Nigerian Government Nixes Microsoft's Mandriva Block

An anonymous reader writes "After trying to bribe a local supplier with a $400,000 marketing contract, Microsoft has still apparently lost out in trying to woo Nigeria's government to use Windows over Linux. Microsoft threw the money at the supplier after it chose Mandriva Linux for 17,000 laptops for school children across Nigeria. The supplier took the bait and agreed to wipe Mandriva off the machines, but now Nigeria's government has stepped in to stop the dirty deal."

Wow, just wow!

[Bryansix]

Microsoft really did try to Bribe them. That's crazy. I hope this makes the mainstream media.

Re:Wow, just wow!

[ArcherB]

My question is this:

Did he get to keep the bribe?

Re:Wow, just wow!

[bkr1_2k]

What world do you live in? People sell top secret information on nuclear weapons systems for far less money than that. And if you think $400k to an individual is peanuts, you're already in the top .5-1% of the world's incomes and have no concept of how the rest of us plebes live.

Re:Wow, just wow!

[jc42]

[O]ne of the guys I worked with came from Pakistan. He said he could live the rest of his life in PK on $150,000 (converted to local currency) with a nice house, servants, and no worries.

Hey, give the Microsoft management a break here. They've only been doing this bribery thing since about 1999, when they started making "campaign contributions" to help bring about a US administration that would stop the Justice Dept's lawsuit and settle on terms favorable to MS.

But, let's face it, 8 years really isn't enough time to figure out the rules for bribery everywhere in the world. To MS's management, $400,000 may not seem like a large amount. Most of their experience is with bribing US government officials, and that's probably somewhat of a minimal bribe in Washington. You can't get a nice house with servants in the US for $150,000, you know. You can't get a condo in DC (without servants) for that price.

But we can rest assured that MS's management is learning from this latest incident. They have people who read slashdot, so they have just been notified of the bribery "exchange rate" in Pakistan. As a result of their discussions with the legal folks in Nigeria, they are probably getting a feel for what's a reasonable price there. Next time, they won't make the mistake of over-bribing, since that tends to get noticed.

And we should all understand that corporate bribery is a lot more difficult than political bribery. Corporations are a lot more secretive with bribery, as they are with other company secrets, and it can take some time to learn just what sort of bribe various officers of different companies expect.

So give them time. In another decade or so, they'll have detailed internal databases detailing the proper approach to bribery in companies and governments worldwide. Then we won't hear stories about dumb mistakes like this one.

Actually, it's sorta funny they wouldn't already have access to a good database of bribery info. You'd expect that some of their "partners" or purchased companies would have it all sitting in a computer somewhere. Maybe they just haven't thought to ask around to see if the data is already available for purchase. Or, more likely, available for quiet download after a reasonable under-the-table payment.

If anyone knows where such a database might be found, maybe you should post the URL here. Think of all the companies you'll be helping. OK; forget that; I know you aren't going to give it out for free. But maybe some pointers to help the "just curious" reach you.

No, no, no, that's not how its done.

[bflynn]

The way it works is that the people in Nigeria send you money. I'm waiting on my 5% commission for moving $48,000,000,000 right now!

I can see the headline now

[btarval]

Microsoft can't even pay people to use Windows

Yes, this is a P.R. disaster in the making, in more ways than one.

Nothing to see here - just a 419 scam

[cliveholloway]

Jeez, and they didn't even blink when they wrote the check out to "Father Bukkake".

I bet MS feel like idiots right now for that one...

Re:

[Chris Mattern]

Dude, it's Nigeria. It only makes the news if they *didn't* get bribed.

Chris Mattern

Re:

[Hatta]

The article seems to indicate that the company that supplied the computers was paid off to do this. That's not really a bribe, it's just business. If they were paying off the government officials to mandate Windows on these computers, that would be a bribe.

Re:Wow, just wow!

[Znork]

"That's not really a bribe, it's just business."

It's Microsofts standard way of bribing, you mean. Offering 'marketing incentives' is the way they've done everything from get people on certain ISO boards to making sure PC makers dont install Linux.

They seem to get away with it on some technicality, even if they couldn't get away with giving actual money directly.

In the end it's a legal grey area. For some companies and some situations it would be perfectly fine, but in the case of the convicted monopolist, I dont think there's any doubt that it's their practice of getting around legal language prohibiting certain anti-competetive behaviour.

And morally, it's reprehensible and easily equatable with bribery. Both for those accepting the money and for those giving it.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

You seriously place buying lunch as equivalent to giving $400,000?

Re:Wow, just wow!

[darkonc]

If it's a lunch for you and your entire family,
on the French Riviera,
at a 5 star hotel, and
you 'had to wait' 2 weeks for your dinner host to show up, and
they hinted at 'looking forward to' another such 'friendly dinner' if ... 'certain things happen',

then -- yeah. I think I would. Granted you have a bit more freedom in terms of what you do with $400K in cash, but some people would fall for the, uhnm, "dinner" too.

It really is all thinly veiled bribery -- it's just that you want to generate a certain plausible deniability should 'someone with an axe to grind' (e.g. the fraud squad) should come looking for evidence of illegal actoin.

