Is Microsoft Paying To Influence UN Standards? 298
PizzaFace writes "Microsoft is reported to be spending strategically to influence the United Nations' standards for business data exchange. A UN standards-setting body, UN/CEFACT, and an industry-standards group, OASIS, had developed an open standard format for data interchange, called ebXML. Microsoft hired two people from UN/CEFACT, and a few months later the body decided to stop working on ebXML and instead to work on a Business Collaboration Framework for web services, promoted by Microsoft and IBM. Microsoft then paid for three UN committee members to travel to six countries to promote the BCF."
What did the ebXML people offer? (Score:4, Interesting)
This is not surprising (Score:5, Interesting)
At least Microsoft is not getting their buddies elected or, say, preventing security standards from cutting their operation costs at the detriment of their employees and customers' safety.
Swinging one way or the other on a data exchange standard seems pretty harmless to me. But I guess this is the 'excuse du jour' for some quality MS-bashing...
UN - The Best International Organization... (Score:4, Interesting)
Mr. Softy would be an idiot not to pay it off. In fact, it's a know fact, it's the only way to get anything done.
Take for instance The U.N. Oil For Food Program [scbeacon.com]. Saddam called it: I'll scratch your back... You Save My Butt!
My wife worked for the U.N. in Africa for 5 years and saw first hand the corruption. TO the point of it being such a joke, that she doesn't even list the experience on her resume. Instead she talks about the odd jobs she performed such as international currier after her UN stint, but while still in Africa.
Maybe I'm just insufficiently cynical... (Score:5, Interesting)
UN Control (Score:4, Interesting)
I wonder if there are any provisions or controls over the UN to prevent this.
Re:No - the price is too cheap (Score:5, Interesting)
Do you know how much these people earn?
No... do you? But think about it this way. Even if the UN ambassadors are not as well paid (and their salaries do come from their respective countries) as the "average politician" in their countries, you can rest assured that they ARE paid much much more than the "average citizen" that they claim to represent. Such is the same with any politician. Pols are ALWAYS paid more than they are worth, and always make far more than the people they represent.
Being flown around by MS is a big perk for these people. And I bet the MS PR folk really know how to perk up a lowley UN grunts ego to boot...
I doubt it. UN officials (or at least the ones that sit on committees like this) dont fly business class. And first class tickets cost the same no matter who is paying for it.
NOW, if MS was flying them around on their own fleet of private Jets, that is something else entirely. And besides, the lowley UN grunt doesnt sit in committee in the UN building collecting checks from multinationals... the lowley UN grunt is on the ground in Kenya, or Bosnia, or Iraq, or somewhere like that, handing out rice, giving innoculations to children and other such things. Often for months at a time, in some of the worst imaginable conditions.
The ones who sit in committee would never even set foot in most countries they claim to be looking out for, unless it was for a chauffered ride to the presidential mansion, or palace of whatever country it is...
And even the ones who are high up the food chain, who DO happen to get their hands dirty every so often do so under far more security and protection than even common diplomats get.
I imagine that they are getting far more than a couple plane rides and a hotel room...
it's bad enough... (Score:2, Interesting)
what really gets to me is that the un would even be dabbling in this sort of thing. next thing they may be off for taxing and that, my friends is the end of the world as we know it and the change is not going to be desireable, believe me you.
Re:No - the price is too cheap (Score:5, Interesting)
Microsoft also hired 2 members of the group. This is a pretty standard corporate tactic. Find someone who you can influence to take an early retirement from their influential position, hire them to come work for Halliburton or the Carlyle Group (thrown in for our liberal conspiracy theorist friends) and then pay them a salary of hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to be a consultant. It increases your chances of getting that government contract a hundredfold since the "consultant" is still buddy-buddy with all his old procurement friends at the office. I'm not suprised the corruption has extended to the UN in a similar fashion.
Speaking of Paying To Influence UN (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:No - the price is too cheap (Score:5, Interesting)
The dutch socialist party [sp.nl] takes the salary from their politicians and pays them an average salary (couldn't find how much directly). The money which is left over is used for campaigns and party activities.
So there are politicians which are a notable exception here.
Re: What? The UN? (Score:3, Interesting)
so... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:No - the price is too cheap (Score:1, Interesting)
Please get the details before defending politicians.
So there are politicians which are a notable exception here.
