3 ms·

For heavens sake, it's not like Microsoft was exploiting little children in Africa or producing gas chambers. They were just running business, being quite rough

by stiff 13y ago

For heavens sake, it's not like Microsoft was exploiting little children in Africa or producing gas chambers. They were just running business, being quite rough, but doing nothing exceptionally evil to the world. I mean, I didn't like some of their products, but I am far from judging the people involved there negatively as human beings, I don't see any reason for that. Have a look here for comparison: http://www.11points.com/News-Politics/11_Companies_That_Surprisingly_Collaborated_With_the_Nazis http://www.11points.com/News-Politics/11_Companies_That_Surp...

Amadou 13y ago
it's not like Microsoft was exploiting little children in Africa That is actually one of the major criticisms of the Gates Foundation rather than MS. The foundation has been vociferous in its support of intellectual property laws. Strongly lobbying for patent protections of medicine in developing countries. My understanding is that the foundation will not fund any programs that purchase drugs from unlicensed local manufacturers, even when local laws do not require licensing. Here is a recent article on the topic, but the criticism regarding the foundation's support for maximalist intellectual property laws is nothing new: http://newint.org/features/2012/04/01/bill-gates-charitable-giving-ethics/ http://newint.org/features/2012/04/01/bill-gates-charitable-...
- stiff 13y ago
  I am not remotely interested or educated in the topic of charity in the third world, I just don't see the connection between Microsoft's history and the assessment of the foundation, but this article is clearly written with a certain agenda in mind and by the end becomes plainly ridiculous: He and Gates are products of an economic system that has produced monopolies and redistributed wealth upwards for 30 years. Parallels may be drawn between the inequalities of today and the Victorian era, when health provision for the poor depended on the largesse of the rich. There sure is plenty of inequality in the world, but the conditions in Africa are as they are primarily because the geographical conditions are one of the harshest on earth and because the huge amount of people that now has to try to survive in those conditions. In many places the West can not exploit anything because there is nothing to exploit, the natural resources are very scarce, the people have literally nothing and in best case have barely enough energy to survive. I doubt the authors know much about what they are writing about. One needs to consider, that willing to do something in the real world, you can often either compromise or do nothing or do much less. From what I understand the Gates Foundation does this to engage American pharmaceutical companies in the whole project, without which they could do little.

by stiff 13y ago

Amadou 13y ago

it's not like Microsoft was exploiting little children in Africa That is actually one of the major criticisms of the Gates Foundation rather than MS. The foundation has been vociferous in its support of intellectual property laws. Strongly lobbying for patent protections of medicine in developing countries. My understanding is that the foundation will not fund any programs that purchase drugs from unlicensed local manufacturers, even when local laws do not require licensing. Here is a recent article on the topic, but the criticism regarding the foundation's support for maximalist intellectual property laws is nothing new: http://newint.org/features/2012/04/01/bill-gates-charitable-giving-ethics/ http://newint.org/features/2012/04/01/bill-gates-charitable-...

stiff 13y ago
I am not remotely interested or educated in the topic of charity in the third world, I just don't see the connection between Microsoft's history and the assessment of the foundation, but this article is clearly written with a certain agenda in mind and by the end becomes plainly ridiculous: He and Gates are products of an economic system that has produced monopolies and redistributed wealth upwards for 30 years. Parallels may be drawn between the inequalities of today and the Victorian era, when health provision for the poor depended on the largesse of the rich. There sure is plenty of inequality in the world, but the conditions in Africa are as they are primarily because the geographical conditions are one of the harshest on earth and because the huge amount of people that now has to try to survive in those conditions. In many places the West can not exploit anything because there is nothing to exploit, the natural resources are very scarce, the people have literally nothing and in best case have barely enough energy to survive. I doubt the authors know much about what they are writing about. One needs to consider, that willing to do something in the real world, you can often either compromise or do nothing or do much less. From what I understand the Gates Foundation does this to engage American pharmaceutical companies in the whole project, without which they could do little.