You see, it's one thing to have a mysterious $300K deposit to your savings account just before you took an unusual action. It's something else to prove that 'a 1-hour dinner meeting' (after that 'impolite' 1 week wait on the Riviera) was bribery connected to that same unusual action. .. Similarly with that $400K 'marketing deal' that was 'entered into on it's own merits' (and only cost you $100K to fulfill on).

Yeah, the smoke and mirrors costs something, but it's alot cheaper than being involved in an messy bribery trial.

Still illegal

[trolltalk.com]

Ever since the Lockheed bribery scandal [wikipedia.org], its been illegal for US citizens or corporations to bribe anyone, anywhere in the world, same as its illegal for them to engage in pedophilia abroad.

So, how much $$$ (campaign contributions - the only "legal" bribe) Microsoft is going to spend to "make this go away"?

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

IANAL, but I believe the pertinent law is the FPCA = Foreign Corrupt Practices Act [wikipedia.org].

Re:

[toriver]

Or in the case of sexual conduct with a teen under the age of consent: statutory rape.

(I just mention it because a lot of people think that doing that makes you a pedophile, but the latter are attracted to pre-pubertal children. Age of consent on the other hand varies from 12-21 around the world and thus is hard to use as a marking stick in that sense.)

Re:

[Z00L00K]

In some countries it's also illegal to try to bribe someone. In Sweden it's under the name "bestickning".

Re:Wow, just wow!

[Rei]

The thing is, in poor countries like Nigeria (especially in Nigeria), bribes are essentially standard. It's hard to get anything done in some countries (Nigeria included) without at least small bribes. What generally makes news is when the bribes are discovered by the western press. That doesn't change the fact that almost every business that works there is going to get dragged into that bribery system in one way or another if they wish to operate.

The really big surprise isn't the bribes. It's that the Nigerian government intervened to *stop* the bribes. Now, that could just mean that they didn't get their cut, but...

Re:Wow, just wow!

[Sique]

But that's the reason bribery has such a stronghold. "Everyone does it, so I must do it myself."

Re:Wow, just wow!

[jabuzz]

It's a "Very Bad Thing" because it restricts overall economic activity, which prevents development which keeps Africa dirt poor. Endemic bribery might be the norm in large parts of Africa, however that does not make it a good idea.

Re:Wow, just wow!

[nwanua]

The thing is, in rich countries like the US (especially the US), bribes are essentially standard, except they're called tips, golfing trips, expensive dinners, payola, campaign contributions, plane tickets to Hawaii. It's hard to get anything done in some countries (US included) without at least small "incentives". What generally makes news is when the bribes are discovered by the western press, resulting in scandals and "tighter legislation". That doesn't change the fact that almost every business that works there is going to get dragged into that "incentive" system in one way or another if they wish to operate. Try building _any_ structure on the East coast of the US.

The really big surprise isn't the "incentives". It's that the American government intervened to *stop* the "incentives". Now, that could just mean that they didn't get their cut, but...

there... just adding some perspective...

Re:Wow, just wow!

[Kadin2048]

Ummm Sooo. This is common practice. Even in America or [Gasp] Europe!
Most bribary laws punish the person to accecpts the bribes not the person who gives the bribes, unless it is extortion. Bringing Clients to an expensive luch, giving them tickes to a sports game. It happends, and because the laws are targted at the reciever not the giver there is no reason for Microsoft not to try. So they lost the Deal, They wouldn't have gotten it in the first place if they didn't try. IT is really a no loss situation for them and it gave them a better chance of winning. It is not big news... Sorry.

No, you're incorrect. It is illegal for a U.S. firm to bribe foreign officials, even if the bribery is legal in that country. This is because of a piece of legislation called the "Foreign Corrupt Practices Act," or FCPA.

Now personally, setting aside Microsoft, I think the FCPA is stupid, and tends to just put U.S. businesses at a disadvantage versus businesses from other countries that don't try to apply their own laws extra-territorially, or just generally have a more relaxed attitude towards bribery. It's a piece of legislation that was made at at time when the U.S. world leadership position was a lot stronger; now, it's just shooting ourselves in the foot.

But anyway, despite being stupid, the FCPA is law, and I strongly suspect that what Microsoft did was blatantly illegal under it. Not that they'll be punished or anything, but it's illegal.

RTFA

[shadow_slicer]

It's not a bribe--there is no individual that is receiving the money. Instead, Microsoft would spend $$ marketing the TCS's classmate PC in Africa (if they choose windows).

Things like this occur in businesses every day in America. This is neither illegal or even shady. As usual the slashdot summary is slightly biased.

You sir, are a moral pygmy.

[sporkmonger]

I wish I could mod Tom Lantos up, insightful [slashdot.org]. Bribery is wrong, no matter where it's done. Getting ahead financially at the expense of morality does the world no good, and it ought to have repercussions. Engaging in bribery because the country you're doing it in doesn't object just makes you a moral pygmy.

Re:"Lobbying"

[tsa]

Hehe, I had a Nigerian colleague once, and after some talks with him I told my Dutch friend who lives in America that bribery in America might even be worse than in Nigeria. "Yes," he told me, "but here it's legalized!"

Re:

[Bryansix]

It seems like a complete win for the US. Not so good for Nigeria, who's Lunix Kidz will only learn how to use Lunix's SENDMAIL for their bulk email scams. But hey, maybe years of cranking up their OLPC's will give them strong wrists for becoming restaurant bus boys and cab drivers.

