PREFACE There is no way I can begin my second volume of the trilogy “MICROSOFT – the Guardian Angel” without firstly focusing on one of the most serious allegations in my first book, issued in June, an allegation that was also printed on cover IV of the volume. I quote accurately: As a result of five years of reporter investigations, I have the feeling that the IT giant was imposed on the market using heavy political police instruments. Even if no blame can be brought – for now – on Bill Gates’ company, the mega-business has only one beneficiary: the MICROSOFT COMPANY. Consequently we will have to shed some light on my legitimate interest in this trilogy. I have also taken to make the case public to meet the directions and recommendations of the European Union, which call for such situations be made public, throughout the entire community territory, precisely for a broader acknowledgement of the criminal phenomenon and of high level corruption. In other words, to quote Monica Macovei a Romanian EP: “let’s not pretend we’re unaware” of what this is about and how we should go about the generalized corruption in Romania. This is because Europe considers software and IT&C development as a strategic field, 8 MICROSOFT THE GUARDIAN ANGEL - UM 0666 9 of major importance for innovations in information categories as “ok”, “uncertain” and “action needed” technology, so that the old continent should be in the (see Appendix 1). position to enter an equal competition with the USA, Likewise, the ECIS Report speaks about on legal grounds, mutually agreed by the two parties. hundreds, maybe even thousands of cases where Microsoft has employed anticompetitive practices, At first I intended the second volume of the and other wheeling and dealing that are just as trilogy “MICROSOFT – the Guardian Angel” to be illegal, in order to eliminate competing companies on entitled OLAF, if we could have secured information the IT&C market. ECIS, the European Committee for from this community body. Unfortunately, and Interoperable Systems is one of the most prestigious despite our legitimate interest, relevant information professional organizations in the filed, and is has not reached us yet, so that we had to continue internationally known. It is so prestigious that the with the volume U.M. 0666. It is to be noted that the First Instance Court in Luxemburg has admitted in first book of the trilogy has been sent to all European the trial Europe vs. MICROSOFT both the Report in Commissioners, including the heads of OLAF, question and the ECIS as an integrated part of the accompanied by the English version. Nevertheless, litigation. only five commissioners have sent us a reply and said they had forwarded the request for information If we should add that Bill Gates had allegedly to those in charge. Two were given to the been accused by White House officials that he was Competition Commissioner and three to the heads of not a hero, but a high-tech terrorist, things begin to OLAF. This proved to be superfluous, as we had take a frightful shape. At reading the title of the book, already sent the book and its translation to every readers might question the connection between body. Consequently I am looking forward to find out MICROSOFT and Military Unit 0666, the previous from this institution handling European Funds if we Direction V of the Securitate in Romania, a symbol of are dealing with a “non-case” as per the leadership the criminal way of the communist regime to “deal” of OLAF in 2005, or a real case as they have stated with persons “hostile” to the regime. Before later on. emphasizing the similarity between MICROSOFT and M.U. 0666, I will explain the definition of “hostile” * during the late regime. It is the precise individual who takes to fight the system on an ideological, dogmatic It is well known throughout the world that the level. He would not support, yet more fight MICROSOFT Corporation giant sets up policies that communist dogma. The state had set up institutional trigger fear, uncertainty and doubt, notions that are instruments against these elements, both overt and assimilated to political police and to terrorism in classified, meant to eliminate all guises of ideological general. It is known as well that they target competition. journalists that they label on black lists in three 10 MICROSOFT THE GUARDIAN ANGEL - UM 0666 11 In the rule of law – allegedly – in a democratic In 2005, when I published the first press article and multi-party state, there is no political competition on intellectual piracy in question, it didn’t even cross between the individual and the state, and is replaced my mind that that there could be an involvement by by an economic competition, which is based on new MICROSOFT Corporation and even less so of UM strategies. 