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U.S. Ambassador Plugs Microsoft in Peru
posted by md on Sunday July 28, @10:49AM
from the Microhard-ball dept.
Open Source Here's a big surprise: Microsoft apparently has the U.S. government doing its bidding. Wired.com recently reported that a letter from the U.S. Ambassador to Peru was sent to the President of that country's congress, urging it to not pass a law that would require open source software use by the government of Peru. This, of course, comes after Bill Gates' donation to the country's schools in an attempt to get friendly with the government. The chief sponsor of the free software bill, Edgar Villanueva, has offered a reply [English translation], claiming that Microsoft has misstated the effect of the bill and that free software remains the best choice for the Peruvian government.

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    U.S. Ambassador Plugs Microsoft in Peru | Login/Create an Account | Top | 6 comments | Search Discussion
    Threshold:
    The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
    Free markets (Score:1)
    by Kolya ({kmcrober} {at} {law.harvard.edu}) on Monday July 29, @04:30PM (#130)
    User #20 Info
    From the Wired article:

    "In his June letter, Hamilton said that while the United States doesn't oppose the development of open-source software, it prefers to support a free market where the quality of the product can determine the issue."

    Didn't Microsoft lose the antitrust suit because it was distorting markets, preventing the quality of the product from determining the issue? Didn't the United States bring that suit in the first place? And how does Gates' sudden gift of Microsoft systems equate to a "free market?"

    Re:Free markets (Score:1)
    by bwtaylor on Tuesday July 30, @12:27PM (#136)
    User #184 Info
    support a free market where the quality of the product can determine

    Of course, Peru wants to define the "quality" of the product in terms of being free from vendor lock in and in terms of information availability via documented file formats. As the Peruvian legislator has responded, Microsoft is perfectly free to compete in this market by changing its product features accordingly.

    There is something sick and twisted about the US government official lobbying another government on behalf of an adjudicated monopolist in the name of a "free market".
    Re:Free markets (Score:1)
    by sarumont on Thursday August 01, @09:06AM (#156)
    User #325 Info
    It seems that BillG has begun to brainwash government officials...he's now begun to redefine words!

    From the M$ dictionary:
    free market: n 1. A market in which Microsoft is dominant 2. A market where there is no open-source 3. A market where everyone must pay out the ass for buggy, unsecure software
    Spelling counts. (Score:1)
    by Billy Oblivion on Wednesday July 31, @04:37PM (#140)
    User #290 Info
    U.S. Embassador Plugs Microsoft in Peru

    Maybe this [m-w.com] will help.

    Re:Spelling counts. (Score:1)
    by turmis (atullman@law.harvard.edu) on Wednesday July 31, @04:51PM (#141)
    User #25 Info | http://www.geocities.com/atullman
    That's the beautiful thing about slash, it now appears as though the mistake never happened... good catch, bad spelling
    Re:Spelling counts. (Score:1)
    by md on Thursday August 01, @08:56AM (#154)
    User #17 Info | http://www.mcdproductions.com/
    Spelling mistake? What spelling mistake? Nobody saw anything. Nothing to see here folks. Move along, nothing to see.

    Humanity has the stars in its future, and that future is too important to be lost under the burden of juvenile folly and ignorant superstition. - Isaac Asimov

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