Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft Denies Paying Nigerians $400K To Ditch Linux
Da Massive writes "Microsoft has denied paying a Nigerian contractor $400,000 in a bid to retard Linux's movement into the government sector. Media reports alleged that Microsoft had proposed paying that sum to a government contractor under a joint marketing agreement last year, in order to persuade the contractor to replace Linux OS with Windows on thousands of school laptops. Although a joint marketing agreement was drafted to document the best practices for using technology in education, it was never executed, said a Microsoft regional manager for Africa. It became clear, he added, that one customer wanted a Linux OS."
REQUEST FOR URGENT BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP
Hello Partner,
My name is Thomas Hansen and I am a regional manager for Microsoft West, a prominent software company that does business with the Government of Nigeria. In strictest confidence I am writing to you about the matter of a great magnitude of money.
Last year, my company was involved in negotiations with your government in the drawing up of a joint marketing agreement for business. During the last military regime of Nigeria, some government officials set up a fund and awarded themselves contracts for the purchase of software. The present civilian government has set up a contract review panel, and has identified ours as one that can be replaced with no cost to your government. Without further review, these contracts could amount to USD$40,000,000 (forty million U.S. dollars) or more.
I am authorized to offer you 1% of the value of these contracts, USD$400,000, in exchange for the erasure of the competing offer. Please note this transaction is 100% safe and legal. I will commence the transferring of the funds within 72 business hours upon receipt of your bank account number. Please fax your account and driver's license to 1-419-419-4190 to continue with this transaction.
I am looking forward to doing business with you and solicit your confidential reply to this transaction.
Faithfully yours,
Thomas Hansen
John
As they do in other countries (see Eastern Europe for an example), Microsoft will just pay the government officials that award the contract.
It is a lot easier, safer (there are lawyer intermediaries, so it is impossible to catch the perpetrators) and works well, as the government has a "legitimate" reason to increase the budget, and the larger the budget, the merrier it gets.
I know self-replies are bad form. I also know that I wrote Microsoft some places where 'Linux' would've been more appropriate. Sorry for the confusion.
This post advocates a
(X) common sense ( ) spell-checker ( ) semantic verifier
-based approach to reading my above post.
Nigerians have computers?
Dear Mr Ballmer
Good day and compliments. Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dr. (Mrs.) Mariam Abacha. I can tell by the way jump about you are very intelligent man. In order secure the windows market in Africa you know what to do.
Your faithfully,
Dr (Mrs.) Mariam Abacha (M.O.N)
$400k to convince one government contractor seems like a lot to fork out. Most bribes, especially in third world countries, are had for less. Not that I'd put it past Microsoft to pull something underhanded like this, it's just that poor economic decisions aren't one of their hallmarks. Sorry, but I have to side with Bill on this -- it just doesn't pass the sniff test. $400k is enough money to live like a king or queen in those economic situations, and probably better than most government officials; the average per-year income in that country is just over $2k.
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
I had a Nigerian colleague once and he told me you get nothing done in Nigeria without paying the right people. So actually this is not news (and certainly not a story ;) :) ), but normal business practice.
-- Cheers!
They're nigerians, not niggers.
In this case though, I hope MS did pay the bribe...
You know that any money you pay will just get you nowhere and you'll need to pay more fees later.
...that they have to pay to get people to use it?
I've been patiently waiting for my royalty checks from that prince i have been sending mass amounts of money to.
He who denied it, supplied it.
I was born in Nigeria and my dad worked there for many years. He will tell you that the Government then (1971) was corrupt and would sell their own mothers for a belly full of ruin (that is, a glass of whisky). We have seen nothing since then to change our minds.
My web domain.
Microsoft could have paid $400,000 and the Nigerians could have gone ahead and used linux anyway. Bribes only work when you trust people to stay bought.
$400K should be enough for everybody.
Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
Microsoft didn't pay the Nigerians to ditch Linux, Ballmer just fell for one of the scams
I am not stubborn. I am right!
No, it's just you. Truthfully.
You can't win a war without staying on the offensive. The best you can attain with that strategy is a stalemate. A loss is more likely.
At digg.com it appears that either Microsoft has paid people to come and digg down negative comments and/or digg up positive ones. Even if you comment stating your belief or feeling (and your points are valid) you'll get dugg way down. This just started happening about the time that Microsoft announced Windows 7. I guess they understand the digg effect and how sites such as slashdot and digg play a big part in perceptions about technology.
I'm not the only one that recognized that. Others have commented as well. I do believe that it will be the start of the decline of digg as people will loose trust in it if that behavior continues.
Now maybe they didn't pay anyone and it is just a few people that have set up multiple accounts to alter the vote. Who knows, but something is going wrong.
Maybe you are just reading too much digg.com regarding Microsoft products and you noticed the effect too, attributing it to the wrong thing.
But, no, really, slashdot has not been coming down harder on Microsoft that they deserve. In reality, they haven't even begun to touch the breadth of the insanity Microsoft has caused to the software industry.
You can lead a man with reason but you can't make him think.