Ballmer Defends Microsoft In China 162
An anonymous reader writes "Mr. Ballmer has recently posted on the official Microsoft blog discussing future business in China and defending Microsoft's stance of cooperating with the government even as other large IT companies have begun making public condemnations (Google and Twitter being the most prominent). Couple this with Bill Gate's speech on China's censorship being not all that bad (a speech very well received by Chinese media) and you've got people wondering: Is Microsoft aiming to take Google's place in China?"
google's "do no evil" was .... (Score:3, Informative)
Microsoft is desperate for new revenue... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Of course (Score:5, Informative)
I think China is developed enough to pay for software now, and I'm very sure Microsoft's anti-piracy efforts are genuine -- even though I haven't worked for Microsoft for two years now.
--Greg
Re:Microsoft is desperate for new revenue... (Score:3, Informative)
and is willing to sell the corporate soul to obtain it.
I agree, except to say that Microsoft has no soul to sell, making the sale that much easier. I think Krupp had the same easy path to collusion with the Nazis.
In China there are people and dollars (Score:2, Informative)
M$ says: "Give us the dollars; fuck the people".
OK, fine. That's business.
Except that corporations (from Latin corpus meaning "body") enjoy a legal status as an entity, like a person. It should be possible for this legal entity ("body") to have a conscience. Some seem too, via the actions of their bosses. Maybe Google actually does.
M$ has shown time and time again that it does not.
I want to make an anology with Union Carbide. This is from Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster [wikipedia.org]:
The Bhopal disaster was an industrial catastrophe that took place at a pesticide plant owned and operated by Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India on December 3, 1984. Around 12 AM, the plant released methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas and other toxins, resulting in the exposure of over 500,000 people. Estimates vary on the death toll. The official immediate death toll was 2259 and the government of Madhya Pradesh has confirmed a total of 3787 deaths related to the gas release. Other government agencies estimate 15,000 deaths. Others estimate 8000 to 10,000 died within 72 hours and 25,000 have since died from gas-related diseases.
Some 25 years after the gas leak, 390 tonnes of toxic chemicals abandoned at the UCIL plant continue to leak and pollute the groundwater in the region and affect thousands of Bhopal residents who depend on it, though there is some dispute as to whether the chemicals still stored at the site pose any continuing health hazard. There are currently civil and criminal cases related to the disaster ongoing in the United States District Court, Manhattan and the District Court of Bhopal, India against Union Carbide, now owned by Dow Chemical Company, with an Indian arrest warrant pending against Warren Anderson, CEO of Union Carbide at the time of the disaster. No one has yet been prosecuted.
Wikipedia also has an article on "corporate social responsibility": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_social_responsibility [wikipedia.org]
Being Evil - Just Part of the Business Plan (Score:5, Informative)
With Google "Don't be evil" is a shibboleth that sets an aspirational goal which, as so often happens in the real world, may only be honored in the breech.
With Microsoft "being evil" is, and has always been, at the core of their whole business model.
Re:i will remember this (Score:4, Informative)
"Only to see their stock price plummet. "
Based on what? Google's stock didn't.
Pedantic Police Warning (Score:3, Informative)
Actually, the large semi-aquatic mammals aren't in the picture. The word "hippopotamus" is made up of hippo, coming from the Greek for "horse" (as in 'hippodrome'), and potamus, or "river" (as in 'Mesopotamia'). Hence, a (or 'an', depending) hippocracy would be a nation ruled by horses. Which we've almost had in history, if memory serves, when the mad Roman emperor Caligula had his horse appointed as a senator.
Cheers,