Microsoft's Lobbying Priorities: Limiting Open Source

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Microsoft's Lobbying Priorities: Limiting Open Source

Posted by michael on Sunday September 19, 2004 @09:23AM from the boston-strangler-analogies-abound dept.

MonkeyDev writes "In the story on cio.com, 'Mr. Gates Goes to Washington', the author says...'Microsoft cared little for politics until the Department of Justice called it a monopoly. Now the company approaches lobbying the way it approaches everything- aggressively-and consequently it dominates the technology policy agenda.' The article outlines Microsoft's power, provides several examples of legislative decisions heavily influenced by the company, and talks about where they are aiming their newly found political clout. 'Microsoft's policy agenda includes issues that many CIOs agree with, notably more government funding for research and development, stronger copyright protection, and free trade in offshore products and services. However, two of Microsoft's policy priorities, limiting the adoption of open-source software and inoculating technology companies from spam liability, stand out as areas wherein what's good for Microsoft may not be good for all CIOs.' Further, 'Microsoft has lobbied particularly hard against open source, helping kill state bills that advocate for open source in Oregon and Texas. Microsoft argues that open source freezes innovation, and Krumholtz says that commercial software alone spurs economic growth and creates jobs.'"

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FP! by OldSchool · 2004-09-19 09:25 · Score: -1, Offtopic

Ye-Ha!
1. Re:FP! by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-19 09:35 · Score: -1, Offtopic
  
  nah - he didn't even enough time to click 'Post Anonymously', otherwise someone else (who did post as an a/c) would have made it ahead of him.
  
  Sad.
  
  Enough to make me want to browse at +1 instead of -1.
2. Re:FP! by mtrisk · 2004-09-19 09:45 · Score: 0, Offtopic
  
  I can't tell if your new here or not.
  
  --
  
  Without a proper flamewar, Anonymous was undecided on what shell to run.
fp by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-19 09:25 · Score: -1, Offtopic

fp
1st post by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-19 09:27 · Score: -1, Offtopic

1st post
first post by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-19 09:27 · Score: -1, Offtopic

first post
***BREAKING NEWS*** by Mod+Me+God+Too · 2004-09-19 09:30 · Score: -1, Offtopic

Germans elect Nazis

--
-- It is not the commies, the government, the nigger, nor the corporates. It is your paranoia.
Nice article, but... by rmdir+-r+* · 2004-09-19 09:31 · Score: 0, Offtopic

How is this news? I'm sure anyone who has kept up with tech news knows this already. Ok, ok, it's a nice summary, and for the kid who just discovered Slashdot today it's great... but it isn't news.
Slashdot posts need a generator by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-19 09:35 · Score: -1, Offtopic

[Opening statement of hatred for Microdollarsignoft, possibly including witty quip from open source advocate]
[Comment about Bill 'Power Hungry Computer Geek' Gates]
[Blah blah blah stifles innovation blah blah]
[Shameless Linux praising and statement that even 89 year-olds with Downs can use it as their primary desktop OS]
[Anti-capitalism diatribe defaming any and every company that would like to make money on the software that they create (including a possible contradiction using Apple fanboyism)]
[IN SOVIET RUSSIA, I WELCOME OUR NEW PETRIFIED NATALIE PORTMAN OVERLORDS]

Rinse, get rated a 5, repeat.
Re:OSS and the Free Market by dismentor · 2004-09-19 11:22 · Score: 0, Offtopic

I clicked Insightful damnit. Post to remove moderation.
Re:OSS and the Free Market by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-19 17:56 · Score: -1, Offtopic

Drop the "s" from your name. How about off-topic?