunduke
no wonder he became so irrelevant and marginal
Microsoft's MSN Helps Microsoft Spread Lies About the Layoffs' Scale (Well Over 25,000 People Laid Off This Year)
There seem to be monopolies on lies and on truth
The Death of X Has Been Greatly Exaggerated (by Compromised Media)
X.Org Server is alive and well
Rewriting Things in Rust
How far would you go?
In 2025 Everything is "AI". Remember Blockchains?
Talk about what companies and things (services, products, software) actually do, not the labels they use
Julian Assange Has Been Free for a Year
Julian Assange and I disagreed on some things
Monopolies and Scalping
Monopolies gravitate towards price hikes
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 04, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 04, 2025
Microsoft's August Layoffs Wave: "August is Confirmed for Additional Performance Based Cuts"
"August is confirmed for additional performance based cuts from the recent connects along with additional organizational cuts."
What Microsoft Reputation Laundering (With a Weaponised Law Degree) Looks Like in a Foreign Continent
You would expect this in uncivilised and primitive countries
Slopwatch: LLMs 'Write' Fake or Distorted 'News' About "Linux"
LLM slop disguised as news