Conferinta leaderilor guvernamentali, Seattle, 28.03.2001

Steve Ballmer : un guvern este o organizatie compusa aproape in majoritate de oameni care lucreaza cu informatie, cu cunoastere, vrem sa lucram pentru dv. pentru a da angajatilor flexibilitatea, informatiile, agilitatea de care au nevoie astfel ca guvernul sa fie cu adevarat reprezentat de oamenii care lucreaza pentru el, si acei oameni au nevoie sa aiba acces la informatia potrivita.

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BEIJING, Jan. 27 2010 — Microsoft founder Bill Gates said Monday that obeying local laws is a prerequisite for doing business in a foreign country, joining in the ongoing spat between Google and China over alleged cyber attacks a day after Beijing spoke out to defend its Web policy.

In an interview Monday with ABC television, Microsoft founder Bill Gates said Monday that obeying local laws is a prerequisite for doing business in a foreign country.

In an interview Monday with ABC television, Gates called the row a „complex issue.”

Different countries have different rules on censorship, Gates said, adding that Germany forbids pro-Nazi statements that would be protected as free speech in the United States.

„And so you have got to decide, do you want to obey the laws of the countries you are in or not. If not, you may not end up doing business there,” he said.

http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/xw/t654165.htm

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Craig Mundie: „But where we were most broken,” he says, „was that our business practices and our engagement did not reflect the importance of having a collaborative approach with the government.”

In 2003 the company offered China and 59 other countries the right to look at the fundamental source code for its Windows operating system and to substitute certain portions with their own software – something Microsoft had never allowed in the past.

Gates argued at the time that while it was terrible that people in China pirated so much software, if they were going to pirate anybody’s software he’d certainly prefer it be Microsoft’s.

http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/07/23/100134488/index.htm