11.03.08
Microsoft Blast from the Past: Conspiracy and Money Laundering
WHEN a former Microsoft manager was sentenced to prison, memories came of white-collar crime. Here is another old case of former Microsoft employees getting together to engage in “conspiracy and money laundering.”
The ringleader of a group of four former Microsoft employees accused of stealing company software worth $7.1 million pleaded guilty yesterday to federal felony charges of conspiracy and money laundering.
Maybe it’s a collective and characteristic thing (predatory grouping and disregard for the law). █
Week of dirty laundry
Highlight: Novell was the first to acknowledge that Microsoft FUD tactics had substance. Novell then used anti-Linux FUD to market itself. 
Highlight: Xandros let Microsoft make patent claims and brag about (paid-for) OOXML support. 
Highlight: Linspire's CEO not only fell into Microsoft arms, but he also assisted the company's attack on GNU/Linux. 
Highlight: Microsoft craves pseudo (proprietary) standards and gets its way using proxies and influence which it buys. 
Highlight: The invasion into the open source world is intended to leave Linux companies neglected, due to financial incentives from Microsoft. 
Analysis: Xen, an open source hypervisor, possibly fell victim to Microsoft's aggressive (and stealthy) acquisition-by-proxy strategy.