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Microsoft "complicit" in Russian dissident crackdown | |
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| Time: 10:16 EST/15:16 GMT | News Source: ComputerWorld | Posted By: Robert Stein | ||
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If I'm reading between his lines correctly, Levy is all-but blaming Microsoft of helping the Russian government shut down political dissidents. The article alleges that the Russian government has found a quasi-legal way of disrupting opposition groups, by way of bogus software piracy investigations -- and that Microsoft aids and abets this chilling of free speech. | ||
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| #1 By 15406 (216.191.227.68) at 9/13/2010 1:26:41 PM |
| I know I've accused MS of being ethically challenged and morally bankrupt in the past, but this is just disgusting. Is there nothing that MS won't do to make another dollar? And MS has used the same trick from last week where they pretend they had no idea and will look into it. Except that they did know and won't be doing much about it other than a PR wallpaper job. |
| #2 By 20505 (216.102.144.11) at 9/13/2010 5:50:11 PM |
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Latch,
Maybe your dislike of MS has colored your (rush) to judgment. Follow-up on this article suggests that busting "phony" MS software licenses is a ruse that the Russian government is using to crack down on dissidence. MS wants nothing to do with this and apparently has issued a blanket "license" to all journalists who use their software in Russia in an effort to keep this practice from continuing. |
| #3 By 15406 (216.191.227.68) at 9/14/2010 8:59:48 AM |
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#2: this article suggests that busting "phony" MS software licenses is a ruse that the Russian government is using to crack down on dissidence.
I'm aware of that, and the initial article was saying that MS was signing off on these raids, as if the Russian police went to MS to get their blessing so as to not make it look political. However, further updates do not make it clear if the Russian law requires a complaint from a third-party (MS) before the police can act, or if the police can act independently. MS wants nothing to do with this and apparently has issued a blanket "license" to all journalists who use their software in Russia in an effort to keep this practice from continuing. I'm sure they want nothing to do with the bad PR and are doing what they can to distance themselves from this mess. However, the key question is what did MS know before the NYT article? How actively involved were they in these raids? Plus. the MS offer applies to "qualified" NGO's and journalists. Where is "qualified" defined, and who gets to decide? This is pretty dirty business, and based on MS's long history of skunky behaviour, I'm not really feeling like giving them the benefit of the doubt. |
| #4 By 15406 (216.191.227.68) at 9/14/2010 9:34:38 AM |
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From Prof. Geist's blog (prominent Canadian copyright expert):
"The article notes that the authorities have been receiving active assistance from Microsoft, which had been delivering statements describing the company as a victim and asking for criminal charges against the NGO groups. While human rights groups had been pressing Microsoft to address the issue for months, it only responded yesterday after the article's publication." http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/5302/125/ So, with that it appears that MS was in the know all along and playing along. And, as usual, they ignore everyone until the story goes mainstream and then there's an "investigation" and prompt action. |
| #5 By 20505 (216.102.144.11) at 9/14/2010 6:58:05 PM |
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#4
An impassioned indictment of MS, to be sure. But...what if say, the Russian mob was also using illegal software (not unreasonable) and it was represented to MS that the government was using the information to bust the bad guys (i.e. software pirates). Would this be wrong? Can MS really police the actions of the government of Russia? It would appear to me that the only fault that can be reasonably ascribed to MS is slow action on the basis of "human rights groups" information. This begs three questions: Who exactly are these human rights groups? How long have they been whining and to whom? |
| #6 By 15406 (216.191.227.68) at 9/15/2010 11:54:36 AM |
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#5: But...what if say, the Russian mob was also using illegal software... Would this be wrong?
Well, no, but as the saying goes, "If it was different then it just wouldn't be the same." Can MS really police the actions of the government of Russia? They were never asked to nor expected to. All they had to do was to remove themselves from the situation instead of crowing and playing the victim when it was obviously politically motivated. It would appear to me that the only fault that can be reasonably ascribed to MS is slow action on the basis of "human rights groups" information. Selective myopia? MS sees the Russian feds cracking down on their political opponents under the guise of copyright infringement and they don't smell a rat? And instead of trying to stay as neutral as possible, they hop on the bandwagon. And then rights groups tell them the gov't is selectively harassing dissent groups and other NGO's not in the Kremlin's pocket and MS has to think about it for months until the coincidence of a NYT expose makes them suddenly lurch to life? It doesn't pass the smell test of anyone that doesn't have an MS-branded clothespin on their nose. This begs three questions: Who exactly are these human rights groups? How long have they been whining and to whom? What's your angle? Are you trying to demonize these groups by assuming they are dirty and have some nefarious agenda? No, the important questions are the ones I raised in #1. What did MS know, and when did it know it? We already have the answer to the second question (months). |
| #7 By 20505 (216.102.144.11) at 9/15/2010 5:05:23 PM |
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Latch,
Just give me a name. Who are the "human rights groups"? I see this stuff in the media all the time, as far as I can tell, it is essentially unsubstantiated hearsay and often designed for political purposes. Is it a real group say Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International? Funny thing, searching either of these two web sites makes no mention of MS problems in Russia. Based on ten minutes of research I call BS. I suspect it is a journalist with a degree in English trying to write an article that will get him ten minutes of fame. Hey, it worked. A hold over of the now dead Watergate story wannabes. |
| #8 By 15406 (216.191.227.68) at 9/16/2010 8:10:59 AM |
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#7: Just give me a name.
The Moscow Helsinki Group (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_Helsinki_Group). It's right there in the Times article. Did you even bother to read it? Baikal Environmental Wave is a dissent group that told MS they were complicit in stifling dissent and MS told them to pound sand. Is it a real group say Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International? I don't know. What's the official definition of a 'real group'? They've been around for 30+ years doing what they do. Funny thing, searching either of these two web sites makes no mention of MS problems in Russia. I'm not sure there's anything funny about this, but perhaps they were unaware? Based on ten minutes of research I call BS. Too bad you didn't spend that 10 minutes reading the NYT article or you would be a little more informed than you seem to be. I suspect it is a journalist with a degree in English trying to write an article that will get him ten minutes of fame. Hey, it worked. This is the New York Times that broke this story, is it not? Not just some random blogger. I know that American news media is pretty much bought & paid for by your corporations, but the Times still has some credibility, do they not? Or is this just another salvo from the world-wide anti-Microsoft media-cabal conspiracy that Ketchum always warned us all about? |
| #9 By 20505 (212.0.102.66) at 9/17/2010 4:11:36 PM |
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Latch,
How well known a problem was this if two of the worlds most influential human rights groups have no information on the subject? Just sayin'. By the way I do not read the NYT (gag) but I do their puzzles daily. |
| #10 By 15406 (99.240.77.173) at 9/19/2010 1:50:41 PM |
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#9: How well known a problem was this if two of the worlds most influential human rights groups have no information on the subject? Just sayin'.
One could argue that this isn't an issue for Amnesty Int'l or HRW in the first place. People are being harassed under pretense for political reasons and property confiscated in this case. Nobody is being killed, tortured nor imprisoned, so I'm not sure why you think Amnesty et al should be involved as it isn't the kind of case they typically address. PETA isn't in there either. Is that suspicious? |
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