ZDNet: .Net vote rigging illustrates importance of Web services

“In December, Java was more popular than .Net for
building Web services, according to a ZDNet UK poll, but weeks
later the position had dramatically reversed; investigation
revealed just what lengths Microsoft will go to to promote its
products

This is not the first time Microsoft has been caught using
dubious practices. Last August, lobbyists acting for Microsoft went
beyond the grave and dispatched letters to US states’ attorneys
general from two deceased people as part of a campaign to persuade
government prosecutors to lay off the company in the antitrust
case. US lobby group the Campaign Against Government Waste (CAGW)
posted the letters as part of an attempt to convince attorneys
general there was a grass-roots campaign against the case.

Although votes cast after 21 December are suspect, this latest
episode illustrates the importance of Web services — at least to
suppliers, anyway. The inevitable conclusion is that these are some
of the first salvos in what will be a bitter PR struggle. Microsoft
may have shot itself in the foot this time, but future efforts may
be a little more subtle.”

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