Bonum Certa Men Certa

How Microsoft Exploits, Then Insults Developing Countries

OOXML protests in India
From the Campaign for Document Freedom



Microsoft, along with its close business allies in India, are once again trying to loot the nation. This time they work together not on the fight against ODF (which was fruitful to an extent) but on the fight for anti-Free software laws. They want software patents, despite the fact that their universal legality is in a bit of a limbo at the moment (more on that shortly).

IT majors like Infosys Technologies Ltd and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) are opposing the open-source community’s demand that the government drop a clause in the draft patent examination manual as it gives scope for software patenting under the Indian Patent Act of 2003.

The IT majors made their opposition clear at a meeting in Delhi, called by the government’s department of industrial policy & promotion on Thursday. The dispute has been sparked by the draft manual that will guide patent examiners in their interpretation of the Indian Patent (Amendment) Act for software. Section 3(K) of the Act clearly says: “A mathematical or business method or a computer programme per se or algorithms are not patentable.”


As a gentle reminder, these are the 'puppet voters' that tried to stuff the committees to promote Microsoft OOXML, despite it being a gross discriminant against the Indian people. This happened around the same time that charities across the country were seemingly bribed by Microsoft to pressure the government. There Indian businesses are, in essence, accomplices in Microsoft's OOXML scandal and they truly deserve to be treated as multi-nationals that are enemies of their country.

"I have lost my sleep and peace of mind for last two months over these distasteful activities by Microsoft."

--Professor Deepak Phatak



South Africa knew far too well that OOXML and software patents were only intended to hand sovereignty to other countries. This angered Microsoft, which got even more aggressive. A Microsoft executives resorted to insulting South Africans, suggesting or at least insinuating they are stupid for not buying Microsoft.

Those in India who wish to fight this neo-colonialism/modern digital imperialism are asked to join forces and battle Microsoft's latest attempt to change (bend) Indian law to its own advantage.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry hosted a "Stakeholders Meeting on the Draft Patent Manual." Around 70 people attended this meeting. The audience was a mix of lawyers, industry associations like CII, FICCI etc, civil society organizations and industry.

[...]

At this point, the discussion became pretty heated and the chair of the meeting decided to call for a separate meeting on software patents. I'll keep you updated.


There will be future meetings with plenty of opportunity to shoot down spurious intellectual monopolies. The Indian market is critical to Microsoft because of its scale and, having established a network of partners, Microsoft can -- by proxy -- represent other countries, trying to loot those countries using its US-based monopolies. Inability to stand up against this amounts to irreversible loss of freedom, liberty.

It's important to point out that Infosys is already applying for software patents in the United States. Such intellectual monopolies, if/once granted, can be used to call other software vendors "criminals", "thieves", "pirates". If the criminals can engage in crime to change the law (illegally), then they can call others "criminals", using the very same laws they've just illegally created. It may be a tricky idea to get one's head around. but it's true.

“Such intellectual monopolies, if/once granted, can be used to call other software vendors "criminals", "thieves", "pirates".”Speaking of corrupting one's localised laws (with semi-legalised bribery and political manipulation), here is some food for thought. Using counterfeiters (not "pirates" because it's always better not to parrot Hollywood's daemonisation and propaganda terms), companies like Microsoft spread their software and have people dependent on it. At the same time, Microsoft insults developing countries for 'stealing' its software and, having neglected to stop this, it then describes it as goodwill, even 'charity'. To put this different , Microsoft punishes the very same people that popularise its software, perpetuate myths, and solidify the network effect.

Surely enough, many older examples exist. Consider, for instance, more recent incidents like the sabotage of a Fedora-based OLPC.

Then, consider the motives for dumping software on South African schools where not many students even have a computer. Microsoft has already endorsed so-called ‘piracy’ of its proprietary software as means of defeating Free software. Watch what it's doing in Asia to prove that the biggest sufferer from so-called 'piracy' is Free/open source software.

Recall the impact of memoranda of understanding in various part of the world [1, 2], the cyber slavery in India [**] , the misuse of charities (see above), and control of the press. The list seems endless. Those who do not understand the negative impact of Microsoft just don't know enough.

__ [**] Wipro Microsoft alliance is a shame for all Indians – alliance or slavery?

The alliance uses Microsoft technologies instead of challenging Gates in his own game. Wipro is just a servant of Microsoft facilitating Indian cyber slavery under the American corporate banners.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Father of GNU Giving Keynote Talk Today, Father of Linux Collaborating With Linus Tech Tips (LTT)
Some time soon we can expect Linus Tech Tips (LTT) / Linus Media Group / Linus Gabriel Sebastian to produce something with Torvalds
LLM Slop is an Addiction One Can Quit
Sites that crossed over to "the dark side" (slop) can still return, and even fully regain the trust lost by betraying people with 'botspew'.
BILD is Apparently Covering Up Cocaine Use at Europe's Second-Largest Institution, the European Patent Office, as It's Based on Germany
Journalist contact details
 
