Nigerian Government Nixes Microsoft's Mandriva Block

An anonymous reader writes "After trying to bribe a local supplier with a $400,000 marketing contract, Microsoft has still apparently lost out in trying to woo Nigeria's government to use Windows over Linux. Microsoft threw the money at the supplier after it chose Mandriva Linux for 17,000 laptops for school children across Nigeria. The supplier took the bait and agreed to wipe Mandriva off the machines, but now Nigeria's government has stepped in to stop the dirty deal."

Wow, just wow!

[Bryansix (761547)]

Microsoft really did try to Bribe them. That's crazy. I hope this makes the mainstream media.

Re:Wow, just wow!

[ArcherB (796902)]

My question is this:

Did he get to keep the bribe?

I can see the headline now

[btarval (874919)]

Microsoft can't even pay people to use Windows

Yes, this is a P.R. disaster in the making, in more ways than one.

Still illegal

[trolltalk.com (1108067)]

Ever since the Lockheed bribery scandal [wikipedia.org], its been illegal for US citizens or corporations to bribe anyone, anywhere in the world, same as its illegal for them to engage in pedophilia abroad.

So, how much $$$ (campaign contributions - the only "legal" bribe) Microsoft is going to spend to "make this go away"?

Re:Wow, just wow!

[Kadin2048 (468275)]

Ummm Sooo. This is common practice. Even in America or [Gasp] Europe!
Most bribary laws punish the person to accecpts the bribes not the person who gives the bribes, unless it is extortion. Bringing Clients to an expensive luch, giving them tickes to a sports game. It happends, and because the laws are targted at the reciever not the giver there is no reason for Microsoft not to try. So they lost the Deal, They wouldn't have gotten it in the first place if they didn't try. IT is really a no loss situation for them and it gave them a better chance of winning. It is not big news... Sorry.

No, you're incorrect. It is illegal for a U.S. firm to bribe foreign officials, even if the bribery is legal in that country. This is because of a piece of legislation called the "Foreign Corrupt Practices Act," or FCPA.

Now personally, setting aside Microsoft, I think the FCPA is stupid, and tends to just put U.S. businesses at a disadvantage versus businesses from other countries that don't try to apply their own laws extra-territorially, or just generally have a more relaxed attitude towards bribery. It's a piece of legislation that was made at at time when the U.S. world leadership position was a lot stronger; now, it's just shooting ourselves in the foot.

But anyway, despite being stupid, the FCPA is law, and I strongly suspect that what Microsoft did was blatantly illegal under it. Not that they'll be punished or anything, but it's illegal.

Re:Wow, just wow!

[Rei (128717)]

The thing is, in poor countries like Nigeria (especially in Nigeria), bribes are essentially standard. It's hard to get anything done in some countries (Nigeria included) without at least small bribes. What generally makes news is when the bribes are discovered by the western press. That doesn't change the fact that almost every business that works there is going to get dragged into that bribery system in one way or another if they wish to operate.

The really big surprise isn't the bribes. It's that the Nigerian government intervened to *stop* the bribes. Now, that could just mean that they didn't get their cut, but...

Re:Wow, just wow!

[Znork (31774)]

"That's not really a bribe, it's just business."

It's Microsofts standard way of bribing, you mean. Offering 'marketing incentives' is the way they've done everything from get people on certain ISO boards to making sure PC makers dont install Linux.

They seem to get away with it on some technicality, even if they couldn't get away with giving actual money directly.

In the end it's a legal grey area. For some companies and some situations it would be perfectly fine, but in the case of the convicted monopolist, I dont think there's any doubt that it's their practice of getting around legal language prohibiting certain anti-competetive behaviour.

And morally, it's reprehensible and easily equatable with bribery. Both for those accepting the money and for those giving it.

A new low...amazing

[Weaselmancer (533834)]

You know you're corrupt when the government of Nigeria steps in to block your shady deal.

Re:A new low...amazing

[athdemo (1153305)]

I know, someone was actually going to give them a large sum of money, too. I'm totally lost as to how this could have happened.

Re:A new low...amazing

[Azar (56604)]

It takes a thief to spot a thief, I suppose.

Now, now.

[pavon (30274)]

The Nigerian officials are just upset the supplier is the one being bribed and not them :)

It's just tipping

[Harmonious Botch (921977)]

Seriously, you have a very good point. That is the way business is done in some third world countries. They don't consider it wrong. Anyone with power expects to be paid, much like waitresses expect to be tipped here.
Microsoft apparently failed to pay all of the right people.

Re:A new low...amazing

[AdamWill (604569)]

"One wonders if Mandriva bribed the gov't in Nigeria first.."

Heh. Even if you didn't believe we wouldn't be inclined to do that, we don't have the *capacity*. Microsoft can get $400,000 out of Bill's petty cash jar. We couldn't get $400,000 from anywhere.

If this really came down to a battle to see who could provide the biggest...er...factory-to-dealer incentive, we'd be dead in the water.

(I work for Mandriva, in case you didn't figure that one out yet).

What I like most is...

[Dishevel (1105119)]

That Microsoft didn't even try to push their new OS.

STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL

[Tackhead (54550)]

GOD BLESS YOU!

My name is Stephen Ballmer I am the Chair Executive of William Gates of Redmond in the United State of America. I am contacting you with regard to transfer of a huge sum of laptops from the OLPC project. Though I know that a transaction of this magnitude will make any one apprehensive and worried, but I am assuring you that everything has been taken care off, and all will be well at the end of the day. I decided to contact you due to the urgency of this transaction.

The Nigerian official was furious.

