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____/ Peter Köhlmann on Monday 08 September 2008 14:43 : \____
> Moshe Goldfarb. wrote:
>
>> On Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:11:44 +0200, Hadron wrote:
>>
>>> Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
>>>
>>>> Windows Vista: The OS About Nothing
>>>>
>>>> Ballmer looks like he's mentally ill. Perhaps it's just the mind of a
>>>> criminal (Microsoft engages in bribes, frauds, blackmail, etc).
>>>>
>>>
>>> I hope to hell MS see this. You really are going off the deep end.
Fraud:
Microfraud?
,----[ Quote ]
| THE ALLEGATIONS WERE shocking: For years, Microsoft has systematically
| distorted its profit figures in an effort to consistently beat Wall Street
| expectations and keep its stock price steadily rising. The false reports
| would violate SEC regulations, and amount to outright fraud.
|
| More shocking was the source of the allegations: Microsoft's chief of
| internal audits, Charlie Pancerzewski, who reported directly to the company's
| chief financial officer.
|
| Most shocking of all was what happened to Pancerzewski when he reported the
| suspicious bookkeeping to his supervisors, Microsoft CFO Mike Brown and chief
| operating officer Bob Herbold, in the spring of 1995. Soon afterward,
| Pancerzewski—who for nearly five years had received stellar performance
| evaluations—received his first-ever unsatisfactory one, and was eventually
| forced to resign.
|
| Two months ago, Microsoft quietly settled a lawsuit containing these
| allegations, filed in 1997 by Pancerzewski under the Whistleblowers
| Protection Act. The auditor claimed he was wrongfully terminated after
| telling his supervisors that Microsoft might be breaking securities and tax
| laws. The lawsuit made its tortuous way through several rounds of pretrial
| motions until last fall, when US District Judge Carolyn Dimmick denied
| Microsoft's final plea for summary judgment, finding credible evidence that
| Microsoft may have violated SEC rules, as Pancerzewski alleged. Shortly
| thereafter, Microsoft and Pancerzewski settled out of court. Terms of the
| agreement were sealed, but one source who claims familiarity with the case
| says that Microsoft paid Pancerzewski $4 million.
`----
http://web.archive.org/web/20070308032343rn_2/www.seattleweekly.com/1999-01-06/news/microfraud.php
Whistleblower settles after Microsoft SEC fraud claim
,----[ Quote ]
| He claimed to have been forced to resign in 1995 after reporting his
| suspicions about Microsoft bookkeeping to CFO Mike Brown and COO Bob Herbold.
|
| [...]
|
| But court records of the case show Pancerzewski had claimed he'd been ordered
| to destroy a consultant's report about potential tax liabilities in Europe,
| and that he'd found that Microsoft was controlling the level of reported
| income by switching money back and forth from reserves. Much simplified, this
| procedure involves putting money into reserves in good times, and
| transferring it back into reported income when times are hard. It's used to
| keep earnings apparently growing smoothly, and it is illegal, under SEC
| rules.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/1999/01/09/whistleblower_settles_after_microsoft_sec/
Unauthorized biography of Steve Ballmer turns up little new
,----[ Quote ]
| A lengthy anecdote about accounting irregularities exposed by whistleblower
| Charles Pancerzewski concludes weakly, "Microsoft paid over $4 million to
| make Pancerzewski go away, an amount that presumably wouldn't be paid out
| without the Office of the President, the trio to which Ballmer belonged,
| signing off on it."
`----
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/86841_ballmer13.shtml
Microsoft's Accounting Under Scrutiny
,----[ Quote ]
| The company has still not made enough information public to provide analysts
| with detailed information on the profitability of its MSN Internet business,
| Mr. Galvin said, adding, ''There's still room for them to obfuscate.''
