Microsoft hates Freedom and Democracy!!!

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger

Freedom and human rights are banned expressions in China.

That's interesting news. Where did you get that from?

Stop being obtuse:
Chinese bloggers posting their thoughts via Microsoft's net service face restrictions on what they can write.

Weblog entries on some parts of Microsoft's MSN site in China using words such as "freedom", "democracy" and "demonstration" are being blocked.

...

Also being restricted on the free parts of the site are journal entries that mention "human rights" and "Taiwan independence". Those using these banned words or writing entries that are pornographic or contain sensitive information get a pop-up warning that reads: "This message contains a banned expression, please delete this expression."

[aneeshm]

Originally posted by GePap


A, no, that's not how that law works.
Just for your information.

It may not work that way , but practically the result is the same - as Asher said , the Board would kick them out if they tried any such stunt .

[Asher]

Originally posted by GePap
And what's amazing on top of that is that there were at least two counter ethical arguments you could have made.

Been making them all along, you just didn't comprehend it until I summarized it for the 10th time in point-form to make you think about it...

1. You could have made your fiduciary responsiblity one into an ethical one- ie. a corporation has an ethical responsiblity to its shareholders and its workers and must protect it.

But you refuse to engage in philosophical debate.....

I've been saying that repeatedly. Re-read the thread.

Or you could have used a utalitarian arguement of how MS staying in China in the long run increases the common good.

That's a lame argument and entering into a minefield -- just what the hell is the "common good"?

Instead I've been very specific that the benefit is to Microsoft to stay in the market, and thereby its shareholders.

[Kidlicious]

Asher still has that stupid quote in his sig. He obviously doesn't understand it.

[Bosh]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
Stop being obtuse:

You're just a glutton for punishment aren't you?

[Agathon]

Hmm. This thread has continued in an interesting fashion. I would have thought that Asher would have retired in shame by now due to being megapwned.

GePap

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Bosh

You're just a glutton for punishment aren't you?

I wanted to see how he'd explain it.

[Agathon]

Even the head of GM wouldn't say that it is right to do absolutely anything to increase shareholder profit.

That view is a caricature of business practice, something that you would find in a Sylvester Stallone movie.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by aneeshm
Agathorn , it seems you don't understand that Microsoft is forced into the China marked by US law . A company has to act to protect the interest of its shareholders . If it does not do that , it is liable to be sued . Not going into China would thus be a violation of the law of their home country - the USA .

So please , stop deluding yourself ad admit that you've just shot yourself in the foot .

The courts would use the objective standard and throw it out. It's absolutely reasonable to use ethical standards when conducting business even if you have to sacrifice profits. The shareholders should know this when they make their investment.

[Agathon]

I love this – corporations should be immune from ethical standards. There's nothing wrong with profiting from the holocaust.

I wonder how some people were brought up....

[Asher]

Originally posted by Agathon
I love this – corporations should be immune from ethical standards. There's nothing wrong with profiting from the holocaust.

I wonder how some people were brought up....

If the companies knew their products were being used to commit genocide, they should stop supplying the products.

I think it's ridiculous to compare a situation where you're selling the government products to help them kill people to a situation where a private service has keywords censored in accordance with local law.

The simple fact of the matter is there's more than ethics involved. This is a simple matter of practicality and business.

You have ignored the entire situation and YOU have been smacked around in this thread.

This is the real world. You need to address the above-mentioned 5 questions and convince me -- and other shareholders -- why MS should withdraw from China over this.

Your constant parroting of "it's not ethical" and comparing it to the holocaust is doing nothing but display how inept you really are at this whole argument-thing in non-academic situations.

The tirade against the US Media and the blatant strawman I've quoted in this post also demonstrates that I think you know how owned you were, and you're now doing damage control to save face in the opinion of people who don't know any better (GePap, Kid...)

[Adagio]

Originally posted by Agathon
Hmm. This thread has continued in an interesting fashion. I would have thought that Asher would have retired in shame by now due to being megapwned.

I've read about half of this thread and so far it seems like Asher is winning


Or did I miss something really important somewhere in this thread?

[Kuciwalker]

Yeah, you missed the part where we entered the Aggieverse.

[Agathon]

Originally posted by Adagio


I've read about half of this thread and so far it seems like Asher is winning


Or did I miss something really important somewhere in this thread?

He's being thrashed.

[Bosh]

Originally posted by Agathon
Hmm. This thread has continued in an interesting fashion. I would have thought that Asher would have retired in shame by now due to being megapwned.

GePap

*points at sig*
*sighs*