HALF a decade ago Microsoft in Russia was exposed as helping the Kremlin crack down on activists using "piracy". Microsoft is a political beast not just in the United States (Microsoft and Gates are complicit when it comes to government back doors and are working closely with the NSA). The Murdoch-owned press [1] says that Microsoft is now using political figures (Attorneys General) to go after foreign companies, but the Murdoch-owned press doesn't go far enough. To put the story in perspective, one needs to read the response from TechDirt [2], which does have a good grasp on what Microsoft is really doing.
Almost exactly three years ago, we wrote about an effort by Microsoft to try to get various states to pass laws that would make it illegal to buy from a foreign company that uses unauthorized software. The goal was, basically, an incredibly cynical way for Microsoft to abuse overeager, grandstanding Attorneys General who want to pretend they're "helping local businesses" by blocking every other company from doing business with whoever might be the best supplier... unless they suddenly became licensed Microsoft customers. There were all sorts of problems with that idea, but over the past three years, Microsoft has apparently continued to push forward with variations on that concept -- and are now successfully getting states Attorneys' General (who have no authority over copyright issues) to shake down foreign companies with claims that they're "pirates."
In short, states Attorneys General are suing foreign companies, claiming that they're using infringing software, and claiming that this unfairly "harms" local competitors. Often, the "local" competitors have absolutely no clue this is being done in their name, or that they've even been "harmed" by a competitor they've never heard of...