Summary: More AstroTurfing by sites that are run by Microsoft MVPs and firms which were created by people from Microsoft

Microsoft is a propaganda and lobbying company. It is highly reliant on AstroTurfing through numerous proxies and this week is no exception.

A few days ago we saw Microsoft propaganda seeking to portray Microsoft as a privacy proponent; a lot of this came from familiar people. We studied where it came from and we were not alone. A lot of this recent propaganda about Microsoft privacy comes from 'former' Microsoft staff (now working as 'journalists') and 'news' sites run by Microsoft MVPs. They were manipulating the media into lying for Microsoft and acting like a PR machine, inadvertently or not. Everyone should know by now that the simple truth is that Microsoft is in bed with the NSA (too much evidence for one to dismiss this) but as TechDirt pointed out: "A site called WindowsITPro wrote up that Microsoft was now "defying" a court order and this somehow proved it was a heroic company, fighting for its customers..."

The title of TechDirt's post is "No, Microsoft Is Not Suddenly 'Defying' A Court Order To Turn Over Emails". If only it pointed out that WindowsITPro is not a news site but a Microsoft propaganda site...

WindowsITPro is not the only site which is run by Microsoft MVPs and other allies of Microsoft; we exposed other such sites over the years and many were also involved in spreading the familiar Munich FUD. Microsoft does this every year and it did it again last month.

Our second example of Microsoft-linked propaganda comes from Phil Johnson at IDG. He cites 'former' Microsoft staff (Ohloh) and their latest boss which was created by Microsoft marketing man and continues to smear GPL (and by association GNU). Usually they try to claim that the GPL is dying (self-fulfilling prophecy) using their dubious proprietary/secret data but now they try another approach by alleging that GPL is killing participation and impedes success of FOSS projects. To understand why this is likely wrong one need to remember what Ohloh is; it came from Microsoft (like Black Duck) and it has an incomplete database stuffed with Microsoft data (since 2009 when Black Duck made a pact/partnership with Microsoft).

Black Duck claims to have just netted more funds. Not bad for a proprietary software-wielding, software patent-hoarding propaganda apparatus, eh? The sad thing is that Microsoft has successfully infiltrated the media and all sorts of "think tanks" that Black Duck and others organise. It is a form of AstroTurfing. This is chronic and systemic. ⬆

"Mind Control: To control mental output you have to control mental input. Take control of the channels by which developers receive information, then they can only think about the things you tell them. Thus, you control mindshare!"

--Microsoft, internal document [PDF]