Q: What's the problem with Microsoft?

Believe it or not, we actually have no problem with corporations growing to Microsoft's size and making as much money as Microsoft makes. If you can do it, more power to you. Our problem with Microsoft is how it got to the position it now enjoys. Since the late 1970's and early 1980's, Microsoft has repeatedly used unethical and occasionally illegal methods to gain a hold over the entire computer industry, then used that hold to destroy legitimate competitors and bury innovation. To preserve that hold, Microsoft has destroyed freedom of choice in the industry, making millions of people think they have no options beyond using Microsoft products. And now Microsoft is using its dominance over desktop operating systems, office suites, Web browsers and other software to take control over other areas of computing and get a grip on other businesses outside the computer industry.

Beyond just Microsoft's effect on competition in the computer industry, we have serious concerns abut the company's overall intentions. Microsoft's control over the desktop operating system and Web browser markets give it a unique opportunity to harvest information about a majority of the world's population. With plans like HailStorm and .NET, Microsoft will be gathering information about people on a scale never before seen in world history. That presents the company with many opportunities to use that information in ways not even George Orwell could imagine. And even if they don't, why should we give them the opportunity to?

Q: Is this campaign anti capitalist?

No, quite the opposite. We are in fact pro-business. Making money is a wonderful thing. We believe in hard work, capitalism and the freedom to earn as much money as you want in a legal, ethical manner. That's why we started this campaign - Microsoft's aggressive tactics and market dominance hurt business, retard innovation, give capitalism a bad name, and suppress real consumer choice. Our organization isn't anti-business, it's actually the exact opposite. Without Microsoft in the way, every company that uses or produces computers would be more profitable and have more freedom, and consumers would be able to choose their software instead of having it chosen for them.

Q: Doesn't every company behave this way? Wouldn't any business in the same position do the same thing?

Freedom to compete is crucial to the survival of any business - but Microsoft has gone beyond the level of simple competition. The company has repeatedly bent or broken laws to accomplish its goals, with a blatant disregard for security, privacy, and consumer rights. Would any other company behave the same way if it was in the same position? Perhaps so, but no other companies are in Microsoft's position, and none are likely to get there anytime soon. Removing Microsoft's dominance doesn't create another dominant company, because the companies beneath Microsoft would be competing against each other on a level playing field - no one company could take the market and run away with it.

Q: What about Bill Gates, why do you hate him?

We don't hate Mr. Gates, we just disagree with the majority of his world views - especially ones relating to how a business should be run. Our organization isn't out to discuss his personal life or try to force him into giving away money. He has the right to do whatever he wants with his own personal fortune; give it away, hoard it up, or burn it, that doesn't really effect us. The same applies to any other Microsoft executive or employee. We only ask that Gates and other Microsoft employees / executives behave in a morally straight way, honestly and within the law. If a boycott is required to convince them to do that, then so be it.

Q: Do Sun, Apple, IBM or any Microsoft competitors give you money to do this?

The Microsoft Boycott Campaign has not been given money, services, promotion or anything else of value from a Microsoft competitor in exchange for our position. We cannot be bought, because we are not in this for the money. Every person working inside The MSBC is a volunteer, working on the site and newsletter in their free time. The MSBC has lost money during most of its existence, so if we were doing this for profit the effort would have been abandoned years ago. We do sell advertising on this site to help defer the costs of operating it, but the advertising has no impact on our viewpoint.

Q: How much impact can a boycott have? The government is after Microsoft and consumers can make up their own minds about things.

Government action against Microsoft has, so far, been ineffective towards discouraging the behavior we oppose. It may even have the opposite effect: a failed government action will 'justify' Microsoft's actions to the public, making our efforts harder and causing many people to let their guard down. The only thing more dangerous than Microsoft is a Microsoft no one is watching.

The Microsoft Boycott Campaign is no longer a true boycott, but rather an information campaign intended to expose the truth. Consumers who were exposed to some of Microsoft's behavior during the antitrust trial and through their daily usage of Microsoft products come here, looking for the truth. Our job is to provide them with information about Microsoft's true behavior and motive, then give them tools to defeat and replace the company in their lives and in their businesses. Information is the most powerful weapon of democracy.

Saturday, 16-Nov-2002 17:22:42 EST
Version 2.0. Originally written July 27, 1998. Revised Sep. 25, 1999 and May 04, 2001.