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Re: Microsoft bribes the media

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____/ High Plains Thumper on Saturday 19 Jun 2010 11:38 : \____

> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>> High Plains Thumper on Friday:
>>> nessuno wrote:
>>> 
>>>> <Quote> Yes, Microsoft basically bribed the press....
>>>> 
>>>> When I was a newspaper journalist working for a business
>>>> publication, PR houses would send us free stuff all day, every
>>>> day. The ethical line was a frequent consideration and lots (I
>>>> mean LOTS) of gifts were returned to sender.
>>>> 
>>>> I do not expect anyone in the gaming press will be refusing
>>>> their free consoles & Even though virtually everyone already has
>>>> an older 360 model.
>>>> 
>>>> While there is a valid ethical response to accepting the thing
>>>> - hardware reviews are a vital keystone in the gaming press - the
>>>> way Microsoft went about their gifting today smacks of bribery
>>>> and toe-sucking. </Quote>
>>>> 
>>>> http://weblogs.jomc.unc.edu/talkingbiznews/?p=16348
>> 
>>> Yes, there seems to be a lot of underhanded things going on that
>>> are less than scrupulous.  Thanks for expressing this little bit of
>>> truth. The convicted monopoly maintenance continues.
>> 
>> Unscrupulous Microsoft never changed its ways/
> 
> I found this article, which is of interest regarding astroturfing:
> 
> [quote]
> Americans for Technology Leadership
> From SourceWatch
> 
> Americans for Technology Leadership was founded by Jonathan Zuck in 1999
> as a "grassroots" organisations for concerned consumers who want less
> regulation in the technology sector. It also campaigns on general tech
> issues such as spam.
> 
> It has been frequently described as a Microsoft front group.[1][2][3]
> 
> [...] Synhorst is a founding member of the DCI Group, a Washington
> DC-based strategic consulting and lobbying firm which has counted
> Microsoft as a prime client for a number of years.
> 
> Joshua Micah Marshall reports in the July 17, 2000 American Prospect:
> "[W]hile Microsoft did confirm that Synhorst's DCI had been retained as
> a consultant, it insisted that another DCI employee, Tim Hyde, and not
> Synhorst, was handling the company's account. In any event, the web of
> connections among DCI, ATL, and Microsoft is striking. While working for
> Microsoft, DCI has also provided consulting services to ATL. And Josh
> Mathis, the man [ACT president Jonathan] Zuck installed as ATL's
> executive director, is also an employee of DCI, who still works out of
> the same Washington, D.C., office as Synhorst and Hyde."
> 
> Pro-Microsoft letter campaign discovered
> 
> In August 2001 the Los Angeles Times reported that a ATL was behind a
> "carefully orchestrated nationwide campaign to create the impression of
> a surging grass-roots movement" behind Microsoft. "The campaign,
> orchestrated by a group partly funded by Microsoft, goes to great
> lengths so that the letters appear to be spontaneous expressions from
> ordinary citizens. [...] Experts said there's little precedent for such
> an effort supported by a company defending itself against government
> accusations of illegal behavior."
> 
> According to the Times, the campaign was discovered when Utah's Attorney
> General at the time Mark Shurtleff received letters "purportedly written
> by at least two dead people ... imploring him to go easy on Microsoft
> Corp. for its conduct as a monopoly."
> 
> Eighteen state's attorneys general were joining with the Justice
> Department in its anti-trust suit against Microsoft. Iowa's Attorney
> General Tom Miller reported receiving more than 50 letters in support of
> Microsoft during the summer of 2001. "No two letters are identical, but
> the giveaway lies in the phrasing," the Times wrote. "Four Iowa letters
> included this sentence: 'Strong competition and innovation have been the
> twin hallmarks of the technology industry.' Three others use exactly
> these words: "If the future is going to be as successful as the recent
> past, the technology sector must remain free from excess regulation."
> 
> Dewey Square Group and DCI Group sibling firm DCI/New Media are credited
> with assisting Microsoft with its "grass-roots" campaign, according to
> the Times.
> [/quote]
> 
> http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Technology_Leadership
> 
> If I am reading things correctly, Gate's philanthropy is funding efforts
> as such above.  Some time back, I recall reading about the same
> purchasing newspaper publisher companies.  The Wintrolls would like us
> to believe that the man's agenda is saintly and good, quoting medical
> help investments, etc.
> 
> IIRC, the record shows otherwise.  The following was said by the
> Minnesota State Attorney General:
> 
> [quote]
> "It's sleazy," said Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch, whose
> office received about 300 pro-Microsoft letters. "This is not a
> company that appears to be bothered by ethical boundaries."
> [/quote]
> 
> http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2001-08-23-microsoft-letters.htm

Where did you find a Gates Foundation connection? I'd be /very/ interested to know of one.

- -- 
		~~ Best of wishes


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