Translation: My wife works at Microsoft so I will say anything to protect their place in the world.

A new low...amazing

[Weaselmancer]

You know you're corrupt when the government of Nigeria steps in to block your shady deal.

Re:A new low...amazing

[athdemo]

I know, someone was actually going to give them a large sum of money, too. I'm totally lost as to how this could have happened.

Re:A new low...amazing

[gad_zuki!]

DEAR MADAMES;m,

I AM BILLIONAIRE AMERICAN BILLY GATES III CEO. I OFFER TO YOU A BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY YOU ARE INTERESTED IN. CONFIDENTIAL. PLEASE CONTACT ME ASAP IF YOU CAN HELP ME MOVE 10,000 WINDOWS INTO YOUR COUNTRY. BECAUSE OF INTERNATIONAL REGULATION I NEED YOUR HELP IN THIS IMPORTANT MATTER. FOR YOUR HELP IN THIS TRANSACTION YOU WILL RECEIVE 400,000 AMERICAN DOLLARS. GOD BLESS.

BILLY GATES III CEO

Re:A new low...amazing

[Azar]

It takes a thief to spot a thief, I suppose.

Now, now.

[pavon]

The Nigerian officials are just upset the supplier is the one being bribed and not them :)

It's just tipping

[Harmonious Botch]

Seriously, you have a very good point. That is the way business is done in some third world countries. They don't consider it wrong. Anyone with power expects to be paid, much like waitresses expect to be tipped here.
Microsoft apparently failed to pay all of the right people.

Re:

[wattrlz]

Most first and second world countries too.

Re:It's just tipping

[xcomputer_man]

Actually, I don't think so. Nigeria has had a reputation for a long time for being one of the most corrupt countries in the world, but ever since the new president Umaru Yar'Adua was elected earlier this year, he has been on a major crusade to eliminate corruption and enforce the rule of law. So I'm not surprised that this happened -- it's only one in what is becoming a long list of surprising moves by the Nigerian government lately. He was the first president ever to declare his personal assets. Just yesterday we heard that he revoked several arbitrary allocations of prime real estate in the most upscale suburb of Abuja (the capital city) that were given by the previous administration to top government officials. One of the plots of land was allocated to Yar'Adua himself. I lived in Nigeria for 17 years, and I have never heard of a president revoking his own land allocation.

I'd say Microsoft *did* try to bribe someone thinking it was business as usual in Nigeria, and the federal government heard about it and said "Uh, no. You can take your $400,000 and shove it."

Re:

[TheLink]

I wonder how long Umaru will live for.

If he's actually cleaning things up, I hope he somehow escapes harm for a long long time - Nigeria does need a big clean up, and given the amount of oil and other stuff it has it could actually do very well if all the money just wasn't draining away due to corruption.

Re:

[dch24]

The interesting thing is that, whether he lives to a ripe old age or not, his reputation -- even on slashdot -- is immortal.

I suppose that other discussions about our civil liberties in the UK, the US, and elsewhere, come down to the same thing. Live comfortably for a few years? Or risk life and limb for liberty, and maybe your grandchildren will remember you. "Give me liberty, or give me death" - Patrick Henry, 1775 [wikipedia.org]

Re:

[Thing 1]

The interesting thing is that, whether he lives to a ripe old age or not, his reputation -- even on slashdot -- is immortal.

Well, as Woody Allen said, "I don't want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve it through not dying. "

It's everywhere

[mpapet]

FYI: While it's nice to see some blow-by-blow news regarding government contracting, it's pretty much this way everywhere in the world.

The GSA and Sun Microsystems are being accused of corruption in the U.S. http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/11/08/iowa-senator-rips-investigation [theinquirer.net]

Re:

[HangingChad]

Recent spam message plogging mail filters around the world...

GREETINGS MY NAME IS STEVE BALLMER I WAS referring to you by a trusted friend for a matter of great urgency. The government of Nigeria died and left no heir for 17,000 laptops awaiting installation of the WINDOWS operating system. We will happily pay you to for the sum of $400,000 USD for your assistance in getting rid of teh suck Linux and installing the wonderful operating system for the children.

Re:A new low...amazing

[AdamWill]

"One wonders if Mandriva bribed the gov't in Nigeria first.."

Heh. Even if you didn't believe we wouldn't be inclined to do that, we don't have the *capacity*. Microsoft can get $400,000 out of Bill's petty cash jar. We couldn't get $400,000 from anywhere.

If this really came down to a battle to see who could provide the biggest...er...factory-to-dealer incentive, we'd be dead in the water.

(I work for Mandriva, in case you didn't figure that one out yet).

Re:A new low...amazing

[AdamWill]

Yes, we raised $1.6m for the Linbox acquisition. It was spent on the Linbox acquisition. We also raised a couple of million in venture capital. That *is* our capital for the foreseeable future. All of it.

People sometimes really don't appreciate the difference in scale between a company like Microsoft and one like Mandriva. Microsoft makes $28m *profit* in a day. For Mandriva, $2m of *capital* is a huge investment.

Who would've guessed

[Nazlfrag]

It shouldn't be suprising that the folks who actually want to use them would want to keep the tried and tested localised Mandriva over the untested XP that costs more and would cripple the system. Hopefully they will all end up this way, but I don't blame them for accepting the MS bounty.

