Bonum Certa Men Certa

Musical Chairs in The European Commission

Bush and Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy with Laura Bush



Siim Kallas - GWB
Siim Kallas with George Bush



Summary: Seats swapped and some familiar figures depart as a new generation of regulators is to be installed

A WEEK ago we warned that the European Commission keeps getting filled with Microsoft cronies.



This observation is also being made by Free software companies and it is based on evidence. Based on the latest changes from Barroso (see [1, 2]), Kores is to be sort of demoted which is good news to Microsoft.

The new Competition Commissioner will be Joaquin Almunia.

European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, a Spanish Socialist known for tackling countries’ deficits, will be antitrust chief in the next European Commission, succeeding Neelie Kroes.

As competition commissioner, Almunia, 61, will be responsible for ensuring that companies don’t abuse market positions or unlawfully collude to fix prices. He will also rule on mergers and acquisitions in the 27-nation bloc.


From IDG News Service:

Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso announced on Friday how he wants to allocate dossiers in his next five-year term in office. His team comprises one Commissioner from each of the 27 member states of the E.U., who were selected by national heads of government over the past month.

Other choices include Neelie Kroes in Reding's old job. Kroes was competition commissioner for the past five years. During that time she fought Microsoft in the long-running antitrust battle which looks set to end as Microsoft appears willing to settle.


There is more information in the Wall Street Journal and while Siim Kallas stays, he is not the only one worth watching.

Other servants of Microsoft's interests (like Charlie McCreevy and Nicolas Sarkozy [1, 2]) are mentioned in the news.

Sarkozy Wins Bid to Install Ally as EU Financial-Services Chief



French President Nicolas Sarkozy won his bid to install an ally as the European Commission’s next financial-services regulator, fueling British concern that traders and hedge funds will face stricter rules.

[...]

French officials have pushed for tighter regulations on hedge funds than has outgoing internal-markets chief Charlie McCreevy of Ireland and criticized him for not responding forcefully enough to the financial crisis. The U.K., seeking to protect its financial-services industry, has tried to weaken proposed rules for hedge funds and private-equity managers.


He has actually done far worse things.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Science and Academia Under Attack, Imposters Inheriting or Aggressively Seizing the Top Roles
Academia has turned into a bad place
 
Please Quit Uploading Event Talks (Especially of Free Software) to YouTube
This is enshittification
Links 16/09/2024: Shrinking Economy, Climate Issues, Soaring Energy Costs
Links for the day
'Former' Microsofter Jason Perlow Left Linux Foundation
The "communication" people from the Linux Foundation are basically scammers
MyGem Launched to Make Adoption of Gemini Protocol (With Gemini Hosting) a Lot Easier
a new week and also a new capsule
Disregard for History is Disregard for (Computer) Science
They're killing the real entrepreneurs and innovators
Dr. Richard M. Stallman (RMS) on His Hobbies and Health
Answering a question from the audience in Germany
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, September 15, 2024
IRC logs for Sunday, September 15, 2024
Gemini Links 16/09/2024: billsmugs.com Becomes rainywhile.net, Zaurus on Internet
Links for the day
[Meme] Wrong Priorities at Universities
Because what matters isn't expertise
Microsoft and the Sunk Cost Fallacy
"Microsoft aims for the sunk cost fallacy"
Turning Away Unwanted and/or Predatory Bots
If no human will ever read it, what's the point serving?
Links 15/09/2024: Complicated Music Licensing Schemes and Dangers of Sleep Deprivation
Links for the day
Links 15/09/2024: Sci-fi London 2024 and Outsourcing to Proton Mail
Links for the day
Links 15/09/2024: French Teachers Quit in Droves, Why 'eSports' are Not Sports
Links for the day
[Meme] Red Hat Staff Must Learn IBM's Dark History (IBM Still Boosts Donald Trump, So No Lessons Learned)
This isn't a subject for humour
Don't Fall for Reputation Laundering and Whitewashing
Remember history, don't pay attention to PR and charm offensives
[Meme] Microsoft as a Joke That Writes Itself
"Microsoft confesses its recent security updates…broke Windows 10 security patches"
GNU Turns 41 in Just 12 Days
Can truth and science be resuscitated, please?
[Meme] Large Language Models (LLMs) Destroy the Web With an Ocean of Disinformation and Misinformation, Falsely Promoted as "Intelligence" by Microsoft et al
"Microsoft bribes the media to say 'Microsoft loves Linux'"
Dr. Richard M. Stallman (RMS) Asks People to Stop Calling Large Language Models (LLMs) "Artificial Intelligence" (AI)
"I think that the first step is stop calling them AI"
Even Microsoft Boosters Think XBox is Doomed
"Reports Say Morale At Xbox Is “Very Low”"... a Microsoft booster cited by them
Dr. Richard M. Stallman (RMS): "There are still people who make it their business to try to stop me from getting invited to speak, and it's a slow process working back from that"
From the talk he gave last month
Very Few Invidious Instances Still Work (for Video Playback)
Google has sabotaged Invidious
Sites Writing Fake News About Linux Using LLMs (Microsoft Hype That Promotes Misinformation)
RMS recently called these "bullshit machines"
Gemini Links 15/09/2024: MINIbase and Pocket Reform Experience
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 14, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, September 14, 2024
[Meme] The Prosecutor and Prosecuted, the Community and Businessmen (Red Hat)
"Social justice is not a corporate slogan or identity politics"
Pushing Nonsense Using the Brand "Linux"
the trademark "Linux" might already lack potency
In China, statCounter Seeing Windows Vista 11 as Falling 2.5% This Month Relative to Other Versions of Windows (Vista 7 Grows Its Gap Over "11")
Vista 7 is bigger!
Dr. Richard M. Stallman (RMS) Explains Why So-called 'Cryptocurrencies' Suck and Why GNU Taler is Better
"I've never used cryptocurrency. There were things I found disappointing and worrisome..."
Links 14/09/2024: Verizon's 5,000 Layoffs and China's 'Runaway' Pension Age
Links for the day
Gemini Links 14/09/2024: Comparing Costs and Being "Tamed"
Links for the day
Wine Took the Bait (Mono), Soon Starts the Microsoft Circus With the Banhammer
large companies are exercising more control over the thing/s they claim to "donate" to
Links 14/09/2024: Science, War, and Politics
Links for the day
Transcript (and Correction) of Dirk Hohndel's Interview With Linus Torvalds in 2014
A lot of things have deteriorated since then
Microsoft Asia President Ahmed Mazhari Leaves the Company
Even everything they say about Mazhari is just "prepared" quotes from Microsoft itself
This is Not a Sustainable Way to Run Microsoft
This is a downward spiral
Contrary to What Microsoft Claims, Teams Were Cut Yesterday, XBox Sales Have Collapsed, Layoffs Announced at 3AM (in the Morning)
There is actually a lot of media coverage about this, unlike prior waves of layoffs at Microsoft
Last Month Dr. Richard M. Stallman (RMS) Explained Why You Should Delete GitHub
RMS explained why
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 13, 2024
IRC logs for Friday, September 13, 2024
Gemini Links 14/09/2024: LoRa, ROOPHLOCH, and Crafting a Programming Language
Links for the day