0666 – Direction V of the Securitate. I was to find out The benchmark of this book (SC OMNIS later, with amazement, that the owner of OMNIS GROUP SRL vs. SC ROMANIAN SOFT GROUP had been “operatively handled” before by COMPANY), intellectual piracy, where the the hideous communist structure, in the early ‘80s, MICROSOFT Corporation is highly involved, is by means of political police. And that MICROSOFT is nothing but a representative case study, a modus involved in draining a highly successful software operandi, due to the way in which instruments and application, created by OMNIS GROUP after efforts means of political police are put to use by the IT and investments of over ten years. giant in promoting its own economic interests. I am not afraid of being blacklisted by the IT To penetrate the IT&C Romanian market, giant, as Bill Gates’ men could not lay me off. Today MICROSOFT had to rely on high officials, many of I am an investigation media freelancer and writer. them top members of the Securitate or descendants Yet with respect to the new Securitate oligarchy, to thereof. Registered methods of the past were kept which I will refer extensively hereafter, I must admit a up, yet not their purpose. If in the past they reservation. Just like the former Minister of Justice, annihilated political “hostiles” of the system, they Monica Macovei, when she tried to reform the have now passed to annihilating those who could system she was leading. And even more so when infringe the economic interests of MICROSOFT, a she closely avoided being blown up in her own company that has been associated with the house, after which she found herself destitute. Romanian state since 2004, within a so-called strategic partnership. This partnership costs us a lot Last Minute of money, and brings the Americans a substantial profit; even more so as they have found a doorway We hear from qualified sources that OLAF (the for a mechanism for accessing European funds. European Office for Combating Fraud in Brussels) is Of course, I cannot support the assumption that intensively investigating the case which happens to MICROSOFT would go up to physically eliminating be the subject of the trilogy “MICROSOFT – the its opponents. But, being associated with the Guardian Angel”, and finds it as extremely complex Romanian State, more than once associated with the on the European scene. This is a complexity that former Securitate, I can assume that there are crosses the Atlantic, reaching the USA. At the end of persons to commit the assassination. Networks such last month (28 of June 2010), two days after his as in the case of Cătălin Voicu and Mihai Caraman. American visa had expired, American authorities 12 MICROSOFT detained Alexei Karetnikov near Seattle (to be precise in Redmond, headquarters of the MICROSOFT Corporation), unofficially accusing him for espionage for Russia. He was an employee of the IT giant as a software tester and is believed to have been in touch with the 11 Russian spies extradited to Russia, within an exchange for 4 American spies CHAPTER I extradited to the USA. It is interesting that the 23 years old man, who was eventually permitted to Illegal Practices by the MICROSOFT Giant leave to Moscow, had previously worked in a ghost- company in our country, called “Neobit”, established On March 31 st 2009, ECIS set up a report of in 2003 and specializing in Software. According to several tens of pages, with references to other “Washington Post”, representatives of “Neobit” with thousands, to the attention of Governments and headquarters in Bucharest denied that Aleksei other partners – who could think of associating with Karetnikov had been their employee. I wonder: if he MICROSOFT, regarding the “anticompetitive were, could they have admitted the connections with behavior and prejudice of the consumer” practiced a character suspected to be a Russian spy in the by the company. USA? ECIS is a 1989 established NGO, which pleas for a favorable environment for promoting IT&C interoperable solutions and is represented by a number of professionals in law and information technology. The Committee sees that all systems co- function, just as “Word” is compatible with “Windows”, “Excel” and all MICROSOFT software, but not with Macintosh, Unix or others. In other words, once in the MICROSOFT instruments, the consumer should no longer be a captive user of the company. For a better understanding of implications, we quote from the ECIS report: On January 15 th 2009, the European Commission released a new Statement of objections addressed to MICROSOFT, with an emphasis on “the preliminary point of view of the Commission 14 MICROSOFT THE GUARDIAN ANGEL - UM 0666 15 providing that the joint sale of Internet Explorer “middleware” threats, such as the NESCAPE browsers and “Windows” operation systems infringe browser.