German Media and German Politicians: Working for the Public or Manipulating the Public?
The "common person" does not have printing presses
Informing the Public of Suppressed Facts
We are all in this together
Canadian Linus Meets Finnish-American Linus
LTT does have a very large audience, which it can steer away from Microsoft and Windows
The UK's Online Safety Act (OSA) Discourages Technological Entities, Including Free Software Projects, Being Based in or Near the UK
When it comes to IRC hosting, we never had any serious speech restrictions imposed upon us by the UK
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, November 15, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, November 15, 2025
Gemini Links 16/11/2025: Emacs Font Fun and UI x TUI x CLI
Links for the day
Flagging or Labelling LLM Slop Meaningfully to Discourage the Practice
We're still refining the annotation for better contrast
Techrights Site Search Pushed to 'Stable'
we've just added it to the navigation menu and footer
Situation Publishing's DevClass (Sister Site of The Register MS, Run by MS Tim) Has Been Abandoned, Microsoft's MS Tim Now Interjects Anti-Linux Directly Into The Register MS
Not only does this sell Microsoft; it's also googlebombing - as before - the real "maui" (or "MauiKit" in Linux).
Many IBM Workers to Become Unemployed a Few Weeks - Maybe Just Days - Before Christmas
as one last humiliating exercise IBM pimps/trots them out in social control media, telling "happy" stories
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, WebProNews, and Linux Journal (Slopfarms)
More fake articles about "Linux"
Links 15/11/2025: Openwashing of Kubernetes and Austerity Planned for Canada
Links for the day
Links 15/11/2025: "Small Web, Big Voice" and China Cracking Down on Slop
Links for the day
Links 15/11/2025: Science, Conflicts, and International Politics
Links for the day
Annus Horribilis at the European Patent Office (EPO)
The article explains how the EPO "Cocainegate" scandal is turning 2025 into an Annus Horribilis for Campinos
Links 15/11/2025: Latest in "Component Abuse Challenge" and Qt Keeps Promoting LLM Slop
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/11/2025: Egoism, Misunderstood Universe, DeX, and "Why desktop Linux is growing"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, November 14, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, November 14, 2025
Richard Stallman Talk Tomorrow in Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress 2
It's not clear if a livestream of some kind will exist
Many "Last Days" at IBM on Allegedly the "Last Day" for IBM to RA People This Quarter
"Last day" is "social media code" for "got laid off", more so at IBM because they compel people to act like it's a happy departure with gratitude, photos and so on
Slopwatch: Almost a Majority of Google News is Now Slopfarms (Fake Sites, Fake Articles)
Google News is noise
Gemini Links 14/11/2025: Boredom, "Twenty Percent Cooler", and Moving From Windows to Artix
Links for the day
Links 14/11/2025: YouTube's Trap for Publishers, Lack of Accountability a Growing Legal Matter/Concern
Links for the day
Many Times in the Past We Said That Microsoft Lunduke Was Becoming a Spokesperson/Voice for - and Occasionally Weaponising - 4Chan. He's Proving Us Right This Week.
Stay away
The Register MS is Profiting From Pyramid Schemes Run by Americans
We cannot help but feel disgusted by what this publisher became
IBM: Hiring, Then Disposing of, Unpaid or Low-Paid European Staff to Spread or Play Up Buzzwords and Hype
Like Google With "Summer of Code", this seems like a low-cost marketing stunt more than anything substantial
Casual Reminder That We Also Publish GNU/Linux Stories and News Coverage in Tux Machines
Without trust in our robustness (including fearlessness, not just success in protecting stories and sources) we'd not have come this far, nor would I devote my life to it
The Europe Conversation: The EPO Has Cocaine at the High-Level Management and Isn't Denying It
Now we plan to ensure the matter is properly documented in European press
Links 14/11/2025: Goddard Space Center Abused by the White House, Jeffrey Epstein Scandal Expands (Cheetos Need Distraction)
Links for the day
Corporate Media Helps IBM Relay Vapourware (Misinformation/Fake News)
They compensate with words for a lack of compelling products
Hacking on Recipes
Maybe, in due course perhaps, we can also release some of our own cooking recipes or "forks"
Web Searches Far Too Polluted, Gamed by LLM Slop and "Plagiarised Information Synthesis Systems" (PISS)
old articles are already getting difficult to find in mainstream search engines, even if they are still online
Privacy-respecting Metasearch Engine SearX/SearXNG Still Jailed by Microsoft
The official site and code still sadly controlled by Microsoft
"AI" is a Lie. It Always Was. What They Call "AI" Is Not.
This MSM does no favours to the economy
Our First Week of Our Twentieth Year
My wife and I have had a very productive week here and in Tux Machines
Links 14/11/2025: Sleep Research, France to Suspend Pension 'Reform' Law, and Linux Foundation's Latest Openwashing
Links for the day
Gemini Links 14/11/2025: KDE vs XFCE and Leaving the Web
Links for the day
Google Admits It Lost Control of Slop (While Google Itself is Selling Slop, Currently Under the Name "Gemini" Instead of "Bard")
Slop is nothing to be celebrated
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, November 13, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, November 13, 2025
Mozilla Handed Over Control Over Firefox to Microsoft, Now Firefox is Preloaded With Microsoft Spyware and It's Proprietary
Who would still want to download Firefox?
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, Brian Fagioli, and WebProNews
becoming a slopfarm is a site's suicide
"Sponsored Posts" in The Register MS
That's The Register MS in 2025
IBM RAs in India (Apparently)
IBM is a bad place to work
Another Richard Stallman Talk in Two Days
His talk will be a remote talk, as he won't be travelling to Argentina