[140Mandak262Jamuna (970587)]

Because he did not get his proper cut. Let us not hang our hats on the Govt of Nigeria or Azerbaijan. The real battle is for the mind share of corporate America. That is the fountainhead of all the money MSFT is using to subvert ISO or bribe vendors in third world countries.

Just an hour back there was this story about MSFT including some game vendor's malformed copy protection driver for six year into every damn computer in the world. What percentage of them played that software? Why a corporate server that might end up in a blade rack without even have a dedicated monitor or mouse got this driver? Why are the corporations not demanding full disclosure of what dlls are needed and what are not? Why isn't there a third party service that will advice corporations which components of Windows could be safely removed by looking at the company policies and use patterns?

As long as the customers accept everything dished out by MSFT patiently, there is nothing we can do to make it change. Education of the customers is the most important thing if we are going to rescue computing from this monoculture.

Should this actionable against Microsoft?

[erroneus (253617)]

Now that the dirty deal is uncovered, the first question is:

"If this were done in the US, would it be considered illegal?"

The next question would be:

"If yes, then should Microsoft be prosecuted?"

Further:

"If not, then why not?"

And for all the Microsoft apologists:

"Is this sort of behavior acceptable from your favorite software vendor/publisher/distributor, business partner? And if so, why is it acceptable? If not, please elaborate?"

Not illegal?

[by Anonymous Coward]

After public statements from Mandriva officials implied the marketing deal is legally questionable, Microsoft said last week that it complies with international law and the law of the countries in which it operates.

Except for the US and the EU, of course, where it is a convicted monopolist.

In fact, the statement "Microsoft complies with law" is demonstrably false. The courts have spoken.

I grew up in the "third world"

[cesman (74566)]

I for one am very happy to see this stopped! I grew up in a "third world" county (Belize), when my siblings and I joined our parents in the US, I recall one of the first things they did was get us a computer (CoCo 2). I wouldn't be where I am today if they had not (good job and my own little project http://mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html/ [mysettopbox.tv] ). While I did do some growing up on Windows, it has been almost 9 years since I switched to using Linux exclusively at home. As someone that grew up in a developing nation, I firmly believe there is no better option for it that FLOSS.

Education and technology can level the playing field. Perhaps in the first world, we can afford to argue about the merits of FLOSS vs closed source. However, this isn't the case when you are worried about where your next meal is coming from or if you can afford to vaccinate your child. The Gates Foundation could really show it's altruism by helping to support OLPC or the Classmate PC.

Cecil

Re:Ummm

[WhiteWolf666 (145211)]

No "bribery" here, just two companies making an agreement. Sure, Microsoft's motivation is to move more software over a competitor, but why is that a problem? If Microsoft wants to discount its software or given the company some other benefit, then whatever.

It's called "dumping", and in the U.S., is illegal when conducted by a monopolist. It also tend to violate a variety of world trade rules.

Furthermore, even if one can construe a scenario where it is legal (international run around the law?), it is extremely underhanded and a waste of government resources (they'd be paying for Windows and Linux).

As such, here are the issues:
1. It's probably illegal, and should be, but I'm not a lawyer.
2. Even if its not illegal, its shady business. And it demonstrates more and more than no sane company should get into bed with Microsoft, because Microsoft will do anything and everything to screw you.

Re:Ummm

[Pecisk (688001)]

Man, people these days...

I know that there is common misunderstanding and false assumption that bribery is only possible in government level. No, in business world it happens even more frequently and it IS illegal (Even if some business people would like to think otherwise). I won't get into details how much laws Microsoft broke with doing this, but please, people, keep that in mind - business or government level, such actions are illegal and can get your sorry ass to the courtroom in any country.

Re:Ummm

[Bert64 (520050)]

Not only is it illegal in business, but taking a bribe often results in you being professionally incompetent.

If you worked for me, and i gave you the task of "Book me the best value business-class flight to australia"...
Let's say the best value would be Qantas, and they would fly me direct to australia business class for $4000...
But you received a bribe from United, who paid you $1000 to buy a ticket from them instead...
Their ticket costs $6000 and has a stopover half way, and thus takes longer.

You would benefit from the $1000 bribe, United would benefit from a sale. I would lose out on my time and $2000, because you used my money to buy me an inferior (slower) service that costs more.
You didn't do your job properly.
You wasted my money for your own personal benefit, you effectively stole from me and gave it to United, in exchange for a cut of it back.

Taking a bribe to spend someone else's money is fraud, and should be prosecuted accordingly. Also whoever actually took the bribe is not doing their job properly regardless of the law, and should be fired.

Re:Dirty deal?

[gstoddart (321705)]

In what way? Apparently now it's bad for someone to enter into a cross marketing deal? It amazes me when deals made between consenting entities are "dirty".

Ummmm ... Mandriva won the contract with government.

The company shipping the laptops took money to wipe out Mandriva and ship with Windows.

So, I have a contract with you to buy 10000 widgets painted in red Du Point paint. And, 3m pays you money to paint them in a 3m yellow. Is that OK?

This isn't a "dirty" deal in what way?? It's doing an end run around the people they have a contract with. They did not have a contract with Microsoft, and Microsoft did not have standing to alter the terms of the contract.

I would call this dirty. Hell, I'd call it fraud.

Cheers

Re:Who would've guessed

[varmittang (849469)]

Your statement so wrong. From the Article:"In fact, Intel has tested and certified three operating systems for the Classmate PC: Mandriva Linux, Metasys Linux and Microsoft Windows XP Pro." So it has been tested and it works. Mod me down if you want, but your statement will still be wrong.

Re:I thought corruption was only a 3rd world probl

[by Anonymous Coward]

I must admit that I thought corruption was a problem of the 3rd world alone. But now, we see that a [major] US corporation was perpetuating corruption.

Finally got tired of living under a rock, huh?