Bill and Melinda Gates Meet Vietnam's PM
,----[ Quote ]
| "Microsoft is very happy with its presence here," Gates said.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070403/vietnam_gates_visit.html?.v=1
It sounds innocent, but here's there for a reason (not just children's
health).
Related:
Gates promotes PC training in Colombia
,----[ Quote ]
| The government and Microsoft also two signed agreements Monday
| stressing Uribe's strong commitment to Microsoft products at a
| time other countries in the region are promoting the non-proprietary
| Linux operating system.
`----
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070319/ap_on_hi_te/colombia_bill_gates
Vietnam is to pay billions of dollars for software copyrights
,----[ Quote ]
| If office software such as Windows and Office is used, the total
| amount for 6 million PCs will be 3 billion USD (600 million x 500 USD).
| And the government may have to pay about 1 billion USD to buy
| software copyrights for its 2 million employees.
`----
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/tech/2007/02/667146/
Open-source software offers affordable option
,----[ Quote ]
| Reducing the widespread use of pirated software in Viet Nam will be
| an uphill struggle because of the high costs of legal software
| products, according to industry experts.
|
| But if shop owners, government offices and local consumers adopt
| open-source software -- which is essentially free -- piracy could fall
| dramatically, they added.
|
| [...]
|
| The government may in the future set up a unit within the Department
| of Post and Telematics that would assist consumers in the use of
| open-source software.
`----
http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=02BUS220107
Vietnam Praised for Economic Reforms
,----[ Quote ]
| "Vietnam has demonstrated to the world its capacity for quantum leaps,"
| said Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer for
| Microsoft Corp.
|
| "It's clear that the government has recognized that broad-based
| reform and economic liberalization are essential to Vietnam's
| integration into the global economy," Mundie said.
|
| [...]
|
| The summit has brought fresh opportunities, with Vietnam signing
| two deals with U.S. companies worth $1.5 billion.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061116/apec_ceo_summit.html?.v=2
Vietnam's Communist Party gets help from Intel
,----[ Quote ]
| The Communist Party's decision to use open-source software matches a
| wider Vietnamese government effort. In 2004, the government announced
| plans to promote the use of open-source software in a bid to reduce its
| IT costs and promote the development of the local software industry.
`----
http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/08/25/HNvietnamintel_1.html?source=rss&url=www.infoworld.com/article/06/08/25/HNvietnamintel_1.html
http://tinyurl.com/zz3s8
Intel Raises Vietnam's High-Tech Profile
,----[ Quote ]
| The latest Intel news, which follows an initial announcement in February
| to invest $300 million in the factory, comes as Vietnam is working hard
| to convince foreign companies to put their trust in a country many
| still equate with war and poverty.
|
| It also is trying to overcome a reputation as one of the region's
| worst violators of intellectual property rights. Vietnam has the
| highest percentage of pirated software in Asia, with copies of
| Microsoft Corp. operating systems available on the street for
| a couple dollars.
|
| [...]
|
| While the country remains a staunch one-party system, the
| communist government is opening up and pushing for economic reforms
| that will lead to a market economy. Vietnam's fledgling high-tech
| sector also got a boost in April when Microsoft Chairman Bill
| Gates visited and was treated like a rock star by hundreds of
| cheering technology students.
|
| [...]
|
| "This is a very positive development, which will help to boost
| information technology industry in Vietnam in general and the
| software industry in particular," said Tran Doan Kim,
| administrative head of Vietnam Software Association, or Vinasa.
| "Vietnam's IT industry badly needs investment from a major
| foreign investor like Intel or Microsoft."
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/061117/vietnam_intel.html?.v=2
Bill Gates Likes To Lie About Vista
,----[ Quote ]
| Denial! C'mon Billy Boy, you know things suck in the land of Vista.
| Just admit it and we'll be on our way.
