Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft to Pay More for Mississippi Antitrust Case; Tennessee Becomes Latest American EDGI Victim

Loose lips
World War 2 propaganda poster



Summary: The mainstream press refuses to state the obvious while Microsoft turns one state after another into a Microsoft Windows/Office indoctrination facility

UNITED STATES officials never learn, or maybe their predecessor never learn from history. The same company which abused the US market for many years (later to be found guilty) is now collecting fees and imprisoning the very same people whom it claims to have compensated.



We will start today's post with the news that Mississippi lawyers will receive $10 million for fighting Microsoft and winning.

A Mississippi judge has upheld millions of dollars in attorneys' fees for handling a state lawsuit against computer software manufacturer, Microsoft.

Hinds County Chancellor, Denise Owens, dismissed the challenge filed by state auditor, Stacy Pickering, over $10 million in attorneys' fees.


We previously wrote about the Mississippi antitrust case in:



Common sense ought to indicate that Mississippi won't do business with Microsoft again. If someone sells you a faulty car under false pretenses, would you return to the same person to buy your next car? It makes no sense. In this case, Microsoft did more than sell a faulty product; it also eliminated competition in the car industry by breaking the law and then overcharged for the car. A decade or more later we have better options in the market, including BSD and GNU/Linux distributions which are very mature, reliable, and affordable. States should start deploying these, but Microsoft stifles such initiatives by monopolistic dumping.

Watch the public-elected officials as they crawl back into Microsoft's bed right after receiving compensation (having fought for years in court). Gov. Phil Bredesen sells out and sells his citizens to a convicted monopolist. He is the latest among more than a dozen governors, who one by one decided to participate in Microsoft's 'American EDGI'.

What is American EDGI?

That's what we call the US equivalent (more or less) of EDGI, which Microsoft publicly calls "Unlimited Potential" (yes, it's a euphemism). Here is the latest new example of "Unlimited Potential" in action.

The YWCA Cass Clay has received the third year of funding from the Unlimited Potential – Community Technology Skills grant program from Microsoft.


Watch the headline. It says "Microsoft donates $205,000 to Cass-Clay YWCA". What an abuse of the word "donates". Companies don't donate, they only pretend to donate (they have shareholders after all) in order to accrue value later on. It's mostly about blocking Free software in this case.

Now, watch Lance Whitney calling another element of EDGI (software dumping) "free" and playing along with the marketing sham. Only after seeing this article did we find out who Lance Whitney actually is. Based on a very recent article of his (see disclosure), "He's a contributing editor for Microsoft TechNet Magazine and writes for other computer publications and Web sites."

That ought to explain self-deception at the very least (like self-censorship).

Here is another EDGI-reminiscing deal which Microsoft has just struck in Texas:

Texas State’s College of Education announced a partnership last week with Microsoft to develop a pilot program for preparing public school teachers to use the 21st century classroom.


Texas State’s College of Education ought to offer education, not indoctrination. Later on we'll show that Gates is doing something similar to schools these days. They capture the minds of the next generation this way.

Going back to Gov. Phil Bredesen, watch how Microsoft is exploiting the state of Tennessee for indoctrination, with the government's consent even:

i. Elevate America a great place to begin

On Wednesday, Gov. Phil Bredesen signed a deal with Microsoft Corp. to offer Tennessee residents 25,875 vouchers for free online technology training. The long-term economic value of this public-private partnership should not be underestimated. Employers are demanding higher levels of computer skills. The Elevate America partnership with the Tennessee Department of Labor is a great opportunity for Tennessee residents to acquire these important job skills in a convenient, no-cost online venue.


ii. State, Microsoft Team For Free Tech Training

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Gov. Phil Bredesen said that Tennessee is teaming up with Microsoft to provide free technology training to people across the state.


iii. State residents can pursue free Microsoft technology training

Gov. Phil Bredesen today announced that Tennessee will join forces with Microsoft in an innovative public-private partnership to provide free technology training to people across the state, a news release states.


iv. Bredesen Unveils Partnership With Microsoft To Offer Technology Training In Tennessee

Through Elevate America, Microsoft will work with the Tennessee Department of Labor to distribute 25,875 vouchers for free, online technology training and certification.


v. Career Center Offers Vouchers For Elevate America

Governor Bredesen announced that Microsoft will be bringing their innovative Elevate America program to Tennessee. Microsoft and the Tennessee Department of Labor will be distributing almost 26,000 free vouchers for online technology training and certification


What does that do to participants really? It only turns them into clients of Microsoft using 'skills' that even kids under 10 get qualified and certified for (true story and there is a new audiocast on the subject, titled "I earned my Microsoft Certification Badge when I was 11").