Re:Who would've guessed

[varmittang]

Your statement so wrong. From the Article:"In fact, Intel has tested and certified three operating systems for the Classmate PC: Mandriva Linux, Metasys Linux and Microsoft Windows XP Pro." So it has been tested and it works. Mod me down if you want, but your statement will still be wrong.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:

[postbigbang]

Actually, Microsoft's localization is pretty good compared to some of the FOSS projects I've seen, not that it excuses Microsoft for other bad behavior. And no country must use Windows in English unless they really want to. There are good and viable choices other than Windows for all but the most obscure languages. See the planetlimux.org site for one interesting adaptation in municipal government as an example.

Re:

[Nazlfrag]

Sure, that's easy to assume, but you are dead wrong. They tailored their OS for Nigerians specifically because of this contract. Additional to localisation they trialled them extensively, thus the reaction. MS just stepped in once the deal was done with a half hearted effort that has left the people on the ground wanting. They chose the superior OS for their needs.

I wish

[mastershake_phd]

I wished they pay me to use Windows...

Re:

[trolltalk.com]

>"When you consider the efficiency gains and TCO when you migrate to MS and the entire .NET framework, Microsoft practically *is* paying you to use Windows."

So I guess that by using only linux both at home and the office means I'm "practically" supporting Microsoft financially???

Actually, in a way I guess I am, since otherwise I'd switch to a Mac, and then everyone else would have iEnvy(TM) and consider switching too. And we all know, "once you go mac, you never go back."

wow

[someone1234]

And I thought they successfully bribed the government.
Heh, apparently there are still honest people in there!
Now just let's hope Mandriva doesn't screw it and their machines actually work :)
There goes 400k for bad publicity for M$.

Re:

[denzacar]

Nah...

They just didn't bribe the RIGHT people with ENOUGH money.

Well.. at least they didn't bribe them with 640k.
Who could stand all those 640k jokes - AGAIN.

Re:

[NatasRevol]

Hey, $640k is enough for me!!!

What I like most is...

[Dishevel]

That Microsoft didn't even try to push their new OS.

Re:

[d3m0nCr4t]

It just shows that even corrupt dealers have their standards... :p

STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL

[Tackhead]

GOD BLESS YOU!

My name is Stephen Ballmer I am the Chair Executive of William Gates of Redmond in the United State of America. I am contacting you with regard to transfer of a huge sum of laptops from the OLPC project. Though I know that a transaction of this magnitude will make any one apprehensive and worried, but I am assuring you that everything has been taken care off, and all will be well at the end of the day. I decided to contact you due to the urgency of this transaction.

Waiting for apologies...

[MarkVVV]

I'm dying to hear what do those people that tried to defend M$ on the last story about this subject have to say. And you also owe apologies to Mandriva CEO, too...

The Nigerian official was furious.

[140Mandak262Jamuna]

Because he did not get his proper cut. Let us not hang our hats on the Govt of Nigeria or Azerbaijan. The real battle is for the mind share of corporate America. That is the fountainhead of all the money MSFT is using to subvert ISO or bribe vendors in third world countries.

Just an hour back there was this story about MSFT including some game vendor's malformed copy protection driver for six year into every damn computer in the world. What percentage of them played that software? Why a corporate server that might end up in a blade rack without even have a dedicated monitor or mouse got this driver? Why are the corporations not demanding full disclosure of what dlls are needed and what are not? Why isn't there a third party service that will advice corporations which components of Windows could be safely removed by looking at the company policies and use patterns?

As long as the customers accept everything dished out by MSFT patiently, there is nothing we can do to make it change. Education of the customers is the most important thing if we are going to rescue computing from this monoculture.

Re:

[JK_the_Slacker]

My computer doesn't have a malformed copy protection driver. You must be one of those Windows users.

Re:

[Dishevel]

Why isn't there a third party service that will advice corporations which components of Windows could be safely removed by looking at the company policies and use patterns?

Not exactly what you want but very close is http://www.blackviper.com/ [blackviper.com] They have wonderful sections on XP and Vista Services. At least its a start.

Serves them right.

[KiwiCanuck]

How dare they bribe a non-gov official! But seriously, I'd love to see Penguins take over the world.

Business Ethics

[hyades1]

See what happens when you cheap out? A few million bucks in the Swiss bank accounts of some high government officials would, I'm sure, have smoothed the shiny golden road to a stunning African Vista.

Re:

[bflong]

stunning African Vista.

Not even... they were pushing XP...

Dirty?

[handy_vandal]

Nigeria's government has stepped in to stop the dirty deal.

I am not a lawyer, in Nigeria or anywhere else, but is this deal really "dirty"?

The article tells us little:

"After public statements from Mandriva officials implied the marketing deal is legally questionable, Microsoft said last week that it complies with international law and the law of the countries in which it operates."

Mandriva can "imply" that the deal is "legally questionable", but this tells us nearly nothing about the actual legal situation.

Setting aside reflexive Microsoft-bashing, this may be a case of business as usual, legitimately within the scope of the law.

Until someone clarifies the matter by citing actual law, "dirty" seems like an overstatement to me.

-kgj

Bribes are still bribes, even for companies.

[emj]

I have no idea how this deal was made, but if you got my company a $400.000 marketing deal I'm sure I could see to it that that money comes into my personal possession. Things get more complicated when you have big companies and lawyers, but when you pay a company to do something it is still a bribe, perhaps not always legally but morally.