`----
http://crunchgear.com/2007/02/21/bill-gates-like-to-lie-about-vista/
Gates deposition videos
,----[ Quote ]
| Boies: Do you remember that in January, 1996, a lot of OEMs were
| bundling non-Microsoft browsers?
|
| Gates: I'm not sure.
|
| Boies: What were the non-Microsoft browsers that you were
| concerned about in January of 1996?
|
| Gates: What's the question? You're trying to get me to recall
| what other browsers I was thinking about when I wrote that sentence?
|
| Boies: No, because you've told me that you don't know what you
| were thinking about when you wrote that sentence.
|
| Gates: Right.
|
| Boies: What I'm trying to do is get you to tell me what
| non-Microsoft browsers you were concerned about in January of
| 1996. If it had been only one, I probably would have used the
| name of it. Instead I seem to be using the term non-Microsoft
| browsers. My question is what non-Microsoft browsers were you
| concerned about in January of 1996?
|
| Gates: I'm sure -- what's the question? Is it -- are you asking
| me about when I wrote this e-mail or what are you asking me about?
|
| Boies: I'm asking you about January of 1996.
|
| Gates: That month?
|
| Boies: Yes, sir.
|
| Gates: And what about it?
|
| Boies: What non-Microsoft browsers were you concerned about in
| January of 1996?
|
| Gates: I don't know what you mean "concerned."
|
| Boies: What is it about the word "concerned" that you don't
| understand?
|
| Gates: I'm not sure what you mean by it.
`----
http://wincent.com/a/about/wincent/weblog/archives/2007/02/gates_depositio.php
Bill Gates Busted - Microsoft Lies to Press/Congress
,----[ Quote ]
| Bill Gates has been busted in a big fat lie and we've got the
| statistics to prove it.
`----
http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/2/7/184312/5388
Talking Linux IP with Bill Gates
,----[ Quote ]
| Niall:
|
| OK. Two questions.
|
| 1. Was Microsoft ever directly involved with the SCO Group
| in their lawsuit against IBM, either through BayStar Capital or others?
| 2. Why is Microsoft recently choosing to go after supposed
| patent violations with various operating system companies?
|
| Bill:
|
| I don't know BayStar.
|
| Niall:
|
| It's an investment company. One of their executives testified
| Microsoft invested $50 million to offset SCO's costs in the lawsuit.
|
| Bill:
|
| When?
`----
http://www.niallkennedy.com/blog/archives/2006/12/microsoft-linux-patents.html
The Fear biz is the computer security biz
,----[ Quote ]
| A few days later, I saw what Bill Gates had to say in a recent
| Newsweek interview about the Mac as compared to Vista.
|
| "I mean, it's fascinating, maybe we shouldn't have showed so
| publicly the stuff we were doing, because we knew how long the new
| security base was going to take us to get done. Nowadays, security
| guys break the Mac every single day. Every single day, they come
| out with a total exploit, your machine can be taken over totally. I
| dare anybody to do that once a month on the Windows machine."
|
| My reaction, like most knowledgeable people who read this, was
| open-mouthed astonishment. Now, either Bill is heavily drugged and
| delusional, which I don't believe, or he's just completely ignorant,
| which I also discount, or he knows exactly what he's saying and has
| an ulterior motive. That's my best guess.
|
| Bill Gates knows that he's at best exaggerating and at worst
| completely lying through his teeth. So why's he doing it? Because
| he also knows that Apple's new ads are helping Macs to sell like
| hot cakes, and that security is a big reason why a lot of people
| are throwing up their hands in disgust at Windows and switching
| to Apple's computers.
|
| Who reads Newsweek? Not computer pros, but Joe and Jane
| Computer-user, and Joe and Jane tend to believe what they
| read in the mainstream media when it comes to computers,
| especially when that nice, smart philanthropist Bill Gates
| is the one saying it. He's Mr Computer, after all, so he
| must be right!
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/11/computer_security_fearmongering/
Gates Deposition Audio and Video
,----[ Quote ]
| Here is our local copy of the depositions of Bill Gates in the
| Microsoft anti-trust suit. We did our best to convert the
| original Windows Media files into an Open format, ogg. Your
| webmaster is responsible for the video transcoding, the
| audio-only files are contributed by a Groklaw member that
| requested to stay anonymous.
`----
http://www.groklaw.net/staticpages/index.php?page=GatesDepo
,----[ Quote ]
| From: Bill Gates
| Sent: Saturday, December 05, 1989 9:44 AM
| To: Bob Muglia (Exchange); Jon DeVaan; Steven Sinofsky
| Cc: Paul Mariz
| Subject: Office rendering
|
| One thing we have got to change is our strategy -- allowing Office
| documents to be rendered very well by OTHER PEOPLES BROWSERS is one of the
| most destructive things we could do to the company.
|
| We have to stop putting any effort into this and make sure that Office
| documents very well depends on PROPRIETARY IE capabilities.
|
| Anything else is suicide for our platform. This is a case where Office has
| to to destroy Windows.
