Posted by Andrew KoGeneral Manager, Microsoft Partners in Learning
For many of us, there has been at least one special person who has had a significant impact on our lives, and has inspired us to reach where we are today. It may be a parent, relative or a friend, but for many, it’s a teacher. Today is Teacher Appreciation Day, a day for honoring teachers and recognizing the lasting contributions they make to our lives.
[Read more...]
Posted by David HowardCorporate Vice President & Deputy General Counsel, Microsoft
Today’s FTC statement filed in the International Trade Commission adds to the growing chorus of regulators and other government officials around the world who agree that injunctions and exclusion orders based on standard essential patents jeopardize competition and the availability and price of consumer technology.
From China’s Ministry of Commerce, to the EU’s Directorate-General for Competition, to the U.S. Department of Justice, and now the FTC, the world’s regulators are speaking clearly and consistently: companies should not misuse standard essential patents.
Posted by Dave HeinerVice President & Deputy General Counsel, Microsoft
The FTC took steps today to address some of Google’s improper business practices. We find it troubling that the agency did not adhere to its own standard procedures that call for the agency to obtain industry input on proposed relief and secure it through an enforceable consent decree. The FTC’s overall resolution of this matter is weak and—frankly—unusual. We are concerned that the FTC may not have obtained adequate relief even on the few subjects that Google has agreed to address.
Data Portability
For years Google has publicly championed the virtues of “data portability”—the idea that customers ought to be able to use their own data in products from various companies. But in practice, Google effectively prohibited its primary paying customers (advertisers) from using data about their own advertising campaigns on any ad platform other than Google’s. That made it much more difficult and costly for advertisers (especially small advertisers) to run their ad campaigns on Bing and other ad platforms.
Posted by Eric WengerPolicy Counsel for U.S. Government Affairs, Microsoft
Every day criminals exploit innocent, unsuspecting people by secretly overtaking their computers to carry out crimes. Networks of bad actors have assembled an efficient, resilient infrastructure of computing power called botnets to enable Internet-based organized crimes ranging from the distribution of malware to phishing solicitations and online theft. In order to address the criminal threat posed by botnets, the public and private sectors are announcing new, collaborative efforts to keep consumers safe online.
Today, Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith joined U.S. Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, National Institute of Standards and Technology Director Pat Gallagher and industry leaders at the White House to unveil new efforts to combat botnets. The Industry Botnet Group, a coalition of private sector partners, released their guiding principles at the event as part of the fight against botnets. Below is video from the event. You can watch Brad Smith's comments starting at about the 35:15 mark.