Re:

[handy_vandal]

Things get more complicated when you have big companies and lawyers, but when you pay a company to do something it is still a bribe, perhaps not always legally but morally.

I agree about the moral aspect. But courts are supposed to operate on the basis of legal precedent, irrespective of morality.

Personally, I think it's a bribe. But the article doesn't use the words "dirty" or "bribe". All I'm asking for is clarification from someone who has the facts.

-kgj

France and Nigeria

[Anonymous Coward]

I learned that Mandriva is a French outfit. So, perhaps a handiwork of Sarkozy?

Should this actionable against Microsoft?

[erroneus]

Now that the dirty deal is uncovered, the first question is:

"If this were done in the US, would it be considered illegal?"

The next question would be:

"If yes, then should Microsoft be prosecuted?"

Further:

"If not, then why not?"

And for all the Microsoft apologists:

"Is this sort of behavior acceptable from your favorite software vendor/publisher/distributor, business partner? And if so, why is it acceptable? If not, please elaborate?"

Re:

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

Now that the dirty deal is uncovered, the first question is:
"If this were done in the US, would it be considered illegal?"
The next question would be:
"If yes, then should Microsoft be prosecuted?"

Well, this is gonna be another slashdot bullshit claim with no backup because I am too lazy to go digging...

My understanding is that US law requires that US corps not do things in other countries that would be illegal in the USA. My belief is based on some news articles about a US company that was caught bribing foreign government officials in order to get contracts with them - might have been IBM in Brazil now that I think about it. Apparently what they did in the foreign countries was technically not i

Re:

[m0shen]

While I do not condone microsoft's actions, I must point out that this is how international firms operate in nations that are perceived as "corrupt". Funds used for bribery are chalked up as business expenses. While in this instance, microsoft's actions are particularly spiteful and could be considered juvenile, I would like to recreate a scenario from a business ethics course. You work for company A. Company A produces a brand new AIDS cure. You have been notified that your first massive shipment of A

I thought corruption was only a 3rd world problem

[bogaboga]

If what I am reading is correct, then that's good for Nigeria. I must admit that I thought corruption was a problem of the 3rd world alone. But now, we see that a [major] US corporation was perpetuating corruption.

No wonder our economy is almost in doldrums. Can we sue Microsoft in any court of law? The other day, a senator from the south was fighting corruption charges.

To those Africans and poor nations of the world that I was prejudiced about, I say: "I am sorry," since I now realize that the "cancer" of

Re:I thought corruption was only a 3rd world probl

[Anonymous Coward]

I must admit that I thought corruption was a problem of the 3rd world alone. But now, we see that a [major] US corporation was perpetuating corruption.

Finally got tired of living under a rock, huh?

Update 2: Windows Afterall

[Dak RIT]

"'We are sticking with that platform,' said the official, who would not give his name.

The organisation reserves the right to choose whichever platform is best for Nigerian students, which could also include Microsoft's software in the future, said the official."

Does anyone else get the impression that's code for: "$400,000 would go a long way in convincing me that Microsoft's software is best for Nigerian students."? Sounds like Microsoft just forgot to include Nigerian officials in on the deal.

Microsoft tacts are to ensure vendor lock.

[HermMunster]

These countries building their technologies need to try at least to understand the negative impact of vendor lock in. With open source the road is full bright and open, like a true vista. With windows you condemn your nation to Microsoft's spyware. (As Vista has 47 programs that collect information about you and send it back to Microsoft, not counting the WGA/WGN. This process is essentially the equivalent of say having Walmart coming to your home on any given Sunday morning asking to search your belongings to ensure that those items in your home that come from Walmart are legally purchased, just because you are a shopper at Walmart. Because Microsoft does it with hidden programs (or hidden cameras) makes no difference. You wouldn't allow Walmart to place hidden cameras in your home).

We all know about the vendor lock ins such as DirectX which keep you playing on and paying for Windows. With true OpenGL development you could find games on a number of platforms. There are many more lock in technologies and DRM was Microsoft's most important one until everyone revolted over it. It is still their number one hope to lock you into the Windows platform.

So, let's hope that Nigeria has the experienced personnel in the right positions of influence capable of understanding what is happening to ensure that it doesn't happen there. If so, let's hope other regional governments learn from the negatives of vendor lock in and the sometimes illegal influences Microsoft exerts.

90% of all people can benefit from Linux in that it does what those people need it to do, day in and day out. It is solid, safe, trusted, proven, performs very well, and is attractive. Most of the popular distros have taken the approach of ease of use for the customer, the development cycle for open source is superior to the closed source development cycle. The access to the programming code is also an incredible benefit unavailable (likely never will be available) to the government and the peoples of the world, whereas with open source if there's a conflict bug you can look at both project's code and resolve your issue yourself (as a programmer for some group).

Hopefully we'll see that other governments understand that it is important to put measures into place that secure them from the influences and lock ins created by using Microsoft products.

I feel a disturbance in the force...

[yorugua]

... as if 17.000 chairs cried in despair and then suddenly were silenced.

Not illegal?

[Anonymous Coward]

After public statements from Mandriva officials implied the marketing deal is legally questionable, Microsoft said last week that it complies with international law and the law of the countries in which it operates.

