Theatre of cronyism

The following is a conversation from IRC that we haven't time to summarise properly. Do not take it at face value (we have not the time to validate), but some observations are factual.

eupho	http://www.publictechnology.net/modul...	Dec 29 08:16
eupho	Jean-Philippe Courtois becomes "ambassador" for the EYCI 2009.	Dec 29 08:17
eupho	with compTIA they lobbied for the "year".	Dec 29 08:17
schestowitz	Hey	Dec 29 08:17
schestowitz	Let me see...	Dec 29 08:17
eupho	Commissioner Figel seems to be their buddy	Dec 29 08:18
schestowitz	Who's that?	Dec 29 08:19
eupho	http://www.create2009.europa.eu/ambas...	Dec 29 08:19
schestowitz	Let's see.	Dec 29 08:19
eupho	I wonder who elected a monopolist	Dec 29 08:19
schestowitz	Stacking?	Dec 29 08:20
eupho	Courtois is the Microsoft EMEA chief salesman	Dec 29 08:20
schestowitz	So wait.. what is his role now? I'm still read it.	Dec 29 08:20
schestowitz	"Jean-Philippe Courtois (FR), President, Microsoft International"	Dec 29 08:21
eupho	I assume the EYCI is a lobby project of hugo Lueders	Dec 29 08:21
eupho	Creativity and Innovation == Software patenting	Dec 29 08:21
schestowitz	What doe it target?	Dec 29 08:21
schestowitz	Oh	Dec 29 08:21
schestowitz	Of course.	Dec 29 08:21
schestowitz	"Innovation"	Dec 29 08:21
schestowitz	Like the fake "VoicesForInnovation" site	Dec 29 08:21
eupho	It is a blabla buzz event	Dec 29 08:21
eupho	but funded by EU money	Dec 29 08:21
schestowitz	Created by Microsoft... for the 'community'	Dec 29 08:21
eupho	some political bullshit process, cmp. also the Lisbon agenda	Dec 29 08:22
eupho	Lisbon = "EU for innovation"	Dec 29 08:22
eupho	and competitiveness	Dec 29 08:22
schestowitz	How did you find out?	Dec 29 08:23
eupho	it's on the web	Dec 29 08:27
eupho	your MEP could ask a nasty question	Dec 29 08:27
eupho	http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members.do	Dec 29 08:28
eupho	http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAc...	Dec 29 08:29
eupho	How: that Lueders is behind?	Dec 29 08:29
schestowitz	I'll need to study this a bit, then post the conclusions.	Dec 29 08:29
eupho	simple, listen to him	Dec 29 08:29
schestowitz	I heard of him before.	Dec 29 08:29
eupho	When he is not in evil anti-standards, pro-patent mode he talks about "eskills"	Dec 29 08:30
eupho	and "us" and "our need" to "show leadership" and become more competivee	Dec 29 08:31
eupho	in the field of education	Dec 29 08:31
schestowitz	More competitive...	Dec 29 08:31
schestowitz	Sounds like ACT/ATL	Dec 29 08:31
eupho	ACT is a fly-in, Lueders is the European ground worker and CompTIA also has a certification branch	Dec 29 08:32
eupho	http://www.techworld.com/applications/news/in...	Dec 29 08:32
schestowitz	I see...	Dec 29 08:32
schestowitz	Oh, I saw that article many times.	Dec 29 08:33
eupho	Politically uncorrect: Figel is a Commissioner with a "women job", no one takes him serious	Dec 29 08:34
eupho	A Commissioner for every member state	Dec 29 08:35
eupho	Some overlap. Figel is just a figurehead.	Dec 29 08:37
schestowitz	I'd need to catch up with who is who here.	Dec 29 08:37
schestowitz	Thanks for drawing it up	Dec 29 08:38
eupho	Commissioner for Education, Culture, and Multilingualism	Dec 29 08:38
eupho	http://www.vrwb.be/MFiles/figel1.pdf	Dec 29 08:39
eupho	;-)	Dec 29 08:39
schestowitz	Thanks!	Dec 29 08:39
eupho	http://www.ebsummit.eu/programme/speak...	Dec 29 08:39
schestowitz	It looks like the corruptible ones stand out	Dec 29 08:39
