01 September 2009

Microsoft Impresses Itself Upon the Press

Roy Schestowitz has some astonishing documents up on his site that detail Microsoft's attempts to bend the press to its will:


Stephanie/Kate/Chuck, please find attached the PR response plan for the anticipated OSDL announcement. As discussed in our PR meeting this morning. David & I have spoken with Maureen O’Gara (based on go ahead from BrianV) and planted the story. She has agreed to not attribute the story to us. WaggEd actions include reviewing the positioning, review the proposed buddy mail, review Q&As, etc.

As well as the details of this "planting", there's also a fascinating list of journos and whether they are "negative" or "neutral" towards Microsoft. I'm not included in the list, so it looks like I'll never know what Microsoft think of my writing....

10 comments:

Crosbie Fitch said...

Think McCarthy era, but instead of democracy vs communism it's pro-corporation, pro-monopoly vs pro-individual, pro-liberty.

"Either you're with us, or we need to think about internment."

Glyn Moody said...

Perhaps, like Shostakovich, I should keep a suitcase of clothes ready under my bed, then....

Crosbie Fitch said...

The tricky question though is where will you go?

China?

Corporate reach is pretty extensive, and its grip rather fierce.

Glyn Moody said...

I meant it more in the sense of having a suitcase prepared for when they come *to take me away* - just poor old Dmitri did for most of his later life...

Crosbie Fitch said...

Richard Stallman may have unwittingly prepared for the prospects of exile in a visit to Cuba some time ago...

http://blogs.computerworld.com/stallman_on_cuba

For many of the corporate mindset - Free Software = Communism.

But, that's to mistake 'no monopoly'='no property'. Not quite the same as 'no monopoly'='liberty'.

One presumes that people unused to liberty do not see its loss, and so cannot understand the perspective of those who need it.

Anonymous said...

I saw a lot of Rupert Murdoch's tactics used in promoting Vista. When I came out in late '06 with the claim that it was so bad I was switching full-time to Linux, I was kicked about pretty good. When I followed that up with a review of word processors that concluded that MS-OOXML would be a terrible mistake, I've had nonstop attacks since.

I wouldn't mind so bad the bad coding. But it's long (long!) been Microsoft's hypocrisy that makes you laugh at their facade.

Glyn Moody said...

@zaine: you were a pioneer, but today there's an increasingly number of people saying the same, happily.

Roger Lancefield said...

Stephanie/Kate/Chuck, please check out and register this "Glyn Moody" fellow in the "Negative" -- correction -- "First up against the wall" category.

Roger Lancefield said...

Stephanie/Kate/Chuck

Oops. I think I typed that in the wrong box.

Glyn Moody said...

@Roger: well, I'd certainly demand to be first on the list...