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Microsoft's Ethical Guidelines

Posted by kdawson on from the oxy-meet-moron dept.

hankwang writes "Did you know that Microsoft has ethical guidelines? It's good to know that 'Microsoft did not make any payments to foreign government officials' while lobbying for OOXML, and that 'Microsoft conducts its business in compliance with laws designed to promote fair competition' every time they suppressed competitors. In their Corporate Citizenship section, they discuss how the customer-focused approach creates products that work well with those of competitors and open-source solutions. So all the reverse-engineering by Samba and OpenOffice.org developers wasn't really necessary."

39 of 271 comments (clear)

  1. All your base are belong to us... by Muckluck · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ethics? Make your time...

    --


    --I like turtles...
    1. Re:All your base are belong to us... by Chrisq · · Score: 4, Funny

      Sorry, I'm lost with this. What has this to do with Microsoft's ethics ?

      It was written with the same degree of sincerity.

  2. Unsurprising by David+Gerard · · Score: 5, Funny

    Microsoft has really lost it when it comes to evil these days. Apple's evil is just ridiculously better. Microsoft's evil was damn fine in the 1990s, but these days it's just ... sorta lame. I mean, Vista - what dismally poorly executed evil! And the Zune, oh dear.

    So trying to be good is all that's left to them. Can they go straight? Or will it be straight back to crime?

    --
    http://rocknerd.co.uk
    1. Re:Unsurprising by davester666 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Microsoft isn't evil. It simply spends a lot of it's time exploring the boundaries of the law around the world. And when you explore boarders, half the time you're on one side and the rest on the other side.

      All in an effort to help the children (new corporations).

      So they will know "You can go this far without getting into trouble. You can go this much further, and pay a small fine after doing it for 10 years. You can go twice as far, but then the fine will be 10 times higher, but you will only have to pay it 50 years later." And so on...

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    2. Re:Unsurprising by weber · · Score: 5, Funny

      "You're not quite evil enough. You're semi-evil. You're quasi-evil. You're the margarine of evil. You're the Diet Coke of evil, just one calorie, not evil enough."
          -- Dr. Evil

  3. A string of meaningless words!! by jkrise · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "....Microsoft provides a broad range of policies, programs, and products that are focused on our commitment to responsible and ethical business practices that promote user choice, industry opportunity, interoperability, and transparency....."

    Last I checked Microsoft's Exchange Server works well only with IE. Unlike Gmail or Yahoo mail. Exchange is lousy with Firefox, Opera or Safari. Where is the choice?

    And Exchange Server 2008 I belive even screws up the IMAP support, so Thunderbird users get the bird as well... So much for interoperability and transparency.

    --
    If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
    1. Re:A string of meaningless words!! by dvice_null · · Score: 5, Funny

      > Where is the choice?

      You can pick any browser you want from these alternatives: IE6, IE7, IE8

    2. Re:A string of meaningless words!! by jkrise · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You can pick any browser you want from these alternatives: IE6, IE7, IE8

      Not always. You can't pick IE6 AND Vista. Many sites work well only with IE6.

      Recent versions of Exchange Server work well only with IE7 or later. So in a Corporate setting with Win2K systems running IE6 for the Corporate Intranet, things get very clunky and unmanagable. Add multiple versions of SharePoint, Office, Active Directory... and pretty soon, you realise even Microsoft's products do not work well between and amnongst themselves. Unless you upgrade all of them, all at once. Which is pretty much impractical and terribly expensive.

      --
      If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
    3. Re:A string of meaningless words!! by Toreo+asesino · · Score: 4, Informative

      Actually, Exchange works just fine on any browser you want. Some features aren't supported (like sending rich-text emails), but 95% is.

      But then, there's still a bunch of stuff you can't do on web-access for any browser, so this is hardly a show-stopper. Exchange was never meant to be just a web-mail server believe it or not.

      --
      throw new NoSignatureException();
    4. Re:A string of meaningless words!! by canix · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Strange definition of "works just fine" - works fine but not everything works. "Works just about" would have been better.

    5. Re:A string of meaningless words!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Uhm, Exchange 2003 at least certainly works with FireFox - I use it daily. It may not be as rich as the environment you get with IE, but it certainly is perfectly usable.

      But why? It looks like it's been specifically engineered that way, not anything technologically lacking in Firefox or Opera. Try replying to a neat HTML email in Firefox and it reverts to basic text, and looks terribly ugly. Also a simple plain vanilla email from Firefox is rendered in a miniscule size font when read with IE.

      Mere meaningless words on an ethics page will not make the products interoperable or promote user choice. This is 2008, not 1998.

    6. Re:A string of meaningless words!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Why? How about because Firefox wasn't there when Exchange 2003 was released? Because Netscape didn't have an XMLHTTP facility; Ajax came from IE and Outlook Web access.

      But no, really it's a conspiracy that MS didn't have a soothsayer on the Exchange team so they could plan from a browser that wouldn't be created for another year, and when there wasn't a standard way of accessing what was, at the time, an IE only extension. Damn them. DAMN THEM TO HELL.