Using a new press release, Microsoft is looking for other companies to help this American EDGI sham, exploiting a crisis for self enrichment and power over the most vulnerable people. The Seattle press plays along and so do some other publications which name Orange County as a victim of this sham:

Orange County's unemployed workers snapped up most of the free online courses offered last month by Microsoft as part of its Elevate America program, reports the state Employment Development Department.


"Free online courses," eh? So someone just pays for bandwidth which is used to make people dependent on Microsoft. Are these bandwidth costs being covered by the state so that Microsoft can sit back and just watch how the government becomes an extension of the abusive monopoly? More importantly, are all journalists naive enough to not see what is happening here?

“Once in a while there is a journalist who explores and uncovers the truth, but the resultant report gets washed aside by massive amounts of PR-esque fake 'news'.”Well, a very recent study showed that the majority of news (especially local news) is written by PR people and 'dressed up' a little for publication. As we stressed many times before (along with examples and new proof), Microsoft's control of the national press is very great in the United States, which is how they get their way and overwhelm truth/logic with spin. Once in a while there is a journalist who explores and uncovers the truth, but the resultant report gets washed aside by massive amounts of PR-esque fake 'news'.

According to TechFlash (also in Microsoft's pocket), Microsoft is outsourcing its viral video campaigns at the moment.

A couple months ago we told you about an unique promotion from the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce in which they asked small business owners to produce a short video touting how Microsoft's Office 2010 boosts productivity at their companies


More fake 'fan' videos, eh?

According to this new blog post (blogs are sometimes more reliable than news sites these days), MSNBC (Microsoft-NBC) and Microsoft are now acquiring Today.com, which will possibly become another fake 'news' site.

According to the current Whois record for Today.com, it looks like Microsoft recently acquired the domain name Today.com, and it now forwards to MSNBC’s Today Show website. Prior to Microsoft’s ownership, it appeared to be registered by a company called Marksmen, Inc. which has been known to acquire domain names on behalf of large companies like Microsoft. Prior to that, it was privately registered, and just before that, Domain Capital was shown as the registrant.


"Fending Off Microsoft, Google Invests In TV Ad Startup," says another article. Google's role as a gateway to many news sites is also a serious issue which we'll address at a later date. It's a global problem.

Two weeks ago we wrote about Microsoft exploiting poor people in South Africa using an EDGI-like action and this currently gets published in the 'news' sites of South Africa (feeding on US 'news' sites for material), still full of spin and nonsense.

This was one of Microsoft’s biggest equity equivalent deals seen in South Africa to date and was part of its broad-based black economic empowerment (B- BBEE) programme.


How come nobody dares to explain Microsoft's real motives? In this case, Microsoft is blocking use of Free/libre software. It also pretends that putting a retail price tag on some zeros and ones constitutes huge and generous donation and then makes a public relation scene out of the whole thing.

"It's easier for our software to compete with Linux when there's piracy than when there's not."

--Bill Gates





Recent Techrights' Posts

The forbidden topics
There are forbidden topics in the hacker community
Curation and Preservation Work
The winter is coming soon and this means our anniversary is near
Microsoft GitHub Exposé — In the Alex Graveley Case, His Lawyer, Rick Cofer, Appears to Have Bribed the DA to Keep Graveley (and Others) Out of Prison
Is this how one gets out of prison? Hire the person who bribes the DA?
Richard Stallman's Public Talk in GNU's 40th Anniversary Ceremony
Out now
 