`----
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A03E1DC173DF932A35754C0A96F958260
Microsoft - Undeserving of Libertarian Praise
,----[ Quote ]
| One strategy that Microsoft has employed in the past is paying for the
| silence of people and companies. Charles Pancerzewski, formerly Microsoft's
| chief auditor, became aware of Microsoft's practice of carrying earnings from
| one accounting period into another, known as "managing earnings". This
| practice smoothes reported revenue streams, increases share value, and
| misleads employees and shareholders. In addition to being unethical, it's
| also illegal under U.S. Securities Law and violates Generally Accepted
| Accounting Practices (Fink). Mr. Pancerzewski claims he was forced to retire,
| for raising the issue of deferred earnings with Microsoft executives, thereby
| making plausible deniability more difficult for said executives. He has since
| sued Microsoft, who responded by settling out of court, but also sealing the
| records to prevent public disclosure (Fink).
`----
http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/8/20/11034/3908
Microsoft Agrees To Refrain From Accounting Violations in SEC Settlement
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft has agreed to refrain from accounting violations to settle federal
| regulators' allegations that it misrepresented its financial performance, the
| government announced Monday.
|
| Under a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the software
| giant neither admitted to nor denied wrongdoing. No fine was imposed.
|
| The SEC alleged that Microsoft's accounting practices from July 1994 through
| June 1998 caused its income to be substantially misstated.
`----
http://www.crn.com/it-channel/18819490
"Microsoft Tax," MSN Enters the Black Hole, New Names for NT
,----[ Quote ]
| The lawsuit, filed last year by Mukilteo City Councilman Charles
| Pancerzewski, alleges that he was forced to resign as Microsoft's general
| auditor in January 1996 after working for the company's internal auditing
| department for more than four years. The suit claims that a "significantly
| younger man" with little auditing experience was picked to replace
| Pancerzewski, who was finally forced out because he discovered Microsoft
| might have been violating government regulations. Once Pancerzewski left the
| company he was replaced by the younger man, who his attorneys believe
| was "less prone to raise issues of possible legal improprieties which could
| threaten or embarrass Microsoft or its management.
`----
http://www.msboycott.com/news/98_06_22.shtml
SEC Investigating Microsoft Practices -- Earnings Manipulated, Former Employee
Contends
,----[ Quote]
| "The CFO to whom Charlie was reporting his concerns about illegality was the
| biggest advocate for the very illegality that was going on," Vial argued in
| court a year ago.
`----
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19990701&slug=2969514
Ex-Microsoft Manager Sentenced for Fraud
http://www.hardocp.com/news.html?news=MzM3NjYsLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdCwsLDE=
Ex-Microsoft Manager Pleads Guilty, Sentenced For Embezzlement
http://www.crn.com/software/209400603
Ex-Microsoft manager ordered to prison
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2008/07/19/Ex-Microsoft_manager_ordered_to_prison/UPI-73221216506990/
Ex-Microsoft manager jailed for $1m fraud
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2222135/microsoft-manager-jailed-1m-cons
Ex-Microsoft Manager Gets 22 Months for Fraud
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/148642/exmicrosoft_manager_gets_22_months_for_fraud.html
Ex-Microsoft boss sentenced
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/371393_msftcourt19.html
Former Microsoft Manager Gets 2 Years In Jail
http://news.portalit.net/fullnews_former-microsoft-manager-gets-2-years-in-jail_1427.html
Kirkland woman senteced to 22 months, ordered to repay nearly $1 million, for
embezzlement scheme
http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/news/25634819.html
Bribes:
Microsoft admits Swedish employee promised incentives for Open XML support
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Corp. admitted Wednesday that an employee at its Swedish subsidiary
| offered monetary compensation to partners for voting in favor of the Office
| Open XML document format's approval as an ISO standard.
`----
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9033701
Microsoft influencing partner NGOs to support OOXML in India
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft is encouraging its business partners to promote its Office Open XML
| specification (OOXML) to the Indian Bureau of Standards (BIS) and Ministry of
| IT. This move has incensed supporters of the rival OpenDocument Format (ODF)
| who fear that the "soft" Indian state may not be able to stand up to
| Microsoft pressure tactics.
