Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Microsoft apparently still trying to steal from poor Indians

It is beginning to sound like nonsense for Microsoft to keep claiming that any ventures associated with itself or with Bill Gates have any semblance of charity whatsoever. Clearly, most of its "free offers" merely amount to glamorised "try before you buy" styles of procedure, in actual fact. And much of its software is worth than useless and sells mainly to the ignorant and greedy (like Uni Vice Chancellors) or to the ill advised (like the poor, and duller Uni. students).

Two conceivable examples are the expensive Microsoft Word (generally less good than free Open Office) and Internet Explorer (less reliable and versatile than the completely free with no strings Firefox and other browsers).

Recently an Indian court has ordered Microsoft to pay at least 350 crore tax on royalty income generated in the country, Tax India Online (TIOL) reports. One of its findings was as follows:tax avoidance typically involved the creation of complex artificial structures by which, as though by the wave of a magic wand, the tax payer conjures out of the air a loss, or a gain, or expenditure, or whatever it may be, which otherwise would never have existed. These structures are designed to achieve an adventitious tax benefit for the taxpayer, and in truth are no more than raids on the public funds at the expense of the general body of taxpayers, and as such are unacceptable.”

Some Indian states now try to prevent use of Microsoft software, recommending alternatives like Linux.

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