Proprietary Software: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
Proprietary software has an entirely different mindset, revolving around business models rather than science
They're Been Trying to 'Kill' Richard Stallman for Years (by Mentally Tormenting Him)
Malicious tongue wanted to do him what had been done to Julian Assange
We Temporarily Have Two Gemini Capsules
They're both authentic and secure, but they're not the same
Consumerism is Lying and Revisionism
We need to reject these liars and charlatans
Links 30/09/2023: Open VFS Framework, CrossOver 23.5, Dianne Feinstein Dies
Links for the day
Security Leftovers
GNU/Linux, Microsoft, and more
Microsoft Down on the World Wide Web, Shows Survey
down by a lot in this category
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 29, 2023
IRC logs for Friday, September 29, 2023
A Society That Fails Journalists Does Not Deserve Journalism
It's probably too later to save Julian Assange as a working publisher (he might never recover from the mental torture), but as a person and a father we can wish and work towards his release
Almost Nothing To Go With Your Morning's Cup Of Coffee
Newspaper? What newspaper?
A Lot of Technological 'Progress' Has Been Nothing But Buzzwords
Free software does not try to excite people people over nothing
Techrights Was Right About the Chaff Bots (They Failed to Live up to Their Promise)
Those who have been paying attention to news of substance rather than fashionable "tech trends" probably know that GNU/Linux grew a lot this year
Selling Out to Microsoft Makes You Dead Beef
If all goes as well as we've envisioned, Microsoft will get smaller and smaller
Mobile Phones Aren't Your Friend or a Gateway to Truly Social Life
Newer should not always seem more seductive, as novelty is by default questionable and debatable
Links 29/09/2023: Disinformation and Monopolies
Links for the day
iFixit Requests DMCA Exemption…To Figure Out How To Repair McDonald’s Ice Cream Machines
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer
Jim Zemlin Thinks the World's Largest Software Company Has 200 Staff, Many of Whom Not Technical at All
biggest ego in the world
Links 29/09/2023: Linux Foundation Boasting, QLite FDW 2.4.0 Released
Links for the day
Red Hat Does Not Understand Community and It's Publicly Promoting Microsoft's Gartner
RedHat.com is basically lioning a firm that has long been attacking GNU/Linux in the private and public sectors at the behest of Microsoft
A 'Code of Conduct' Typically Promoted by Criminal Corporations to Protect Crimes From Scrutiny
We saw this in action last week
Objections to binutils CoC
LXO response to proposed Code of Conduct
Conde Nast (Reddit), Which Endlessly Defamed Richard Stallman and Had Paid Salaries to Microsoft-Connected Pedophiles, Says You Must Be Over 18 to See 'Stallman Was Right'
Does this get in the way of their Bill Gates-sponsored "Bill Gates says" programme/schedule?
Techrights Extends Wishes of Good Health to Richard M. Stallman
Richard Stallman has cancer
endsoftwarepatents.org Still Going, Some Good News From Canada
a blow to software patents in Canada
The Debian Project Leader said the main thing Debian lacked was more contributors
The Debian Project Leader said the main thing Debian lacked was more contributors
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, September 28, 2023
IRC logs for Thursday, September 28, 2023
Links 28/09/2023: Openwashing and Patent Spam as 'News'
Links for the day
Links 28/09/2023: Preparing Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.9 and 9.3 Beta
Links for the day
We Need to Liberate the Client Side and Userspace Too
Lots of work remains to be done
Recent IRC Logs (Since Site Upgrade)
better late than never
Techrights Videos Will be Back Soon
We want do publish video without any of the underlying complexity and this means changing some code
Microsoft is Faking Its Financial Performance, Buying Companies Helps Perpetuate the Big Lies (or Pass the Debt Around)
Our guess is that Microsoft will keep pretending to be huge, even as the market share of Windows (and other things) continues to decrease
Techrights Will Tell the Story (Until Next Year!) of How Since 2022 It Has Been Under a Coordinated Attack by a Horde of Vandals and Nutcases
People like these belong in handcuffs and behind bars (sometimes they are) and our readers still deserve to know the full story. It's a cautionary tale for other groups and sites
Why It Became Essential to Split GNU/Linux Stories from the Rest
These sites aren't babies anymore. In terms of age, they're already adults.
Losses and Gains in an Age of Oligarchy - A Techrights Perspective
If you don't even try to fix something, there's not even a chance it'll get fixed
Google (and the Likes Of It) Will Cause Catastrophic Information Loss Rather Than Organise the World's Information
Informational and cultural losses due to technological plunder
Links 28/09/2023: GNOME 45 Release Party, 'Smart' Homes Orphaned
Links for the day
Security Leftovers
Xen, breaches, and more
GNOME Console Won’t Support Color Palettes or Profiles; Will Support Esperanto
Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer