2 ms·

I agree with you, however, the article pointed out that Microsoft's lawyers took part in court proceedings.

by dchest 16y ago

pvg 16y ago
Not in the Baikal Wave case, specifically, although that doesn't really matter. Local lawyers representing Microsoft have, according to the report, participated in similar cases. I still think the 'Microsoft' part of this is largely irrelevant - it could have been anyone. In a corrupt country you can, unsurprisingly, find corrupt lawyers.
- dchest 16y ago
  Again, I agree that it could have been anyone (I think Adobe took part in the recent raid of LG offices [or the authorities made them take part in this] -- http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gQtvHJ_pYRApRA40DwkiFOnr_XtA http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gQtvHJ_pY...), but if it were Microsoft's lawyers, Microsoft is fully responsible for their actions.
  - pvg 16y ago
    Well, it gets a little tricky for the reasons you just described. If the 'authorities made' some company's representatives do something, it's not so perfectly clear the company is 'fully responsible' for their actions. It's a huge morass of ethical issues which automatically appears when a company does business in such places. The extremes of the spectrum are not doing business there at all and full-on collusion. Microsoft and I imagine just about all US technology companies in Russia likely fall somewhere in the middle. My point is that the debate about where precisely is not really all that interesting or important.
- VladRussian 16y ago
  'Microsoft' or 'Adobe' part isn't that irrelevant - they've successfully lobbied the Russian authorities for the system of enforcement through unscheduled police "inspection" raids without probable cause. One can't be deemed innocent when he knowingly engages in collaboration with devil to obtain benefits of its powers.

2 ms·

I agree with you, however, the article pointed out that Microsoft's lawyers took part in court proceedings.

by dchest 16y ago

I agree with you, however, the article pointed out that Microsoft's lawyers took part in court proceedings.

pvg 16y ago
Not in the Baikal Wave case, specifically, although that doesn't really matter. Local lawyers representing Microsoft have, according to the report, participated in similar cases. I still think the 'Microsoft' part of this is largely irrelevant - it could have been anyone. In a corrupt country you can, unsurprisingly, find corrupt lawyers.
- dchest 16y ago
  Again, I agree that it could have been anyone (I think Adobe took part in the recent raid of LG offices [or the authorities made them take part in this] -- http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gQtvHJ_pYRApRA40DwkiFOnr_XtA http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gQtvHJ_pY...), but if it were Microsoft's lawyers, Microsoft is fully responsible for their actions.
  - pvg 16y ago
    Well, it gets a little tricky for the reasons you just described. If the 'authorities made' some company's representatives do something, it's not so perfectly clear the company is 'fully responsible' for their actions. It's a huge morass of ethical issues which automatically appears when a company does business in such places. The extremes of the spectrum are not doing business there at all and full-on collusion. Microsoft and I imagine just about all US technology companies in Russia likely fall somewhere in the middle. My point is that the debate about where precisely is not really all that interesting or important.
- VladRussian 16y ago
  'Microsoft' or 'Adobe' part isn't that irrelevant - they've successfully lobbied the Russian authorities for the system of enforcement through unscheduled police "inspection" raids without probable cause. One can't be deemed innocent when he knowingly engages in collaboration with devil to obtain benefits of its powers.