eupho	http://www.microsoft.com/france/imagine-c...	Dec 29 08:39
schestowitz	It's hard for the public to know without entering the "public arena", which is just what they want	Dec 29 08:39
schestowitz	I see...	Dec 29 08:40
schestowitz	So how is Figel connected to it again?	Dec 29 08:40
schestowitz	I'll use this log as notes later on when I write about it	Dec 29 08:40
eupho	http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=es-...	Dec 29 08:40
eupho	Microsoft via Lueders "adopted" Jan Figel as their Commissioner.	Dec 29 08:41
schestowitz	Looks like quite a crony type	Dec 29 08:42
eupho	because no one else is interested in what he has to say	Dec 29 08:42
schestowitz	I see..	Dec 29 08:42
schestowitz	How confident are you?	Dec 29 08:42
eupho	Look at any Microsoft branded as Microsoft event and look whom they invite	Dec 29 08:43
schestowitz	How much do you know about Charlie McCreevy and Microsoft?	Dec 29 08:44
schestowitz	Is there a connection you are aware of?	Dec 29 08:44
schestowitz	I already know the Sarko connection.	Dec 29 08:44
eupho	McCreevy is powerful.	Dec 29 08:46
schestowitz	Like a chainsaw	Dec 29 08:46
eupho	Courtois and Figel, when you see them on stage it looks like they are brothers.	Dec 29 08:46
eupho	http://www.smeday.com/2008/sme...	Dec 29 08:48
schestowitz	SME Day	Dec 29 08:49
schestowitz	*LOL*	Dec 29 08:49
schestowitz	The ACT thing with Microsoft 'hosting' IIRC	Dec 29 08:49
eupho	+ European!	Dec 29 08:49
eupho	A Microsoft sales guy meeting with some young entrepreneur buzz	Dec 29 08:49
schestowitz	Which  entrepreneur buzz?	Dec 29 08:50
eupho	what can WE do to forster investment and make capital available to start ups	Dec 29 08:50
schestowitz	What's funny is that "Small and Medium-sized business day" is organised by monopolists	Dec 29 08:50
eupho	A bit ironic when it is hosted by Microsoft which has a lot of cash for investment	Dec 29 08:50
schestowitz	It's a bit like parents who set up a birthday for a 5-year-old	Dec 29 08:50
eupho	Yes.	Dec 29 08:50
schestowitz	It's no isolated thing.	Dec 29 08:51
schestowitz	They steal voices that way	Dec 29 08:51
schestowitz	I used many examples to show this before.	Dec 29 08:51
eupho	And of course capital conditions, you try to use the young naive entrepreneurs and built your own sock puppets aarmy	Dec 29 08:51
eupho	army	Dec 29 08:51
eupho	Long term, low key	Dec 29 08:51
schestowitz	Yes, like letters from the dead.	Dec 29 08:52
eupho	Oh, Peter Jungen!?	Dec 29 08:52
schestowitz	Who's that?	Dec 29 08:52
eupho	Peter Jungen is, German?!, looks like 75, and talks cold war rhetorics with an SME falvour	Dec 29 08:53
eupho	He is somewhat connected with the SME Union of the conservatives	Dec 29 08:53
schestowitz	How do you know all this?	Dec 29 08:54
eupho	A political capitalism ideologist and activist without a home base.	Dec 29 08:54
eupho	The EU is funny, you just need to watch and follow it.	Dec 29 08:56
eupho	JTAG Tech is a company that innovates with an eye towards user friendliness,” says eeProductCenter’s Alex Mendelsohn. “In this case, the portal towards ease of use is Microsoft Windows. This tool can help implement boundary-scan testing at the board-level or system-level as well as support board-to-board testing.	Dec 29 08:56
eupho	http://www.epistep.org/artemis/docs/E...	Dec 29 08:57
schestowitz	JTAG....	Dec 29 08:57
schestowitz	Didn't they also get or harass with patents?	Dec 29 08:58
