Microsoft grateful for Vienna Manipulations?

[Georg C. F. Greve]

FYI.

[ http://www.fsfe.org/fellows/greve/freedom_bits/microsoft_grateful_for_vienna_manipulations ]

Microsoft grateful for Vienna Manipulations?

   greve

   Friday 20 January 2006

   Many of you read the GROKLAW article on how Microsoft manipulated
   the Vienna Conclusions of the United Nations World Summit on the
   Information Society (WSIS). Many people around the world spoke up
   against this form of political manipulation and control by joining
   the call to "Fellow Me: Say NO! to Vienna Manipulations"

   Two months later, Austrian chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel has yet to
   answer the inquiries by the media about these outright
   manipulations of a United Nations event he himself opened and was
   patron of, and the results of which were distributed officially by
   the Austrian government at the summit in Tunis. I would not hold my
   breath, though: "Schweigekanzler" was selected as "word of the year
   2005" in Austria. It could be translated to English as "silent
   chancellor", or maybe even "hush-up-chancellor".

   Microsoft however seems to have loved so much discretion. At least
   that was my first thought when I read the article "Microsoft looks
   beyond Vista, sees Vienna" on CNET News.com:

     "The 'Blackcomb' code name has been changed to 'Vienna,' but we
      do not have any other details to share on timing or focus,"
      Microsoft said in a statement to CNET News.com. "This does not
      reflect a big change for us; we have used city code names in the
      past, which are derived from cities/locations in the world known
      for great 'vistas'--the kinds of places we all want to see,
      experience and that capture the imagination. Vienna fits with
      this concept."

   Vienna fits the concept of a place that Microsoft likes to see,
   huh?  Given the lack of response to such outright political
   manipulation at the highest levels, I'm not surprised.

   Even for Microsoft it is rather obscene that they would so
   blatantly choose the name of a city where they were caught
   red-handed while manipulating the outcome of a United Nations
   conference. Apparently Microsoft feels like rubbing in their
   superiority to concepts like democracy.

   Even though I had hoped this was public knowledge by now, it really
   seems that not enough people have heard about this. So please put
   something along these lines in as many places as possible:

        Microsoft likes Vienna and what it stands for? I don't:
        Fellow Me: Say NO! to Vienna Manipulations

   Here is the HTML blurb you could use for that: vienna_manipulations.html
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