Except for the US and the EU, of course, where it is a convicted monopolist.

In fact, the statement "Microsoft complies with law" is demonstrably false. The courts have spoken.

I grew up in the "third world"

[cesman]

I for one am very happy to see this stopped! I grew up in a "third world" county (Belize), when my siblings and I joined our parents in the US, I recall one of the first things they did was get us a computer (CoCo 2). I wouldn't be where I am today if they had not (good job and my own little project http://mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html/ [mysettopbox.tv] ). While I did do some growing up on Windows, it has been almost 9 years since I switched to using Linux exclusively at home. As someone that grew up in a developing nation, I firmly believe there is no better option for it that FLOSS.

Education and technology can level the playing field. Perhaps in the first world, we can afford to argue about the merits of FLOSS vs closed source. However, this isn't the case when you are worried about where your next meal is coming from or if you can afford to vaccinate your child. The Gates Foundation could really show it's altruism by helping to support OLPC or the Classmate PC.

Cecil

Cue 419 Scam

[Spy der Mann]

Dear sir: I am the former CEO of a Nigerian IT company. Lately we had been offered a large amount of money by Microsoft Corporation in order to install Microsoft Windows on very cheap laptops, but due to excessive government regulations, the deal has been ruined. Now I have been forced to leave the country, along with a hundred million dollars, that I'm willing to share, provided that...

Who to blame?

[dafradu]

Big corporations bribing government officials, i've seen this a million times, i'm brazilian...

Just recently it was Cisco in Brazil http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/16/2334253 [slashdot.org] and now MS in Nigeria. I've only seen people been arrested or fired, couldn't the corporation be fined or something? Apart from theirs reputation, the corporation itself in the end is clean to continue doing its dirty business...

That leaves the obvious question...

[Minwee]

So what is going to happen to all of the money?

Fortunately, I happen to have a contact at the Technology Support Centre who has offered to cut me in for a 40% share if I can help him get the money out of Nigeria. He contacted me personally on this highly confidential financial transaction after my having been recommended by an associate in confidence of my ability and reliability...

François, from Mandriva

[not_hylas( )]

François, from Mandriva

Says it all.

http://blog.mandriva.com/2007/10/31/an-open-letter-to-steve-ballmer/ [mandriva.com]

Why does MS insist on exhibiting NO CLASS?
Duck Amuck?
Ignore them and hopefully they'll go away.
(blush - is MY BIAS showing - blush, bats eyelashes to looney tunes soundtrack)

http://www.sarakadee.com/feature/2002/12/images/animate_02.jpg [sarakadee.com]

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/7/7c/Looney_Tunes.png [answers.com]

Complaint filed with Washington State AG

[tvlinux]

Friday morning at 10:00 pdt, I filed a complaint with the Washington State AG.

***
Microsoft is bribing "Technology Support Center (TSC)" a Nigerian computer company with $400,000.00 to install Windows after TSC already bought an operating system. To get around the word "bribe" they are calling it "marketing activities".
***

This one they caught. And the countless others?

[Anonymous Coward]

Bah. Late to the party, as usual, hope more than 3 people read this. Let me share a story... it's been over 5 years already, so I hope I don't get into trouble for sharing it.

Picture a budding "third world" country, but one a little closer to the south of the border: Guatemala. Also picture a huge, monolithic Gov't institution, the Ministry of Education, where a small, dedicated team has been assigned a major project: switching all of the Ministry's PCs to Linux. This meant not only the PCs in the administrative buildings, but also the computers in every school in the country. Which in reality wasn't that huge of a project, because it's a smallish country, and at the time few schools had PCs for the kids.

Still, it was a very exciting project! We sincereley felt that what we were beginning could have a very positive impact in the lives of Guatemalan kids, exposing them early on to the advantages (and difficulties, too!) of the gospel of Open Source. But we soon ran into trouble. The hardware was hopelessly outdated -- note we didn't have the advantage of Xubuntu and other nice modern end-user distros for legacy HW, plus we met with serious and organized resistance from the many Ministry bureaucrats who decided they weren't going to give up the Microsoft OS they barely knew how to operate.

We soldiered on nonetheless, for a couple more weeks at least. But we could tell a storm was brewing at the higher ranks. Sure enough, the project gets axed, and a head or two rolls. Technical reasons were claimed, but we techs knew very well that the technical hurdles could've been overcome. Rumors abounded, and we all had our own suspicions. My own suspicions were confirmed when I had the chance to talk to a senior management guy who had managed to keep his job, who told me in no uncertain terms that Microsoft was very directly responsible for the project's cancellation, by courting Gov't officials and offering a generous "discount" on the many licenses the Ministry needed to fully comply with the law -- most of the Ministry's Windows PCs were illegal installations in the first place. And also, that palms had indeed been greased -- no proof, of course, but knowing how most (yes, most!) Gov't deals go down here would have been enough for me to believe this, but the confirmation by that bureaucrat left me with no doubt.

Cut to 5 years later. Millions were poured into the "legalization" of thousands of the Ministry's PCs, but the benefits for the average schoolkid remain to be seen. I often wonder what this country's schools would look like today if greed hadn't gotten in the way.. but sadly that's a recurring theme in corrupt countries. MS has a lot to answer for, in my humble opinion.

anon because this is still a very dangerous country

Re:

[jellomizer]

Good thing is is not Unix... It is Linux.

