Western countries look the other way when their companies exploit poor countries. Then let the same corrupt money to be be taken out from those poor countries and hidden in their banks and property markets. Microsoft is not alone in this many other companies do the same. I personally feel the biggest hate from the west for the chinese so called road and belt initiative is not that China is exploiting these countries rather China has pushed them out and taken over their scam.
Microsoft is tied to hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign bribes
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Re: Microsoft is tied to hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign bribes
#42> "What is a shock: This time around, the SEC and DOJ have both declined to investigate Microsoft over the same types of bribes in the Middle East and Africa. They acknowledged my evidence (which I submitted three times) yet did not take up the case, claiming that the current pandemic has prevented them from gathering more evidence from abroad—even though I have already provided documentation that I believe shows Mic…
Are the bribes being directed by MS US or are these things taking place in overseas offices where customs are different? One example was Hungary --I imagine Ukraine and Nigeria too would have executives there who are part of the local culture where they do things differently. While the actions go afoul of US law, they may be in line with local customs culture and practices --that is harder to root out as now you are…
Yes, a bribe in one country is often seen as just the cost of doing business in another.
In the US should tips be considered bribes? What if you tip at the beginning rather than the end in order to get better service?
Re: Microsoft is tied to hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign bribes
#43The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act should be repealed and American companies should be allowed to compete on equal footing with their foreign competitors. No other country, even if it technically has an FCPA-like law on the books, actually enforces it to the extent the US does. It means that everyone is free to openly participate in bribery to win foreign markets, markets where bribery is just how business is done, wh…
Yes. It's not our governments job to prosecute foreign bribery. It's the foreign government's job. And if they don't do their job, I don't see how that's my problem.
that stank flows upstream which is why we want it stamped out.
Re: Microsoft is tied to hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign bribes
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are the bribes being directed by MS US or are these things taking place in overseas offices where customs are different? One example was Hungary --I imagine Ukraine and Nigeria too would have executives there who are part of the local culture where they do things differently. While the actions go afoul of US law, they may be in line with local customs culture and practices --that is harder to root out as now you are…
Yes, a bribe in one country is often seen as just the cost of doing business in another. In the US should tips be considered bribes? What if you tip at the beginning rather than the end in order to get better service?
this is a formal fallacy - joining something substantial, serious and a matter of public law, to something personal, of little consequence, and governed at a local level. please reconsider this as this important public discussion evolves on YNews?
Re: Microsoft is tied to hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign bribes
#45The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act should be repealed and American companies should be allowed to compete on equal footing with their foreign competitors. No other country, even if it technically has an FCPA-like law on the books, actually enforces it to the extent the US does. It means that everyone is free to openly participate in bribery to win foreign markets, markets where bribery is just how business is done, wh…
Do you think our laws should be tuned for maximum profit, or to reflect who we are, ethically and morally, as a society?
It's not about our laws, it's about their laws. Whether bribery is legal or otherwise tolerated seems to be a question properly for the country whose officials are being bribed. It may be hard to imagine, but this is just how it works in some countries. They don't pay their public officials enough, and everyone expects that they pad their inadequate official salaries with corruption. I certainly wouldn't want my country to be run that way, but it's just how some societies work.
Yes, the bribery is technically illegal in most of those countries, but thinking that is is of primary importance is mistaking western legalism for a universal ethos. In many other places, the technical requirements of the law are much less important. The real law in all cases is what is actually practiced, which in these societies can be quite different from what's on the books.
Re: Microsoft is tied to hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign bribes
#46> "What is a shock: This time around, the SEC and DOJ have both declined to investigate Microsoft over the same types of bribes in the Middle East and Africa. They acknowledged my evidence (which I submitted three times) yet did not take up the case, claiming that the current pandemic has prevented them from gathering more evidence from abroad—even though I have already provided documentation that I believe shows Mic…
Are the bribes being directed by MS US or are these things taking place in overseas offices where customs are different? One example was Hungary --I imagine Ukraine and Nigeria too would have executives there who are part of the local culture where they do things differently. While the actions go afoul of US law, they may be in line with local customs culture and practices --that is harder to root out as now you are…
I live in Kazakhstan and while I don't have any evidence, I'm pretty sure that many huge western companies operating here bribed officials.
I don't think that's necessary part of local culture. Of course in poor country officials with $200/month salary are happy to get $1000 gift for signing $100 000 agreement. Western companies are huge part of corruption source here. That's my opinion.
I've heard that Ikea decided not to bribe officials, so they didn't get approval to build their shops here. I kind of applaud them if that's true and I wish every so-called civilized company took that stance. But money doesn't stink I guess.
Re: Microsoft is tied to hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign bribes
#47My work involves a public sector organization in Brazil. In the last years there was a big push towards microsoft products at my workplace, to a point where emails with announcements from corporate IT sometimes looks and sounds like spam pushing MS products. Now I'm left wondering if that's related to bribes here too, or if it's just bad judgement/taste from IT leadership.
it is well documented in the 1990s antitrust documents against Microsoft Corp. that attorneys under contract with Microsoft, paid money to senior management at the Brazilian national phone system to adopt Microsoft Office as standard, and remove any other system internally, IIR
Re: Microsoft is tied to hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign bribes
#48Former Microsoftie here. After all the business ethics training videos I had to sit through, I am infuriated by this.
In almost every country with a dictator and human right abuses, you will find a constitution guarantying civil rights and liberties of the individual... [1] - "The Constitution of the Russian Federation" Article 17 1. In the Russian Federation recognition and guarantees shall be provided for the rights and freedoms of man and citizen according to the universally recognized principles and norms of international law an…
The title is a bit inflammatory, but in this clip from Scalia's testimony relates the overall concept well.
Re: Microsoft is tied to hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign bribes
#49The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act should be repealed and American companies should be allowed to compete on equal footing with their foreign competitors. No other country, even if it technically has an FCPA-like law on the books, actually enforces it to the extent the US does. It means that everyone is free to openly participate in bribery to win foreign markets, markets where bribery is just how business is done, wh…
In my view that law is to protect very big US companies that pay the middle men from the smaller US companies that don’t.
Re: Microsoft is tied to hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign bribes
#50Former Microsoftie here. After all the business ethics training videos I had to sit through, I am infuriated by this.
I read a story yesterday[1] how the policy inside Google is to cc their legal department on any emails that you think could make the company look bad in any future legal proceedings. As I understand it, this shields the email from discovery.
Did you have similar guidelines inside Microsoft?