Putin's Internet Czar Wants To Ban Windows On Government PCs

SmartAboutThings writes: The Russian government is allegedly looking to ban Microsoft's Windows operating system, increase taxes on foreign technology companies, develop its homegrown OS and encourage local tech companies to grow. All these proposals comes from German Klimenko, Vladimir Putin's new 'internet czar, as Bloomberg describes him. In a 90-minute interview, Klimenko said forcing Google and Apple to pay more taxes and banning Microsoft Windows from government computers are necessary measures, as he is trying to raise taxes on U.S. companies, thus helping local Russian competitors such as Yandex and Mail.ru.

Comments

The obvious direction...

[Frosty Piss]

A re-branded version of some popular Linux distro...

And?

[present_arms]

What's the downside?

Re:And?

[buchner.johannes]

Exactly. With the privacy blunder Microsoft committed with Windows 10, plus its NSA collaboration, it is not unreasonable for other countries to ban Windows for government work and spend the money on alternatives.

Re:And?

[gstoddart]

When the US government is in court with Microsoft over how they could use secret laws to claim Microsoft has to break the laws of other countries ... I fail to see how Microsoft, or any US company, can really be trusted.

This seems an entirely prudent response from Russia. I'm actually surprised more companies aren't actively wondering just how much Microsoft and others can be controlled by the US government.

When the US government is actively trying to ensure backdoors in encryption and the like, why would you assume there aren't any? You think these companies are going to make the international version with no US spying capabilities?

Good luck with that.

Re:And?

[bill_mcgonigle]

If you're in the US, losing the entire Russian government market is a blow to the balance of trade and local economy. This single contract is just representative of everything that's happening across the industry - it's far larger.

But Americans seem to WANT NSL's and are willing to sacrifice the entire tech sector, the basis of their economic growth, for an increased police state. Maybe they'll get to pick the size of their grey tunics.

Re:And?

[LichtSpektren]

I'm actually surprised more companies aren't actively wondering just how much Microsoft and others can be controlled by the US government.

It's probably because if you're a big enough player, Microsoft will let you go over any and all of the source code that it has. So if your people can't find an NSA backdoor in the Windows source, your people probably aren't going find one in any other OS's source.

Source code is meaningless if you don't compile the binaries yourself. AFAIK Microsoft has never allowed anybody to do so.

Re:And?

[gstoddart]

Dude, it's turtles all the way down.

If your secret law which requires you to lie about not having backdoors is invoked, you also have to lie about how people can check that you don't have backdoors. The presence of the secret law which says "you can't tell them about this" pretty much means there is no scenario in which you say "oh, well, gee, they're awesome and trustworthy".

By definition, the US government has taken the public stance that results in the conclusion "NO US COMPANY CAN BE TRUSTED".

Because as soon as you assert your laws trump the laws of the countries in which Microsoft etc do business, you essentially force everyone else to have to conclude "fuck you, go away, we now must assume you're not following the law".

I don't care how fucking big of a player you are, when Uncle Sam can compel them to lie ... you must assume they're lying, and that they couldn't tell you they were lying if they wanted to. Auditing about an NSA backdoor can't be trusted if the laws which would place such a hypothetical back door prevent you from admitting to that back door.

If Microsoft loses this case:

The US government's contention is that it can demand electronic data anywhere US companies keep them, and that it doesn't need to ask a local jurisdiction's permission. A magistrate and a federal judge have agreed. If Microsoft doesn't prevail in the appeal, Smith said it will go to the US Supreme Court.

nobody outside of the US can ever trust a US company ever again.

It really is that simple. Claiming auditing fixes this misses the entire point. Auditing in this case is a fucking fairy tale.

Good idea

[LichtSpektren]

Any government interested in keeping its data and secrets safe but runs Windows is likely populated by imbeciles.

Hopefully Russian computer scientists will focus on either making ReactOS a usable replacement (better for us in the West trying to dump Windows), or making their own Linux distro (I suggest they call it... Kremlinux), which will likely be better for them in the long run.

Follow the Chinese

[Your Anus]

They rolled their own Linux distro to get away from Windows.

In Soviet Ru- aww, screw it.

[Penguinisto]

I can actually see a good reason for Russia dumping Windows... a Linux-based system gives them internal control over the source code to the OS they use - they can fork it and do whatever they want with it internally.

The taxation thing? That's just governments doing what governments tend to do - extract more money from those who produce wealth, especially from outside the borders where it's more politically palatable (and in some cases highly desirable). Shit, they've been doing this for as long as the word "tariff" has existed, and the "on a computer" aspect doesn't really make it all that much different.

Not sure if the pimped local options (e.g. Yandex) are any better or worse, though - only the Russian public can ultimately decide that.

Obligatory poster

[U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M]

You know which one

Im amazed anoyne wants to use Widnwos

[JustNiz]

Heck I dont even trust Windows/Microsoft for home use. If I was Russia or any Government (including the US) I wouldnâ(TM)t allow any PC with Windows on it at all. Who knows what information Windows (especially 10) is collecting and phoning home with, or how many NSA back doors and just plain stupid security holes it has.

Re:Not really about Windows

[JustNiz]

I disgree. I think Windows is both seriously crap for usability and inherently very insecure when compared to most Linux distros, and who knows what info Microsoft (and therefore the US gov) can/is using Windows to collect/phone home with.
Factor in that Linux is free (in both senses), has inspectable source code, is more standards-compliant and supports more hardware, and has more free professional-grade apps, and the decision is (or should be) a complete no-brainer, especially for governments.
In fact it boggles my mind why anyone is still choosing to use Windows for anything at all, except maybe gaming, and then only because many games devs still dont make Linux versions of AAA games, although tthat seems to be (too slowly for me) changing too.

My guesses about Microsoft:

[Futurepower(R)]

My guesses:

1) Basically, Windows is dead. Countries will have to move away from using Microsoft products, since Microsoft has shown it cannot be trusted in ANY way. For example: Windows 10 phones home (A LOT) even with all reporting and telemetry disabled.

2) Microsoft wants to make money in the Facebook and Google way. Microsoft plans to mine all user data on all computers connected to the internet and sell the information.

3) The reason there will be no more versions of Windows is that Microsoft will do what Adobe Systems has done: Force users to move to a subscription model.

4) Windows users will isolate Windows from the internet, and use Linux on a different network with a cheap 2nd computer to connect to the internet. (But how to allow information interchange between the 2 networks?)

5) In response to users isolating Windows from the internet, Microsoft will make Windows stop working after a few days of no internet connection. Adobe Systems does that, in my experience, with CS6. (CS6 is the last version before the forced move to a subscription model.)

6) Satya Nadella, the new Microsoft CEO, was chosen because he was the least annoying candidate. He is apparently not the real controlling manager, but only someone to advertise.

7) Microsoft has a contract with secret U.S. government agencies to make Windows into what users consider to be malware.

8) Because Microsoft often releases buggy software, possibly because it is paid to do so by secret U.S. government agencies, Windows 10, with its many ways to connect to the internet, is now FAR less secure than before.

Not a guess, because verified by others: Microsoft is shockingly badly managed. The cover of the January 16, 2013 issue of BusinessWeek magazine has a large photo of former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer with the headline calling him "Monkey Boy". See the BusinessWeek cover in this article: Steve Ballmer Is No Longer A Monkey Boy, Says Bloomberg BusinessWeek. The BusinessWeek cover says "No More" and "Mr.", but that doesn't take much away from the fact that the magazine called Ballmer Monkey Boy -- on its cover.

Slashdot commenters called Ballmer "Monkey Boy" for years before BusinessWeek called him that on the cover of its magazine.

Worst CEO in the United States: Quote from an article in Forbes Magazine about Steve Ballmer: "Without a doubt, Mr. Ballmer is the worst CEO of a large publicly traded American company today." Another quote: "The reach of his bad leadership has extended far beyond Microsoft when it comes to destroying shareholder value -- and jobs." (May 12, 2012)

7 and 8 are just guesses, but here is evidence:

[Futurepower(R)]

A few of the many stories about backdoors in U.S. hardware:

D-Link: Reverse Engineering a D-Link Backdoor (Oct. 12, 2013)

Arris: 600,000 Arris cable modems have 'backdoors in backdoors', researcher claims (Nov. 20, 2015)

Juniper Networks: Juniper drops NSA-developed code following new backdoor revelations (Jan. 10, 2016)

Cisco: Snowden: The NSA planted backdoors in Cisco products (May 15, 2014)

Netgear: Netgear Patch Said to Leave Backdoor Problem in Router (April 23, 2014)

Windows 8: NSA Backdoor Exploit in Windows 8 Uncovered (Aug. 22, 2013)

Windows: NSA "backdoor" mandates lead to a computer-security FREAK show Quote: "Microsoft Windows OS vulnerable to hackers, thanks to National Security Agency requirements." (March 6, 2015)

Windows: NSA Built Back Door In All Windows Software by 1999 (June 7, 2013)

Hard drives: Breaking: Kaspersky Exposes NSA's Worldwide, Backdoor Hacking of Virtually All Hard-Drive Firmware (Feb. 17, 2015)

Is every backdoor the work of the NSA? There is no way of knowing.