Historically Microsoft has been an offensively litigious actor that paid as much attention to the rule of law and ethics in the scope of their area of business

Historically Microsoft has been an offensively litigious actor that paid as much attention to the rule of law and ethics in the scope of their area of business as the average drug dealer does in theirs. If relationship counts then surely the fact that you will be dealing with one of the worst actors in IT doesn't help your argument much.