BUSTED: Microsoft is AstroTurfing Again

Verily I say unto thee that Roy Schestowitz spake thusly:

Burson-Marsteller in Germany anti-Google smear campaign sponsored by Microsoft
Article in newspaper: http://www.fr-online.de/politik/mei...8736368/-/
Covered here too: http://netzwertig.com/2011/08/05/ma...irtschaft/
http://blog.die-linke.de/digitaleli...rundschau/

[quote]
Anti-Google PR in the Frankfurter Rundschau
Written by Juergen Scheele on August 2, 2011

The "Frankfurter Rundschau" today opened its pages for a guest post by
Christoph Waitz under the title "Man proposes, Google directs" . This
Google as a "menace to society and to free knowledge" is displayed.
Waitz himself, from 2005 to 2009 a member of parliament and spokesman of
the FDP parliamentary group for cultural and media policy, is a
spokesman for ICOMP (Initiative for a competitive online market) named
in Germany.

Is not communicated through the leaf, however, that it is ICOMP to one
run by the PR agency Burson-Marsteller and Microsoft-funded lobbying
organization for the promotion - so loud self-reported data - the
competition in online advertising and the protection of intellectual
property To safeguard Authors 'and publishers' rights concerns.

On the website of the organization chef and waiters are clearly spelled
out: "ICOMP is funded by membership fees and is funded by Microsoft.
Burson-Marsteller acts as the secretariat of the initiative. "The fact
that the initiative specifically runs PR campaigns against Google was,
most recently at Spreeblick read at the May uncovered, Burson-Marsteller
on behalf of Facebook executed PR campaign against Google. Previously
had Spielkamp Matthias pointed out the role of ICOMP and
Burson-Marsteller to promote the publishers demanded by the press
service protection rights.
[/quote]

http://tinyurl.com/4xt59cq [Google translation]

This isn't new though. Microsoft set up this astroturfing group in 2007,
in response to Google's acquisition of DoubleClick:

[quote]
Microsoft Funding Anti-Google Trade Group Since 2007

Under the somewhat sensational headline, “Dark forces gunning for
Google,” The Telegraph today shared the story of ICOMP — the Initiative
for a Competitive Online Marketplace — a European-based trade group that
appears to exist mostly, or solely, to be a thorn in Google’s side.

On its website, ICOMP hits all the right notes. Its mission statement
talks about “support for principles that are essential to a healthy
online environment” and “the adoption of best practices to promote
creativity, innovation, safety and trust.”

But the group also says that “no single company should be allowed to
abuse its market power to the detriment of competition or consumers,”
and that seems to hint at its real target: Google. In fact, ICOMP’s
Industry News page should be called a “Google investigations and
complaints” page: Of the 40 articles listed, only three don’t have
Google’s name in the headline.

As The Telegraph article points out, Microsoft is listed as ICOMP’s
“initial trustee” in this PDF available on the group’s web site, and
there’s small print in the site footer that says ICOMP is “funded by
member contributions as well as sponsorship from Microsoft.” All of this
actually goes back to 2007, when Microsoft and PR agency,
Burson-Marsteller, formed ICOMP and began to fight against Google’s
acquisition of DoubleClick.
[/quote]

http://searchengineland.com/microso...2007-57953

"no single company should be allowed to abuse its market power to the
detriment of competition or consumers"

Says the shill defending the world's worst culprit, Microsoft.

He also failed to explain exactly /how/ Google is allegedly "abusing"
its market power, since AFAICT there is in fact no barrier preventing
people using competing search engines, all of which are free, and all of
which are freely accessible.

This is in stark contrast to Microsoft's near total monopoly on PCs,
which are preinstalled with Windows without option or recourse, due to
secret "agreements" between OEMs and Microsoft.

But then I don't seriously expect a paid Microsoft shill to make sense.
His job isn't to make sense, it's to "kill" his client's competition.

Pamela Jones put this quite succinctly:

"Is your horse *really* faster? If so, why shoot my horse?"

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story 090619161307529

Because they're gangsters.

K. | "Everything that should be is working."
http://slated.org | ~ Vostok 1 designer and chief engineer,
Fedora 8 (Werewolf) on šky | Sergei Korolev, to Yuri Gagarin, during
kernel 2.6.31.5, up 77 days | the first manned space mission.