Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
> How this kind of thing works - Soft Bribery
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| I'm gonna repost this comment from another ooxml "sudden flipflop" story - I
>| posted it too late to get any attention then but I still wanted it visible.
>| AC for obvious reasons! Also please bear in mind that all numbers are just
>| for example's sake, but the general point is all too accurate. Also bear in
>| mind I have no "inside" information on Durusau at all, I am just trying to
>| tell you some backstory on how these deals can go down, including one I have
>| specific knowledge of.
>|
>| -------
>|
>| I want to tell you Slashdot people something about how this kind of thing
>| works. I don't really know the name for it, but I call it "soft bribery". You
>| might also call it "economic alignment" or whatever. Here's what happens.
>|
>| A large, rich stakeholder wants a particular outcome - in this case, MS wants
>| OOXML to be ratified. They have some adversaries - respected leaders of the
>| OSS movement or ODF foundation, in this case. Note that there are always
>| certain people with disproportionate voices - these people are really hurting
>| them. How can they turn them around?
>|
>| They can't outright bribe them. That's illegal and probably wouldn't work
>| anyway - people would feel insulted. So what they need to do is ensure that
>| the "thought leader"'s economic interest is aligned with their own.
>|
>| We see this happen all the time - a previous strong advocate against
>| something, in this case pro ODF and against OOXML, will suddenly get more
>| concilatory. See Durusau's change of tone for an example. Now I don't know
>| him, but I'm pretty sure here's what happened.
>|
>| He would be in constant contact with the OOXML team in MS just as a matter of
>| course. One day, though, they'll tell him to expect a call from a VP or
>| higher - big guns. He's excited to be able to reach higher up in the company.
>| Finally, they're taking him seriously. He might be talking to a billionaire!
>|
>| He'll get the call. "Wow, we're really impressed with your work on this. My
>| team is always telling me what a smart, together guy you are", says the VP or
>| Partner or whatever. "I just wanted to tell you that we really appreciate the
>| work you're doing and we can learn a lot from you. Say, when this is all
>| over, if OOXML finally gets accepted - we'd love to get you in for some
>| interoperability training and consulting, our staff could really use your
>| insight. We pay pretty well, $500 an hour, and we estimate the contract would
>| last for a year fulltime, but we're flexible with your current work - we just
>| need you on call. What do you think?"
>|
>| There you go. That's it. A year's worth at $500/hr is close enough to a
>| million bucks, the guy's got a mortgage, game over. Of course MS wants it
>| kept quiet or the deal's off - that's their "standard business practise", and
>| the contract has an NDA clause.
>|
>| Game over. I'm sure this is what happened to Durusau. I'm pretty sure it's
>| what happened to Miguel. Unless you're independently wealthy, not many people
>| can say no to a few hundred thousand in "consulting". Needless to say, he'll
>| never step foot in any Microsoft building. Hell, maybe it's a lot less than a
>| million - it was for someone I know.
>|
>| I am going to be very vague here - sorry if you think I lose credibility, but
>| I don't want to burn my friend. He was the CEO/CTO (same guy) at a small
>| systems integrator in the educational sector "somewhere in Asia". A largish
>| school deal was in the works, his company advised decision makers in favour
>| of linux. A respected company, had a lot of sway with the local suits, it was
>| looking like going their way. One day he gets a call to the cell phone - wow,
>| one of the big guns!
>|
>| "We really like the work you're doing. Say, it looks like this deal isn't
>| going to go our way - but if it does, we'll need a partner to help us
>| interoperate with the existing infrastructure - you installed a lot of it, so
>| you're first in line and we'd like to book you in advance just to make sure
>| we can get you. What are your rates? Well, we'd like to make sure we have you
>| for at least six months and we actually pay a set rate in this area of $$$.
>| Is that OK? We'll fax over our proposed contract right now, we're pretty
>| eager to go ahead with this, so just to lock in our booking we'll deposit the
>| first 25% of the contract as soon as you fax it back to us, is that good with
>| you? Refundable if we don't get the deal of course. Commercial in confidence,
>| naturally. Let us know ASAP, and good luck with the deal!"
>|
>| The contract was over triple what the linux deal would have earned. He has a
>| wife and kids - I'm not going to cast the first stone. They dropped their
>| opposition, recommended the MS deal, and got paid a quarter of a million
>| (equivalent) to do sweet fuck-all for 6 months. My friend feels like a
>| sell-out, but his daughter's now in a better school.
>|
>| I don't know how to stop this happening, but until it does, MS (or GM, or
>| Exxon, or whoever) will win and win and win. Ask yourself how much your
>| advocacy would sell for. Ask yourself how you'd explain to your wife that you
>| were turning down enough money to send the kids to college because of your
>| preferences for which software to use.
>|
>| This is how it's done people.
> `----
>
> http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=499412&threshold=4&commentsort=0&mode=thread&cid=22866970
>
> That's the case with the Burton Group (Peter O'Kelly et al), which did a lot of
> business (consulting) with Microsoft after its so-called 'study'
>
>
> http://antitrust.slated.org/www.iowaconsumercase.org/011607/3000/PX03096.pdf
>
> "Consultants: These guys are your best bets as moderators. Get a well-known
> consultant on your side early, but don?t let him publish anything blatantly
> pro-Microsoft. Then, get him to propose himself to the conference organizers
> as a moderator, whenever a panel opportunity comes up. Since he?s well-known,
> but apparently independent, he?ll be accepted - one less thing for the
> constantly-overworked conference organizer to worry about, right?"
>
> -- Microsoft
Once you've sold your soul, you can never buy it back.
--
| mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk |
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|
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