News MS rewards reformed critic with $10m

Smells fishey? More like it smells like a rotting whale.

El Reg blows the whistle:

Microsoft has paid almost $10m directly to the top official of the Computer and Communications Industry Association as part of its settlement with the trade group.

The CCIA has been a longtime critic of Microsoft but the two reached agreement earlier this month. Microsoft paid $19.75m to the group which promised to drop its support for EC antitrust action. In return the CCIA withdrew a complaint it made to the European Commission and stopped supporting the regulator's antitrust legal action against the software giant. Ed Black, CCIA president, was previously a harsh critic of Microsoft - in 2001 he described the firm's behaviour as "consistently, constantly illegal".

As part of the settlement earlier this month Black was personally paid $9.75m, according to documents obtained by the Financial Times.

More here

So there you go. If you have enough cash, you can buy off all your critics. I wonder how much the EU will be paid...

 

Hey, if they gave me $10m, I'd stop complaining too. Maybe even use a legit copy