    7. Re:A string of meaningless words!! by omeomi · · Score: 4, Funny

      Not always. You can't pick IE6 AND Vista.

      Thank God.

      --
      ZuluPad, the wiki notepad on crack
    8. Re:A string of meaningless words!! by ciderVisor · · Score: 4, Funny

      Sex Change Team ?

      --
      Squirrel!
    9. Re:A string of meaningless words!! by somersault · · Score: 4, Interesting

      From http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2006/09/13/428901.aspx

      Why doesn't Premium work on Firefox?

      Before I wrap up, I'd like to address the question we often receive about why OWA Premium doesn't work in non IE browsers. The following is heavily plagiarized from others who have answered this question as well (thanks Kristian!), and if after reading this you are still unclear as to why Premium doesn't work on Firefox, please feel free to post your questions here and I'll do my best to answer them.

      Shockingly, the decision to make OWA Premium only work on IE6+ has nothing to do with forcing people to use other Microsoft products (sorry to have to dispel the conspiracy, and just when Oliver Stone and Kevin Costner were starting pre-production on "OWA: The Movie "). The decision was made, simply enough, due to costs, time, and customer need.

      The browser support we have for OWA Premium and OWA Light is due to usage share among our customers, and the development and test investment it takes to support additional browsers/versions. This doesn't mean the browser statistics for "browsers hitting OWA", which would be skewed based on our previous browser support. We look at the browser statistics for "browsers used on the Internet" and "browsers used within our customer organizations", as well as listening to what customers are asking for, since statistics, surveys, site logs, and research firms never tell the full story. The browser matrix of OWA is about where we allocate our investments, and the need of additional browser support as compared to the need for all the other OWA features our customers want. We have limited resources, limited time, and a very large set of potential features.

      I understand it would be a PITA for them to add in support for 'premium' features in every browser, but FireFox has shown to be pretty popular in general. It's kind of a self fulfilling prophecy to say "we don't add in these features for other browsers because nobody is using those browsers for OWA". If they added in support for those features in firefox they'd probably find the percentage of users using firefox for OWA increases a lot. I know I used to fire up IE just to use OWA.

      --
      which is totally what she said
    10. Re:A string of meaningless words!! by MightyYar · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There is no way to search your messages from any browser except IE... that is a broken email program!

      I don't expect it to be as feature-rich as Outlook, and I don't even care if IE has more features... but SEARCH? As a result, I forward all of my mail to a gmail account. Yeah, yeah, yeah, what if my gmail is compromised. Cry me a river.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    11. Re:A string of meaningless words!! by wanderingknight · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Name me one site that works in IE 7/8 but not IE6. Seriously, pick any.

      Slashdot?

    12. Re:A string of meaningless words!! by Sun.Jedi · · Score: 5, Funny

      Sarah Palin? Is that you?

    13. Re:A string of meaningless words!! by nabsltd · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Well, OWA for Exchange 2003 doesn't ask to install any ActiveX components so I'm not so sure.

      I wouldn't put it past Microsoft to have hard-coded into IE something like "hey, this is the OWA ActiveX...it's cool...install it without asking the user regardless of the security settings they have".

  4. Ethics by symes · · Score: 5, Interesting

    You know, sometimes you'll find organisations with the most detailed and extensive ethical guidelines imaginable. And in the same cupboard you'll find several inches of dust. "A man is the sum of his actions, of what he has done, of what he can do, Nothing else" (Gandhi, M).

    1. Re:Ethics by dnoyeb · · Score: 5, Informative

      Whats funny is that at least what is posted is not MS ethics. Those are Federal laws. They can call them ethics if they want, but not paying off foreign officials is not an ethical question. Its a legal one.

      Anything to do with gaining favor from a foreign government is strictly illegal. (except for attempts to speed up what is the natural process)

  5. Looking for ethics by crispi · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm sure they have some ethics around somewhere? ...somewhere... ...still looking...

    Aha! ActiveEthics(TM).

  6. Before the bashing silliness begins by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'll point out that they've had a big anti-trust target painted on their foreheads (both in the US and the EU) for a long long time now. I'm sure they actually do spend a lot of time making sure they don't run afoul of the local regulators, watchdog groups and newspapers.

    Having said that, Microsoft?? Ethics??? hahahahaha LET THE BASHING BEGIN! Couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch of assholes!

    --
    No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
  7. What is a code of conduct for? by golodh · · Score: 4, Insightful
    The opening post displays a startling lack of insight as far as the purpose of having a Code of Conduct is concerned.

    There really do seem to be people who believe that a Code of Conduct is there to limit what a company can do. Nothing could be further from the truth.

    First and foremost, a Code of Conduct is an integral part of the company's PR effort. Every self-respecting company has to have one. It's cool to have one, and you look stupid and unsophisticated if you don't. Besides, there is no need to be without. There are templates with good-sounding Codes of Conduct that are guaranteed to leave everyone a comfortably free hand.