To be realistice Windows 2000 and Up have been rather stable reliable systems... So if you were a spammer you will be able to get out just as many spams with windows as you would with Linux or Unix. Secondly Linux can be downloaded for free so if windows sucked that bad they will use Linux.

It is not like we are giving them Macs... [Ducks] :)

Re:

[Volante3192]

I'm sorta tired about the XP bashing.

I've used XP for quite some time now, willingly (I'm too lazy to deal with wine, drivers and the like and I like Portal...) and with exceptions of power outages or certain installs, I've managed uptimes in the 100+ day realm. Current record's 180 that was ruined by an above outage.

Course, the obvious difference between me and a regular user is I use common sense when surfing the net. No fancy animated cursors, no banzai buddy, no new.net shit.

Windows XP, in my personal

Re:Personally...

[geekboy642]

I want to mod you troll, but you're exactly right. So I'll reply to you instead and remove the temptation.

XP is genuinely a fairly competent system. If you like closed source. And six-year-old privilege-escalation vulnerabilities. And Defective Restriction Management. And a vendor that tries to destroy every free alternative to their product with BS patent/copyright lawsuits. And supporting a convicted monopolist. And...

Also, how on earth do you have such high uptime if every monthly patch requires a reboot? You're not...unpatched, are you?

Re:Personally...

[jeffasselin]

XP is fairly stable on its own. From the point of view of a regular user, it's not too bad.

The problems I have with it are more of a technical point of view, about how it's not very solid, hard to troubleshoot, how to cure it if it gets borked (especially by spyware or trojans), and how stupidly hard it is to reinstall and make the new install workable. The inability to transfer software from one installation to another is very annoying. The way everything is stored in monolithic files which can only be edited through the MS interface (the registry) is a constant issue. If it gets corrupted or deleted, you're fucked. There are ways to recover, but it's not simple, and doesn't always work.

Comparatively, on a Mac OS X machine, I can backup 3 folders and I get everything: apps, data, configurations. If a pref gets hosed, it's a single text file which I can consult, edit, or delete (similar to how it is on Linux which I also like a lot). I can rebuild an OS X machine in little more than an hour, whereas Windows reinstalls take easily 3 hours including the entire patching process (which even starting from SP2 is over 100 updates now), and most software isn't even installed at that point, where with OS X, 99% of the software that I backed up is functional.

It's not quite as good, but almost on a Linux machine. grab $home, /etc, a package list, and off you go reinstalling quite easily.

Re:Personally...

[itlurksbeneath]

I've managed uptimes in the 100+ day realm

Obviously you're not installing the Windows XP critical patches that leak out of Redmond every 3 or 4 weeks.

Re:

[snoyberg]

Windows XP, in my personal experience, can be a very stable, reliable operating system. And for me, it just. works. Now if you've got someone doing all the above shit, of course you're going to tank your OS. BUT if they wanted to do all the same crap on a Linux box, I'd bet they'd find a way to tank that too. All boils down to the user.

I disagree. On Linux, I can create an account, install any software I want to run into my home directory, install all forms of spyware and malware, and if I really mess things up, worse case scenario is to delete the home directory and start again. On Windows, you need admin access to install most programs (based on what I've seen of coworkers without admin access).

In other words, the design of a *nix system seems to me to be much more stable for the system overall.

Re:

[trewornan]

Duel CPU : you closest group of friends : form a Slashdot effect : actualy : havent : delt : Adition : non Zealously : preconsived : actaully : useing : simular : desinged : then I have

You know, I don't like to judge people by the odd spelling mistake or bit of dodgy grammar. We all make mistakes and it's not like spelling is generally all that important in making your writing understandable. However the number of spelling mistakes in your post (I won't even start on the grammar) makes you sound like an i

Re:

[symes]

Indeed, the numbers do not add up - $400,000 for 17,000 laptops works out at a cost to microsoft of about $24 per laptop. Which doesn't sound much if the new owners then bought office for each. If I were the Nigerian marketing company I'd have asked for more!

Re:

[Sirch]

Glad to know that MS got caught though, even without Francis having to use the 'B' word

Ballmer?

Re:Ummm

[WhiteWolf666]

No "bribery" here, just two companies making an agreement. Sure, Microsoft's motivation is to move more software over a competitor, but why is that a problem? If Microsoft wants to discount its software or given the company some other benefit, then whatever.

It's called "dumping", and in the U.S., is illegal when conducted by a monopolist. It also tend to violate a variety of world trade rules.

Furthermore, even if one can construe a scenario where it is legal (international run around the law?), it is extremely underhanded and a waste of government resources (they'd be paying for Windows and Linux).

As such, here are the issues:
1. It's probably illegal, and should be, but I'm not a lawyer.
2. Even if its not illegal, its shady business. And it demonstrates more and more than no sane company should get into bed with Microsoft, because Microsoft will do anything and everything to screw you.

Re:

[DragonWriter]

It's called "dumping", and in the U.S., is illegal when conducted by a monopolist.

And not just "when done in the US". If its done anywhere in the world with the intent (even if its not the only intent) of reinforcing a US monopoly (such as, say, by preventing broader global adoption of Linux which would put pressure on US marketshare as more desirable software was available exclusively for Linux, providing an incentive for people to switch from Windows) it can violate US antitrust law.

