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Is Microsoft Paying To Influence UN Standards?
PizzaFace writes "Microsoft is reported to be spending strategically to influence the United Nations' standards for business data exchange. A UN standards-setting body, UN/CEFACT, and an industry-standards group, OASIS, had developed an open standard format for data interchange, called ebXML. Microsoft hired two people from UN/CEFACT, and a few months later the body decided to stop working on ebXML and instead to work on a Business Collaboration Framework for web services, promoted by Microsoft and IBM. Microsoft then paid for three UN committee members to travel to six countries to promote the BCF."
With Microsoft basically failing trying to influence independent countries to not use OSS, it seems that have gone further down to the root of the tree. I imagine their planning is to try to infect from the bottom up, they figure that maybe someday in the future more and more countries will look to the UN for technology advice/guidance and wouldn't it be just peachy for the UN to push MS's products and services?
Looks like they now have the UN as technology peons as well. surprise surprise
Those who trade in their freedom for security, deserve neither.
yeah, but it's true. it's also concise, well known, and keeps lazy people from needed to read the rest of the page.
You seem to be a bit out of touch with what the UN is and the people that work for it (yes I have worked with them). You must be from the US.
realkiwi
Hmmm, corporations at least are trying
to make a buck for their shareholders (40%
of American people these days, not just
Scrooge McDuck swimming in his basement).
They do need to influence policy decisions,
since Gov policy these days severely
affects business. If gov policy had no effect
on business, there would be no attempt to
influence decisions.
Corruption? Unlikely. If you want to see
some corruption, take a look at Saddam
and his "oil for protection" business:
http://rogerlsimon.com/archives/00000708.htm
Now, THAT is corruption by vicious killers
to protect themselves from the bad old USA.
No matter how much of this Monopoly$oft indulges in they will not prevail in the long run.
[Gentoo is hyped. Modded into the ground to suppress opinion]
Wow - do you have any idea how perfectly you've just described ESR?