"There is such an overvaluation of technology stocks that it is absurd. I would include our stock in that category. It is bad for the long-term worth of the economy."

--Steve Ballmer

Summary: Fat cat Microsoft taxes the economy for the enrichment of very few billionaires but pays no tax of its own

MICROSOFT has already led to the layoffs of many people, destruction of many companies, centralisation of power and wealth, and lack of opportunity in the market. In essence, Microsoft is a destructor, not a creator. One of the latest victims is Nokia and now that Skype is sold. Microsoft's acquisition is structured to avoid US taxes (because of course, Microsoft does not pay tax). All that Microsoft is doing is collecting tax from each computer sold, even if the buyer gets it just to install GNU/Linux or BSD. But Microsoft's greed is reaching risky new levels which may repel business customers. "Looks like big changes is coming in Microsoft," writes to us one reader. "Good news!"

The reader links to this article from Microsoft booster Paul DeGroot [1, 2, 3], who writes about "Seven deadly sins" in "Microsoft software licensing" (that's his headline). The opening paragraph goes like this:

Ten years ago this month, Microsoft introduced the most controversial licensing program in its history: an upgrade rights and maintenance add-on called Software Assurance (SA). The experience was so traumatic that Microsoft has undertaken no comparable licensing initiatives since then. After five major revisions to volume licensing in the decade before 2001, Microsoft has been stuck at Licensing 6.0. That's too bad. The industry is different, Microsoft is different, and it's long past time for a new look at Software Assurance.

Amid debt, Microsoft is already trying to find new types of tax it can collect and software patents seem to be the company's key strategy at the moment. It's essentially on a Microsoft tax on everything people buy, whether it's from Microsoft or not. And some people still insist that Microsoft is good for the economy... ⬆