Shilling for Microsoft for mighty bucks

Summary: A quick look at the most recent evidence of Microsoft influencing through paid henchmen (and women)

IN OUR PAST WRITINGS ABOUT Waggener Edstrom we showed that it was nothing but a shameless spinner for Microsoft [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. In order to prevent being seen as "biased", Microsoft passes its AstroTurfing, marketing, journalist-prodding efforts and reckless promotion to peripheral agencies. The company has done this for ages, even when it required some dead bodies to 'write' sympathetic letters to the government.

In our more recent posts where we mention Waggener Edstrom (e.g. [1, 2, 3]) we also show that their activities are ethically corrupt, so in a decent society there would be a ban. Exhibits from Comes vs. Microsoft show that Waggener Edstrom has been there for Microsoft since the company's early days when criminal activity was more transparent and quite routine.

Yesterday, in a post about Microsoft Portugal, we showed what seemed like 'TwitterTurfing' from Microsoft. It was also yesterday that Mary Jo Foley reported on the activities of Waggener Edstrom inside Twitter. Have a look.

A growing number of Softies are Twittering these days, as are members of Microsoft’s primary public-relations firm, Waggener Edstrom.

Like many tech PR firms, WaggEd also monitors religiously Twitter trends involving its biggest client. On March 11, WaggEd went beyond simply monitoring tweets: It introduced a beta version of a software tool for monitoring and analyzing them.

In related news, Matt Asay has just caught up with the news about another AstroTurf vector, Association for Competitive Technology [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8], subverting a European panel about free/open source software.

One such editor is Jonathan Zuck, president of the Association for Competitive Technology, a lobbying organization with strong ties to Microsoft. There is nothing wrong with Microsoft making its voice heard in the software strategy development process, as it stands to gain or lose much in the process, but it does make for some interesting political gamesmanship in the document.

While the draft doesn't make it obvious who is saying what, there are numerous instances where editors have tried to soften the appeal of open source or downplay its significance, repeatedly trying to insist that open source not be called out as more significant than proprietary software.

Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) has former or similar identities such as ATL. Another similar pressure group of Microsoft, namely CompTIA [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6], is intervening with debates on patents right now, including software patents. Digital Majority has some transcripts.

It is obvious that the astronomical cost of litigation is disastrous for many small U.S. businesses, and it requires settlement by the accused infringer. The frequent litigation surround the “patent thicket” can chill economic investment (e.g., venture capital and other R&D spending) and destroy a start-up‟s attempt to enter the market and create jobs. We invite your attention to the patent litigation statistics published by many sources, including the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.

To a company like Microsoft and those whom it pays, eternal vigilance and eternal interference is the price of an abusive dictatorship.

This is something to think about whenever asked why Free software proponents are supposedly 'obsessed' with Microsoft.

Microsoft et al deserve such treatment because no other company (or ecosystem) is fighting against digital freedom quite so viciously. Their best achievement would be to convince people to stop watching every move, thus leaving villains more wiggling room. ⬆

Related:

• LawMedia Group May be Another Confirmed Microsoft AstroTurfing Agency
• The Microsoft Connection with Dewey Square Group and DCI/New Media
• Microsoft 'Bribes' Mac Bloggers to Slam Apple, Gartner Hosts Google FUD
• Microsoft, TCS, DCI, Edelman, and Those Fake Letters About IP/SCO/Monopoly
• James Plamondon: Microsoft Guerrilla
• FullSIX and Mr. Youth LLC May Be Ruining the Web (AstroTurfing) on Microsoft's Behalf
• Microsoft: 800 lb. Guerrilla
• Astroturfing Examples: Learning How Microsoft Tames the Internet
• Waggener Edstrom, Maureen O'Gara and Other Microsoft Shills
• Partial Index: Summary of Bribed Sites, Journalists, and Bloggers (Vista 7)
• Waggener-Edstrom Behind the 2008 Laptop Bribes, Edelman Behind 2006's
• Manipulation, Astroturfing, and What Governments Can Do
• Beware the OOXML AstroTurfer: “The Wraith”, “multivac1”, “hAl”, Among Other Nyms
• Microsoft May Have Bribed India for OOXML Pressure
• Microsoft Has Been Rigging Votes/Polls for Ages
• Gary M. Stewart (aka “Flatfish”) About Microsoft AstroTurfing: “It's made me A LOT of money....”
• Former Microsoft Shill Openly Confesses, Alleges Microsoft Still Does This
• Respecting AstroTurfers?
• Some New (But Very Old) Microsoft AstroTurfing Examples
• Joe Barr, Linux.com Editor - My Obituary
• Joe Barr Knew Microsoft's Tactics All Too Well
• 66 Pages of Microsoft Evilness
• Another AstroTurf Scam Exposed?
• Quick Mention: Sony is AstroTurfing, Just Like Microsoft
• Memo to Novell: Leave YouTube Alone
• Microsoft Blast from the Past: Ads Banned for Spurring Violence
• Is YouTube's “NovellVideo” a Novell AstroTurfer?
• Microsoft/Munchkin 'Breaks' the Web to Break Open Document Standards (Again)
• Rob Enderle Guarantees “Amazing Numbers”, Show E-mails to Microsoft
• Microsoft Agents from Waggener Edstrom Airbrush Wikipedia, Glorify Paymaster
• Microsoft Unleashes Proxies at Journalists to Defend Vulnerable Vista
• Microsoft's OOXML Viral Marketing Reaches YouTube