Shady Microsoft tactics in Africa
Microsoft has always been a bare-knuckle competitor and its tactics have sometimes pushed the ethical envelope pretty far. Anti-trust judgments have toned down some of Microsoft’s more egregious practices in the US and Europe but it seems to be up to its old tricks in Africa. Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal had an article on Microsoft’s efforts to keep Linux off computers sold in Africa. One tactic looks a lot like bribery:
In Nigeria, Microsoft proposed paying $400,000 last year under a joint-marketing agreement to a government contractor it was trying to persuade to replace Linux with Windows on thousands of school laptops. The contractor’s former chief executive describes the proposal as an incentive to make the switch — an interpretation Microsoft denies. In Namibia and Nigeria, where it has sought government contracts, the company hired family members of government officials. Microsoft says they were qualified.
Elsewhere the article details how Microsoft tried to scotch a Linux deal between Nigeria and the Linux seller Mandriva. Again the tactics look a lot like bribery. It is clear that Microsoft’s efforts to foist the cost of Windows on to a region that is desperately poor is not the best way to bring computing skills to the people of Africa. The Wall Street Journal article notes:
Critics say Microsoft’s efforts to outflank Linux are steering cash-strapped governments away from the cheapest, most sensible solution. They say Microsoft has been locking African government agencies into costly, multiyear agreements to license its software. “African governments cannot afford long-term licensing contracts,” says Nnenna Nwakanma of the Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa, a Ghanaian-based nonprofit. The money, she says, would be better spent on training people to use computers and fostering homegrown software development.
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