`----
http://www.linux.com/feature/128528
Microsoft India using NGOs to fake support for OOXML
http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-44038/microsoft-india-using-ngos-to-fake-support-for-ooxml
Becoming a better company: Microsoft helps NGOs in India
,----[ Quote ]
| Of course, there has to be some trade-offs, because there should never be
| free lunch, even for the ones who starve: Microsoft, according to this
| article, has conditioned its help to Indian NGOs to their support of OOXML.
| What the NGOs had to do was to send letters of support on OOXML to the
| federal government of India.
`----
http://standardsandfreedom.net/index.php/2008/02/29/becoming-a-better-company-microsoft-helps-ngos-in-india/
Microsoft "persuades" NGOs to support OOXML
,----[ Quote ]
| Our friends at Linux Delhi have put up a copy of the form letters that
| Microsoft has been sending NGOs on the OOXML issue. Apparently, these NGOs
| have been sending copies of these letters to the Ministry of IT and Bureau of
| Indian standards.
`----
http://osindia.blogspot.com/2008/02/microsoft-persuades-ngos-to-support.html
Developers around the world, unite!
,----[ Quote ]
| Monopoly and proprietary software have an advantage in influencing state and
| governmental institutions because of their large market base and ready
| capital. Unscrupulous ways of influencing state governments have persisted in
| India, for example, where executives of proprietary software cajole
| government heads to promote their brands in lieu of some form of charity
| given. FLOSS activists must overcome this huge challenge in order to get
| their philosophy accepted and model implemented for the good of people who
| are still on the barren side of the digital divide.
`----
http://thepost.com.pk/OpinionNews.aspx?dtlid=147277&catid=11
Using NGOs to Push Agendas
,----[ Quote ]
| The extent to which Microsoft can go in its efforts to get OOXML is
| interesting. Microsoft has "persuaded" several non-profit organizations to
| bombard the Indian IT Secretary and the Additional Director General of the
| Bureau of Indian Standards with letters supporting its OOXML proposal. A copy
| of the form letter they have been circulating to NGOs is given below.
| Somebody should interview these NGOs to see how much they really know about
| OOXML and open standards.
|
| The sequence of events leading up to the spamming of GoI? is:
|
| Letter from an NGO thanking Microsoft (name changed to protect their
| identity)
`----
http://wiki.linux-delhi.org/cgi-bin/twiki/view/OpenStandards/MsNgoLobby
[Mandriva CEO:] An open letter to Steve Ballmer
,----[ Quote ]
| Wow! I’m impressed, Steve! What have you done for these guys to change their
| mind like this? It’s pretty clear to me, and it will be clear to everyone.
| How do you call what you just did Steve, in the place where you live? In my
| place, they give it various names, I’m sure you know them.
|
| Hey Steve, how do you feel looking at yourself in the mirror in the morning?
|
| Of course, I will keep fighting this one and the next one, and the next one.
| You have the money, the power, and maybe we have a different sense of ethics
| you and I, but I believe that hard work, good technology and ethics can win
| too.
`----
http://blog.mandriva.com/2007/10/31/an-open-letter-to-steve-ballmer/
Lessons from Africa: How to Kill Your Own FUD
,----[ Quote ]
| So, even as Microsoft claims superior quality over Linux, they act as if they
| don't even buy their own FUD. If they really believed that Windows was
| superior to Linux, they wouldn't have to bribe people with “marketing help”
| to get them to choose Windows.
`----
http://www.linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2007-11-09-030-26-OP-MD-MS
Blackmail:
Europe's not finished with Microsoft
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft's troubles in Europe are far from over, as Neelie Kroes, The EU
| competition commissioner, has warned. We review the past and future options
| for Microsoft and the European Commission.
|
| [...]
|
| During the US anti-trust trials, Steven McGeady, a vice president of Intel,
| testified against Microsoft, Intel's most important trading partner,
| asserting that Microsoft intended to "embrace, extend and extinguish"
| competition by substituting open standards with proprietary protocols, and
| claimed that Intel had been warned to cease development of its Native Signal
| Processing audio and video technology, which promised to vastly improve user
| experience of the desktop - or else Microsoft would bypass Intel and develop
| Windows exclusively for AMD and National Semiconductor chips. "It was clear
| to us that if this chip did not run Windows it would be useless in the
| marketplace," McGeady testified. "The threat was both credible and
| terrifying."
`----
http://www.itpro.co.uk/features/191772/europes-not-finished-with-microsoft.html
The Legality of EULAs in The Netherlands
,----[ Quote ]
| According to the anonymous source, the terms of an EULA are the same for all
| customers, and as such, they legally constitute as 'algemene voorwaarden'
| (conditions/terms of use). Engelfriet agrees with this position. However, for
| conditions of use to be valid in The Netherlands, they have to meet certain
| criteria.
|
| The first criterion is that the conditions of use must be presented prior or
| during the making of the agreement; in case of software bought in retail
| stores, it would be easy to argue the agreement is made during the actual
| purchase, which would mean that if an EULA is not presented then, it would be
| invalid.
|
| [...]
|
| The above means that assuming the distributor points me towards the EULA
| prior or during the sale, the EULA I agree with by clicking "I agree" is
| actually a valid contract according to Dutch Contract Law. The distributor
| can point me towards that EULA in several ways, for instance by including a
| notice on the box that says "The use of this software is governed by the
| rules put forth in the EULA. You can find the EULA at [internet address]."
| another possibility is to print the EULA on the box. The ability to view the
| EULA at a later date is crucial.
`----
http://www.osnews.com/story/19682
Microsoft Denies Threatening to Withdraw Funding
,----[ Quote ]
| However, the denial was a contradiction to comments by Bitange Ndemo,
| permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information and Communication, who
| said that Microsoft may have made comments regarding funding, though not
| directly or in writing.
|
| "They may have said something to that effect though not directly and not in
| writing. Microsoft cannot threaten us. In any case, our policy is very clear,
| we encourage people to use open-source software and those who want to use
| proprietary software are at liberty to do so" Ndemo said.
|
| There was heated debate in Kenya's technology sector before the decision to
| abstain. The decision was made by a 12-member committee. Some experts felt
| that the committee was comprised of a majority of Microsoft partners.
`----
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/144898/microsoft_denies_threatening_to_withdraw_funding.html
Sentimental blackmail: (RED)mond && Dell
,----[ Quote ]
| Recently, Microsoft is luring you with a tag line like this: "Windows and
| Dell are proud partners of (PRODUCT) RED™ — New PCs designed to help
| eliminate AIDS in Africa."
|
| [...]
|
| This is one of the most abject way of creating a psychological dependency of
| Windows Vista Ultimate: making people buy it for giving them the peace of
| mind that they helped to save lives in Africa!
`----
http://beranger.org/index.php?page=diary&2008/02/03/22/48/51-sentimental-blackmail-red-mond-a
Local U.S. immigration laws harm business: report
,----[ Quote ]
| She said software giant Microsoft decided to move one of its units to British
| Columbia, Canada, after an effort to legalize an estimated 12 million illegal
| immigrants and create a temporary worker program sought by business groups
| failed in the U.S. Senate in June.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/071207/immigration_business_laws.html?.v=1
>> They do...
>> Trust me, they do....
>>
>
> Well, they see an opinion or a guess
> You know: "looks like" or "Perhaps"
>
> Pathetic, Hadron Quark and flatfish, really pathetic
Actually they helped. They motivated me to back an allegation with proof.
- --
"There's a lot of Linux out there -- much more than Microsoft generally signals
publicly -- and their customers are using it..." --Paul DeGroot, a Directions
On Microsoft analyst.
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