Bill Gates: Tech Companies Inviting Government Intervention (axios.com)
In an interview with Axios on Tuesday, Bill Gates warned Apple and other tech giants that they risk the kind of nightmarish government intervention that once plagued his Microsoft if they act arrogantly. Axios reports: The big picture: "The companies need to be careful that they're not ... advocating things that would prevent government from being able to, under appropriate review, perform the type of functions that we've come to count on." Asked if he sees instances of that now, Gates replied: "Oh, absolutely." Why it matters: With the Big Tech companies feeling they're suddenly drawing unfair scrutiny, this is Microsoft's co-founder saying they're bringing some of the problems on themselves, by resisting legitimate oversight.
Of course he would say this, so much of Microsoft's R&D has been outsourced to Chinese and Indian interests of very dubious quality and oversight, the idea of Microsoft ever being able to build a secure enough operating system to make the Fed nervous is laughable. So instead, embrace the fetid wreck that is Windoze and look for an angle!
Only the richest man in the world need not fear a government's invasions, for that government works for him. But the idea of his MSFT shares eroding... that's scary.