Somehow, I seriously doubt that. Supply more evidence please.
Maybe but... (Score:0, Interesting)
They only want to stifle it (Score:2, Interesting)
In this case they were afraid that ebXML was gathering too much momentum so they just tried throwing a few sticks in the wheels of ebXML.
I know no one outside the US believes this (Score:1, Interesting)
first, elements of the french government (elements does not mean the government) were in bed with Saddam in order to enrich themselves at the price of the Iraqi people.
now the UN is selling out to Microsoft.
Politicians' pay (Score:1, Interesting)
Dunno where you live but here in the UK the vast majority of poilticians are most definitely upaid and are part of the voluntary sector. (Only the few hundred members of parliament and a few others get paid - the many thousands of councillors don't.)
Re:No - the price is too cheap (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Double edged Sword (Score:4, Interesting)
Well give you money to support your nation, but you must allow us to give you agricultural goods as well for free.
SA was willing to accept the free money, but refused to accept the free Aggi goods. SA did not want to destroy their own countries Aggi economy. The US thus refused to support them monetarily.
Yes free stuff is not always as it appears. This tactic used BY microsoft is also the tactic they try to suggest OSS is using against them. The Devil always sees the devil in everyone else.
Becoming common practice. (Score:5, Interesting)
I chalk it up to a need to replace old revenue streams before they dry up, or before security and anti-trust penalties take it down for the count, before the company gets a proper audit...
'Course all that's moot if Joe Sixpack figures out that Windows is not ready for the Internet, but that Linux, BSD and OS X are, plus cost effective and easy to use.
Re:UN - The Best International Organization... (Score:4, Interesting)
Imagine if Hitler had a seat in Congress, and neither and Congress nor his "constituents" could do anything about it except shake their fists. That's the UN.
It's a good and useful forum, but it is completely without authority beyond that which member nations voluntarily cede to it.
Lobbying (Score:5, Interesting)
However, unless people like us are in the know about things like this we there is nothing to stop large business groups from railroading whatever they see fit though standardizing boards.
Yes this is a news site. Yes, guys and gals this IS news. Yeah, the editors have a anti-MS bias but that does not mean that it's not newsworthy.
"to make sure there was absolute transparency." (Score:1, Interesting)
The disappointing aspect of this story is IBM's envolvement. What are they thinking? They've gotten their clocks cleaned serveral times working with Microsoft. Won't they ever learn?
Meanwhile, it begs the question of IBM's motives in supporting Linux. If they are in league with Microsoft's efforst to undermine an international XML standard that creates and maintains a LEVEL playing field for everyone, what other anti-competitive practices are on their agenda that we don't yet know about?
Question (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:This is not surprising (Score:4, Interesting)
If you really believed what you write, or if your comment was based on logic, reason and understanding and not deep-seated hatred of the US, perhaps you would not post anonymously.
Government propoganda? Perhaps you've fallen into the trap of believing UN propaganda, my friend.
Re:No - the price is too cheap (Score:1, Interesting)
Actually, I DO know. And it's MUCH MUCH more than you think, based on your comment. UN is fairly corrupt as an organization. Or, rather, segmented; so that geographical areas have their own quotas, and for some areas things are no different than if they had tribal leaders looting all the wealth. And higher ranking positions, then, are quite like noble titles in feudal kingdoms; with nice perks included.
In effect, most all UN employed people (or at least ones with some power, which would include people mentioned in the article) are nicely compensated; even by western standards.
Apologies for anonymous posting (posting from work); but I do know couple of fairly high-ranking UN workers. And they do earn same or more than I (10-year experience, senior s/w engineer)... plus, that's TAX-FREE. And their kids' college education is generally paid for by UN, too (perhaps only at certain level, not sure).
TRUSTED COMPUTING (Score:5, Interesting)
The fact that Micorsoft is promoting one Trusted Computing document format over another is insignifigant. The fact that the UN is promoting Trusted Computing AT ALL is what we should be horrified about.
They are tring to ram through Trusted Computing adoption under the UN authority because the rest of the world would rebell against a US or US/EU effort to impose such a system. Any country that does not adopt Trusted Computing (and create laws protecting that crippled hardware) will be entirely locked out. It would be a monumental Trade barrier. Such countries would be increasingly locked out of the internet itself.
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