eupho	EU + Microsoft == real entertainment.	Dec 29 08:58
schestowitz	Same in the UK	Dec 29 08:58
schestowitz	BillG + B'liar = real blast	Dec 29 08:58
schestowitz	The lawyers talk with influence; Microsoft talks with cash	Dec 29 08:59
schestowitz	They are a match made in heaven.	Dec 29 08:59
eupho	The whole lobby theater works because no one is watching.	Dec 29 08:59
eupho	But it is real fun.	Dec 29 08:59
schestowitz	Yes, I know	Dec 29 09:01
schestowitz	There are wise words to be said about keeping people uninterested	Dec 29 09:01
eupho	Jungen was about to be fired by the Christian democrats for his late release of a Cologne financial report fo	Dec 29 09:01
schestowitz	Keeping them at work 9-5 and then letting them become TV zombies.	Dec 29 09:01
schestowitz	They don't have time or desire to research this, which is exactly what the cronies require.	Dec 29 09:01
eupho	The internet is the next television. Microsoft-EU the next soap opera, looks like  SCO-IBMis over now	Dec 29 09:02
schestowitz	Yes, it is	Dec 29 09:02
schestowitz	Groklaw is taking a break	Dec 29 09:02
schestowitz	Patents are the next "Linux stole our code"	Dec 29 09:02
schestowitz	And Novell is the tool for achieving the FUD.	Dec 29 09:03
schestowitz	India too has its share of manipulation for patents	Dec 29 09:03
schestowitz	Some Microsoft lackeys seem to have gotten their hands on the spigot. They push software patents.	Dec 29 09:03
eupho	http://www.european-enterprise.org...	Dec 29 09:05
schestowitz	That said, I have not seen any Indian articles about patents recently. Quiet is no indication of things getting better; it just means that the bad guys have more room for maneuver.	Dec 29 09:05
eupho	Pushing for software patents in foreign jurisdictions is one thing.	Dec 29 09:05
eupho	Penetration of the political class another	Dec 29 09:05
schestowitz	Whose group is this?	Dec 29 09:05
schestowitz	http://www.european-enterprise.or... "The price of an annual Corporate Gold Membership is EUR 20,000 + "	Dec 29 09:06
schestowitz	Lobby for sale.	Dec 29 09:06
schestowitz	Buy you law now... at a discount.	Dec 29 09:06
schestowitz	EEI	Dec 29 09:07
schestowitz	Like IEE in reverse	Dec 29 09:07
eupho	Peter Jungen in the board...	Dec 29 09:07
eupho	these guys are not powerful, more like Vampires. No light-resistance.	Dec 29 09:08
eupho	E.g. Jungen also fights for tax reform.	Dec 29 09:09
eupho	and calls the progressive income tax 'marxist'.	Dec 29 09:09
schestowitz	What is he pushing for?	Dec 29 09:12
schestowitz	McCreecy did it as well.	Dec 29 09:12
schestowitz	It benefits Microsoft.	Dec 29 09:12
schestowitz	I wrote about it in http://boycottnovell.com/2008/10/22/micr...	Dec 29 09:13
eupho	http://www.euractiv.com/en/innovation/europe-de...	Dec 29 09:14
*schestowitz looks		Dec 29 09:18
schestowitz	I hate this site	Dec 29 09:18
schestowitz	Very pro-patents	Dec 29 09:18
schestowitz	"EU Education Commissioner Ján Figel'  "	Dec 29 09:19
schestowitz	The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.	Dec 29 09:19
schestowitz	"Europe desperately lacking 'positive entrepreneurship culture' "	Dec 29 09:19
schestowitz	Translation: Europe is broken; save Europe; Listen to *THAT* guy	Dec 29 09:20
schestowitz	"However, this approach was challenged by the chair of the Finnish software entrepreneurs' association (Ohjelmistoyrittäjät)  and  CEO of Digium, Matti Heikkonen. He said entrepreneurship is not an educational issue. "	Dec 29 09:20