Re:Ummm

[Pecisk]

Man, people these days...

I know that there is common misunderstanding and false assumption that bribery is only possible in government level. No, in business world it happens even more frequently and it IS illegal (Even if some business people would like to think otherwise). I won't get into details how much laws Microsoft broke with doing this, but please, people, keep that in mind - business or government level, such actions are illegal and can get your sorry ass to the courtroom in any country.

Re:

[geekoid]

Depends on your country, and sometimes (not this time) it's hard to tell what is a bribe.
In some countries it is rude if you don't take a gift, in others it is rude if you don't give a gift.
Gifts are generally a reflection of personal wealth. So a billionaire from one of these countries might give a gift worth many thousands of dollars, and not expect any special treatment in return.

Re:Ummm

[Bert64]

Not only is it illegal in business, but taking a bribe often results in you being professionally incompetent.

If you worked for me, and i gave you the task of "Book me the best value business-class flight to australia"...
Let's say the best value would be Qantas, and they would fly me direct to australia business class for $4000...
But you received a bribe from United, who paid you $1000 to buy a ticket from them instead...
Their ticket costs $6000 and has a stopover half way, and thus takes longer.

You would benefit from the $1000 bribe, United would benefit from a sale. I would lose out on my time and $2000, because you used my money to buy me an inferior (slower) service that costs more.
You didn't do your job properly.
You wasted my money for your own personal benefit, you effectively stole from me and gave it to United, in exchange for a cut of it back.

Taking a bribe to spend someone else's money is fraud, and should be prosecuted accordingly. Also whoever actually took the bribe is not doing their job properly regardless of the law, and should be fired.

Re:Ummm

[NullProg]

Why is this even a story? Oh, because it's Microsoft trying to outcompete a Linux supplier, therefore, it's intrinsically evil.
Evil, NO. Unethical, YES. No one likes a cheater.

What is your definition of competition? A kickback or bribe includes any item intended to improperly obtain favorable treatment. Why didn't Microsoft just lower the per unit license cost to match Mandrakes? Are you saying that on a level playing field, Windows looses to Linux?

From the article:
Mba-Uzoukwu wrote that Microsoft is still negotiating an agreement that would give TSC US$400,000 (£190,323) for marketing activities around the Classmate PCs when those computers are converted to Windows.

Where have I heard this before? Oh Yeah, the anti-trust hearing:

In addition, Plaintiffs are concerned that there is some confusion among OEMs relating to the application of certain portions of the MDA to OEM advertisements for computers containing non-Microsoft operating systems. Pursuant to the MDA, Microsoft provides marketing funds -- in the form of discounts on the price the OEM pays for each copy of Windows -- to OEMs whose print advertisements and websites promote Microsoft's operating systems in a manner specified by Microsoft.

http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/f205700/205751.htm [usdoj.gov]

Enjoy,

Re:Dirty deal?

[gstoddart]

In what way? Apparently now it's bad for someone to enter into a cross marketing deal? It amazes me when deals made between consenting entities are "dirty".

Ummmm ... Mandriva won the contract with government.

The company shipping the laptops took money to wipe out Mandriva and ship with Windows.

So, I have a contract with you to buy 10000 widgets painted in red Du Point paint. And, 3m pays you money to paint them in a 3m yellow. Is that OK?

This isn't a "dirty" deal in what way?? It's doing an end run around the people they have a contract with. They did not have a contract with Microsoft, and Microsoft did not have standing to alter the terms of the contract.

I would call this dirty. Hell, I'd call it fraud.

Cheers

Re:

[arthurpaliden]

So you will not mind if your medication inside the pill capsule is changed to something other that what you thought you were getting.

Re:

[darjen]

As much as I hate to be one to cast doubt on how dirty this deal really is, or (gasp) defend MS on slashdot... is bribery really all that wrong? See here a classic defense of bribery:

http://www.mises.org/rothbard/ethics/seventeen.asp [mises.org]

Of course, as far as I'm concerned, MS wouldn't exist without the protection of the US Government's bogus patent system. I would probably worry more about that than bribery.

Re:

[RightSaidFred99]

Bribery?? What exactly does that even mean in a business context? If I sell auto-windows and I offer you a free dinner at some restaurant if you use my service, is that "bribery"? When Coke offers a company advertising dollars and a discount to carry only Coca Cola products, is that "bribery"? The idea is ridiculous. Unless MS broker Nigerian law, it's not bribery.

Re:Dirty deal?

[MightyMartian]

This is bizarre, particularly considering the history of monopolies in the US. In a monopoly situation, the customer simply has no choice. The market no longer moderates "what's fair" and "what's not fair".

There are other forms of anti-competitive behavior that are also in the "what's not fair" even if consumers may not be aware of it. Price fixing and dumping come to mind.

The perfect market you seem to have in mind doesn't exist and cannot exist.

Microsoft controls somewhere in the neighborhood of 90% of desktops worldwide. That's a textbook monopoly, and the rules changes for monopolies. Note that merely being a monopoly is not in and of itself illegal, but it does mean that the allowable range of actions changes. If Apple has a secretive, closed development model, it's not creating problems for consumers, but when Microsoft does, it does effect consumers.

Now go back to Redmond, you pathetic Microsoft shill.