Former Political Aide Claims Microsoft Strong-Armed British Lawmakers
Former Political Aide Claims Microsoft Strong-Armed British Lawmakers
  • By Timothy Daniel (daniel83@koreaittimes.com)
  • 승인 2015.05.28 18:58
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A former UK government strategy chief has alleged that Microsoft executives have telephoned British members of parliament (MPs) to threaten the government with research and development (R&D) facility closures that could result in job cuts unless proposed legislature reforms were shelved. Some media outlets have called the alleged threats a form of “blackmail.”

Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, Steve Hilton, a former strategy chief to current British Prime Minister David Cameron, claimed, “Microsoft phoned Conservative MPs with Microsoft R&D facilities in their constituencies and said, ‘we will close them down in your constituency if this goes through.’”

The report comes a matter of months after another former David Cameron advisor spoke out, claiming lawmakers had been threatened with closures in their constituencies should the Conservatives unveil plans in 2007 to pursue open source software solutions as part of party policy.

Speaking at the Chief Digital Officer Summit in late 2014, Rohan Silva, former aide to Cameron and finance chief George Osborne, said, “MP said Microsoft had called them saying if we went ahead with the speech on open standards, open architecture and open source, they would cut spending or maybe close research and development centers.”

The damaging revelations come after global smartphone figures for the first quarter were released, showing that Microsoft handset sales had slipped out of the top ten, a further indication that Microsoft may have to focus its efforts on its software operations if it is looking for success, in spite of the fact that the company is said to be preparing to launch a total of four devices, including two flagship handsets.

Microsoft is rumored to be among the companies most likely to launch a successful bid for flagging Canadian handset makers BlackBerry, only a year after it swallowed up Nokia’s mobile manufacturing business for US$7.2 billion, a purchase that critics called a “mediocre deal” for the software company.

Earlier this month, a Korean antitrust watchdog announced that Microsoft had agreed to freeze patent fees in exchange for formal permission from Korea’s Fair Trade Commission to conclude the takeover it registered for authorization in late summer 2015. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s plans to launch Windows 10 for smartphones has also met a lukewarm reaction in the tech world, with industry insiders reporting that only a fraction of developers are planning to move apps from Apple or Android to the new Microsoft mobile OS, MSFT.O.

A Microsoft spokesperson said that it was “still early" and that Microsoft expected developer companies to explore its platform thoroughly before launching apps on the new OS.

By Timothy Daniel


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