`----
http://www.iowaconsumercase.org/011607/2000/PX02991.pdf
Bill Gates Blunder on Vista Pricing
,----[ Quote ]
| If you watched the above video you will recall that bill gates
| said that british consumers will not be paying more than US
| customers, and that any price difference is merely due to
| differences in exchange rate.
`----
http://www.digitalpunks.co.uk/fullnews/35/Bill-Gates-Blunder-on-Vista-Pricing.php/
Gates Foundation Revokes Pledge to Review Portfolio
,----[ Quote ]
| ...the Gates Foundation took down their public statement on this
| and replaced it with a significantly altered version which seems to
| say that investing responsibly would just be too complex for them
| and that they need to focus on their core mission: 'There are
| dozens of factors that could be considered, almost all of which
| are outside the foundation's areas of expertise. The issues
| involved are quite complex...
`----
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/12/1756212&from=rss
Dark cloud over good works of Gates Found
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gatesx07jan07,0,6827615.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Gates sold 100,000 Univision shares-SEC filing
,----[ Quote ]
| The foundation said it sold its remaining stake in Univision,
| which is in the process of being acquired by private investors,
| for an average of $35.34 per share in open market transactions.
`----
http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/articlehybrid.aspx?storyID=urn:newsmlreuters.com:20070105:MTFH49951_2007-01-05_22-11-13_N05298823&type=comktNews&rpc=44
http://tinyurl.com/yll88p
Bill Gates lends cash to buy newspapers
$350 million to MediaNews
,----[ Quote ]
| Gates involvement has been very behind the scenes. In fact many of
| those involved in the deal didn'teven know he was one of the investors.
| It was carried out through the Gates Foundation, the world's largest
| philanthropy outfit.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=33849
,----[ Quote ]
| My background is finance and accounting....
|
| However, the Gates Buffet foundation grant is nothing more than a shell
| game in which control of assets for both Gates and Buffet remain the same.
|
| THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THAT THE ACCUMULATION OF WEALTH BY THESE TWO WILL BE
| MUCH MORE MASSIVE BECAUSE THEY WILL NO LONGER HAVE TO PAY ANY TAXES.
`----
http://www.mail-archive.com/futurew...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/msg03323.html
Politics and tech companies: follow the money
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft took first place with $651,100 given out, while
| Hewlett-Packard gave only $185,550, and Gateway gave a paltry
| $2,000. Microsoft's donations certainly illustrate well the true
| size of the company and the extent of its political concerns.
|
| [...]
|
| For instance, Microsoft's PAC spent $1.7 million in the 2006 election
| cycle, but only a third of this went to federal candidates. What
| happened to the rest? It went to local campaigns, paid out a few
| thousand dollars at a time to groups like "Boal for Iowa House" in
| Ankeny, IA. It also funded other PACs like the "Associated Republicans
| of Texas" and the "Blue Dog Political Action Committee." No race is
| apparently too small to be funded; even Indiana State Representative
| Terri Austin of Anderson, IN got $500.
| Lobbyists
|
| But the real money isn't even given to the candidates directly. It
| goes to lobbyists, which can be safer investments since they stand no
| chance of losing at the polls. The complete-year figures from 2005
| show that Microsoft spent $8.7 million on lobbyist expenses. Almost
| a million dollars of that money went to Covington & Burling, a
| lobbying firm that also represents the National Football League and
| the Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America. Microsoft's
| total spending on lobbying has risen substantially from the $4
| million it spent in 1998.
|
| [...]
|
| Where does it come from?
|
| Although some of this money comes from large employee donations,
| most of it does not. Take Microsoft, for instance; the Center for
| Responsive Politics says that the company received only $302,599
| from individual donors who gave more than $200 in this election
| cycle, only a small fraction of the $1.7 million actually spent.
| As is typical, much of this money came from the company's top
| brass, while the rest was made up of small contributions.
|
| The maximum individual contribution to a PAC is $5,000 a year.
| Melinda, whose occupation is listed in Federal Election Commission
| records as "homemaker," regularly contributes this amount, as does
| Bill. Steve Ballmer coughed up, too. Microsoft can use general
| company funds to support the PAC and its operations, but cannot
| give directly to candidates.
`----
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061110-8194.html
|
|