    Secondly: damage limitation. A Code of Conduct is there to be able to shield a company from legal consequences of unethical conduct by it's employees on its behalf. If an employee is caught red-handed, it really helps if a company is able to state (truthfully) that this action contravenes their official Code of Conduct. This can really limit the damage.

    1. Re:What is a code of conduct for? by b00le · · Score: 5, Insightful

      My own employers have an ethics code which is 33 pages of closely-spaced Maoist gibberish, most of which has nothing at all to do with the ethics of company, or managerial, behaviour and much of which is actually exhortations to blind obedience for employees. All corporations tend to authoritarianism, and these are the people who actually own the world, while blathering about freedom and democracy. The truth is that anyone employed by a large corporation spends most of their waking hours living in a totalitarian dictatorship - could this be what is wrong with Western Civilisation?

      --
      Science fiction for grown-ups...
    2. Re:What is a code of conduct for? by timmarhy · · Score: 3, Interesting

      what i pose to you, is how would you do things better? try running a company where the janitor gets an equal vote on say, corporate strategy and see how long you last.

      --
      If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
    3. Re:What is a code of conduct for? by Tryfen · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Co-Ops - or Workers' Cooperative. One of the largest retailers in the UK is a Co-Op.

      If you work there as a janitor - you own part of the company and thus get a vote. It's working well for them.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worker_cooperative

      --
      If a square is really a rhombus, why aren't all triangles purple?
    4. Re:What is a code of conduct for? by kaaona · · Score: 3, Interesting

      My employer's senior VPs got caught bribing middle eastern royals some years ago in a very public scandal. To atone for their sins, the corporation must implement a 23-point ethics recovery plan contrived by outside consultants. What really pisses off the rank and file employees of this multinational is that we're the ones being forced to watch to a never-ending stream of training videos (like the VD films of past eras) when it's the Rolex and pinkie ring crowd that should get the Clockwork Orange treatment. Corporate ethics, honest politicians, honor among thieves. Yeah, right.

  8. No bribes for OOXML, but by Tuqui · · Score: 4, Interesting

    'Microsoft did not make any payments to foreign government officials' while lobbying for OOXML

    But obviously they pay bribes to squash the Open Source Software Law in Peru

  9. Ethics? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I suspect that if I looked up Ethics in MS Encarta it would probably say

    "Ethics - A county to the east of London"

    ---------
    Essex for non-uk readers

  10. "Do Some Evil" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    "We find the word 'no' to be a bit strong, and not in the best interest of the company or some of its stock holders. For this reason, 'some' evil is allowed if it increases long term growth or profits. Or if Steve Ballmer wishes it. Please keep this in mind in your dealings as we do not want employees to become confused that they are working for Google."

  11. Actual ethics section from the manual by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    *** This page intentionally left blank ***

  12. Weasel words by dutchd00d · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Funny how they say "Microsoft conducts its business in compliance with laws designed to promote fair competition" instead of "Microsoft will not engage in unfair competition". Gotta keep those loopholes open!

  13. Not evil by HangingChad · · Score: 4, Funny

    Microsoft is not evil, they have merely raised incompetence to a level that's indistinguishable from malice. Redmond is not capable of the consistency of purpose and execution that really good evil requires.

    --
    That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
  14. Microsoft is just misunderstood. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    All true, but somewhat beside the point.

    Microsoft is just misunderstood. People think that Microsoft is a software company, but it isn't. Microsoft is an abuse company that sells software as a way of delivering abuse. Microsoft's evil is not a side-effect of their management philosophy, Microsoft's evil is their business model.

    1. Re:Microsoft is just misunderstood. by mysidia · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Sounds about right.

      I heard that the next major version of windows will have a SQL-based file system.

      And General Protection Fault / Illegal operation has occured is being enhanced.

      Not only will windows now kill applications at random, but will corrupt files you were working on at random.

      And the newest enhancement is corrupting files you weren't working on at random.

      Because the documents you weren't working on will be stored on disk within the same binary blob.

      Windows explorer will transparently open the binary blob with all lots of your documents in it as a folder, so you can still drag and drop them to other document stores or send a document as an e-mail.

  15. Clippy here! by Hognoxious · · Score: 4, Funny

    It looks like you're trying to write some ethical conduct guidelines.

    Would you prefer:

    * Vague platitudes and general statements of the obvious
    * Poetic idealism interspersed with wishful thinking
    * A statement that boils down to "We do what we can get away with, no more no less. If it was wrong it would be illegal, wouldn't it?"

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  16. a shocking statement. by filthpickle · · Score: 4, Insightful

    that might be the dumbest thing I have ever read on any messageboard anywhere on the net.

  17. A history of Microsoft's code of ethics by dkegel · · Score: 3, Informative

    I've been keeping tabs on it since about 1999. See http://kegel.com/corporate_ethics.html