Is Microsoft the Evil Empire
From Wikipedia:
 Evil is a broad term used to indicate a negative
moral or ethical judgment, often used to describe
intentional acts that are cruel, unjust, or selfish. Evil
is usually contrasted with good, which describes
intentional acts that are kind, just, or unselfish.
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner
Is Microsoft the Evil Empire
Industrial Revolution
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Movement of people from rural farms to urban
factories
These new industries made fortunes for their
owners at the expense of their workers
Robber-Barons
– Businessmen and bankers who dominated their respective
industries
– Anti-competitive business practices
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Late 19th and early 20th century
Resulted in the rise of Unions
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner
Is Microsoft the Evil Empire
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Chevron
– Environmental and human rights abuses 1964-1992
– Leaving toxic waste to pollute rivers and local water tables in
Ecuador
– Violent repression of peaceful opposition to its oil extraction in
Nigeria
– Human right violations in Burma including torture, forced labor
and forced migration
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Coca-Cola
– Between 1989-2002 eight union leaders bottling plants in
Colombia were mysteriously killed after protesting the company’s
labor practices
– In India, privatizing local water supply, bottled local water
leaving a shortage that became contaminated. Discriminatory
employer, sued in US court as being race-biased in hiring and
promotion
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner
Is Microsoft the Evil Empire
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Dow Chemical
– Agent Orange, Napalm
– 1988 - Provided pesticides to Saddam Hussein despite warning
that they could be used to produce chemical weapons
– 2001 - acquired Union Carbide, whose leaking chemical plant in
Bhopal India has left hundreds of thousands ill
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DynCorp
– Private mercenary contactor
– Guard Afghan leaders, African oil fields, trail Iraqi police,
eradicate Colombian coca plants, protected business interests in
New Orleans after Katrina
– Herbicides used in Colombia and Ecuador were highly toxic
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner
Is Microsoft the Evil Empire
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KBR (Kellogg, Brown & Root), a subsidiary of Halliburton Corp.
– Provides military support services
– Questionable billing practices to US govt.
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Monsanto
– Employs child labor in India
– Pesticide producer
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Nestle
– Illegal and forced labor in Africa
– Aggressive marketing of infant formula in poor countries in the
1980s
– 2005, Nestle infant formula seized in Italy because it was
contaminated
– Violates labor rights in Colombia
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner
Is Microsoft the Evil Empire
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Suez-Lyonnaise Des Eaux
– Privatization of water Philippines, and Bolivia making local people
unable to access their natural water supply
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Wal-Mart
– Worker abuse, forced overtime, sex discrimination, illegal child
labor abroad
– Supports low prices by buying products from suppliers that
employ substandard labor condition and employ child labor
– 2005 International Labor Rights Fund filed suit on behalf of
sweatshop workers in China, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nicaragua
and Swaziland
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner
Is Microsoft the Evil Empire
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What about Microsoft?
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Predatory business practices
Does everything it can to stifle competition
Integrates products so they are all bundled together
Poor or terrible user support
Gives some software away (IE) to make profitable competition
impossible (Netscape)
– Not just a software company
 MSN (created to go head-to-head with AOL)
 Hotmail – now Microsoft is an ISP
 Hardware – Intellimouse, Natural Keyboard
 MSNBC – new network
 Xbox – game company
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner
Is Microsoft the Evil Empire
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Microsoft is a Bully
–
Wikipedia: Bullying is the act of intentionally causing
harm to others, through verbal harassment, physical
assault, or other more subtle methods of coercion such as
manipulation.
– Lawsuits over monopolistic practices in US and EU
– Buys, sues or threatens potential competitors
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner
Is Microsoft the Evil Empire
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Does Microsoft actually harm consumers?
Does Microsoft harm its employees?
– 12,000 employee millionaires
– Pays it’s people very, very well
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Yes, hard work and long hours
– No hint of discriminatory hiring
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Are we angry because it appears to be the only
“game” in town?
Could their software be better?
– Yet has some of the most creative, innovative features
– Their products really do work together
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner
Businessmen Considered Robber Barons
-- Wikipedia
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Sam Walton (retail)
Bill Gates (software) – Redmond, Washington
John Jacob Astor (real estate, fur) – New York City
Andrew Carnegie (railroads, steel) – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Jay Cooke (finance) – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Charles Crocker (railroads) - California
Daniel Drew (finance) – New York state
James Buchanan Duke (tobacco) – near Durham, North
Carolina
James Fisk (finance) – New York state
Henry Flagler (railroads, oil, the Standard Oil company) – New
York City and Palm Beach, Florida
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner
Businessmen Considered Robber
Barons -- Wikipedia
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Henry Ford (automobile) – Dearborn, Michigan and
metropolitan Detroit, Michigan
Henry Clay Frick (steel) – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and New
York City
John Warne Gates (steel, oil) – Chicago and Texas
Jay Gould (finance, railroads) – New York (both state and city)
Edward Henry Harriman (railroads) – New York state
George Hearst (gold)
Collis P. Huntington (railroads) – California, Virginia, and New
York
Andrew Mellon (finance) - Pennsylvania
J. P. Morgan (finance) - New York
Mark Hopkins (railroads) - California
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner