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OT: Mentally ill progressives call for boycott of Microsoft and Xbox

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  OT: Mentally ill progressives call for boycott of Microsoft and Xbox CrudeSausage <crude@sausa.ge> - 2025-04-07 21:43 -0400
    Re: OT: Mentally ill progressives call for boycott of Microsoft and Xbox % <pursent100@gmail.com> - 2025-04-07 19:09 -0700
    Re: Mentally ill Microsoft fans suffer Linux envy, again Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2025-04-08 02:47 +0000
      Re: Mentally ill Microsoft fans suffer Linux envy, again CrudeSausage <crude@sausa.ge> - 2025-04-08 08:38 -0400
        Re: Mentally ill Microsoft fans suffer Linux envy, again Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2025-04-08 21:10 +0000

#18325 — OT: Mentally ill progressives call for boycott of Microsoft and Xbox

<https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/bds-calls-for-boycott-of-microsoft-and-xbox-gaming-products-over-alleged-israeli-military-connections>

The international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement are calling 
on people to cancel Game Pass subscriptions, avoid Microsoft-owned video 
game properties such as Minecraft and Call Of Duty, and boycott all 
Microsoft Gaming and Xbox-branded products in protest at the company’s 
reported business connections with the Israeli military.

The call follows allegations this January about the Israeli military’s 
usage of Microsoft’s Azure cloud technology and artificial intelligence 
products in the course of its bombardment and invasion of Gaza.

According to a joint investigation between the Guardian, 
Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and Hebrew-language outlet 
Local Call, with additional reporting from Drop Site News, Microsoft 
have “deepened” their relationship with Israel’s defence establishment 
since 7th October 2023, when several Palestinian militant groups struck 
across the border and massacred over a thousand people. Israel responded 
to the attack by mounting a ground offensive and airstrikes that have 
destroyed much of Gaza and killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.

In their January 2025 write-up, the Guardian claim that Microsoft have 
supplied the Israeli Defense Forces with storage and computing services 
and struck “at least $10m in deals to provide thousands of hours of 
technical support”. The piece continues that “while the IDF has used 
some Microsoft services for administrative purposes, such as email and 
file management systems, documents and interviews suggest Azure has been 
used to support combat and intelligence activities.”

The joint investigation alleges the use of Microsoft technology by 
Israeli security forces to manage the population registry and movement 
of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. It further claims that 
Microsoft have supplied a “suite of communications and messaging 
systems” for managing databanks of potential airstrike targets. 
Microsoft have also reportedly given the Israeli military “large-scale 
access” to OpenAI’s GPT-4 “in recent years”.

Neither the Israeli military nor Microsoft commented on the Guardian 
report at the time of its publication.

According to Drop Site, two former Microsoft employees, Abdo Mohamed and 
Hossam Nasr, have been instrumental in driving this week’s BDS call for 
a boycott of Microsoft’s gaming offerings. As reported by the Guardian, 
Microsoft fired the pair in October 2024 after they organised a vigil 
for Palestinians killed in Gaza outside the company’s headquarters in 
Redmond, Washington.

This isn't the first time BDS have protested Microsoft's alleged 
connections to Israeli military or security organisations. In 2020, they 
and other civil liberty groups spoke out against Microsoft's stake in 
AnyVision, an Israeli start-up whose face recognition technology has 
been used at checkpoints in border crossings between Israel and the West 
Bank. Microsoft later sold their stake and announced that they would 
exit the business of investing in facial recognition startups altogether.

BDS are now making the games publisher a “priority target” in response 
to this January's allegations. You can read more about the boycott over 
on the BDS website. I've asked Microsoft for comment.

-- 
God be with you,

CrudeSausage
John 14:6

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#18326

CrudeSausage wrote:
> <https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/bds-calls-for-boycott-of-microsoft-and-xbox-gaming-products-over-alleged-israeli-military-connections> 
> 
> 
> The international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement are calling 
> on people to cancel Game Pass subscriptions, avoid Microsoft-owned video 
> game properties such as Minecraft and Call Of Duty, and boycott all 
> Microsoft Gaming and Xbox-branded products in protest at the company’s 
> reported business connections with the Israeli military.
> 
> The call follows allegations this January about the Israeli military’s 
> usage of Microsoft’s Azure cloud technology and artificial intelligence 
> products in the course of its bombardment and invasion of Gaza.
> 
> According to a joint investigation between the Guardian, 
> Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and Hebrew-language outlet 
> Local Call, with additional reporting from Drop Site News, Microsoft 
> have “deepened” their relationship with Israel’s defence establishment 
> since 7th October 2023, when several Palestinian militant groups struck 
> across the border and massacred over a thousand people. Israel responded 
> to the attack by mounting a ground offensive and airstrikes that have 
> destroyed much of Gaza and killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.
> 
> In their January 2025 write-up, the Guardian claim that Microsoft have 
> supplied the Israeli Defense Forces with storage and computing services 
> and struck “at least $10m in deals to provide thousands of hours of 
> technical support”. The piece continues that “while the IDF has used 
> some Microsoft services for administrative purposes, such as email and 
> file management systems, documents and interviews suggest Azure has been 
> used to support combat and intelligence activities.”
> 
> The joint investigation alleges the use of Microsoft technology by 
> Israeli security forces to manage the population registry and movement 
> of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. It further claims that 
> Microsoft have supplied a “suite of communications and messaging 
> systems” for managing databanks of potential airstrike targets. 
> Microsoft have also reportedly given the Israeli military “large-scale 
> access” to OpenAI’s GPT-4 “in recent years”.
> 
> Neither the Israeli military nor Microsoft commented on the Guardian 
> report at the time of its publication.
> 
> According to Drop Site, two former Microsoft employees, Abdo Mohamed and 
> Hossam Nasr, have been instrumental in driving this week’s BDS call for 
> a boycott of Microsoft’s gaming offerings. As reported by the Guardian, 
> Microsoft fired the pair in October 2024 after they organised a vigil 
> for Palestinians killed in Gaza outside the company’s headquarters in 
> Redmond, Washington.
> 
> This isn't the first time BDS have protested Microsoft's alleged 
> connections to Israeli military or security organisations. In 2020, they 
> and other civil liberty groups spoke out against Microsoft's stake in 
> AnyVision, an Israeli start-up whose face recognition technology has 
> been used at checkpoints in border crossings between Israel and the West 
> Bank. Microsoft later sold their stake and announced that they would 
> exit the business of investing in facial recognition startups altogether.
> 
> BDS are now making the games publisher a “priority target” in response 
> to this January's allegations. You can read more about the boycott over 
> on the BDS website. I've asked Microsoft for comment.
> 
how did the boy get cott

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#18327 — Re: Mentally ill Microsoft fans suffer Linux envy, again

Seems like Microsoft has given up trying with its Windows “handheld mode” 
idea to compete with the Linux-based Steam Deck. Instead, rumours are now 
spreading that it is going to come up with some kind of combination 
Windows+XBox product, maybe later this year.

This sounds to me like such a pointless product. The whole raison d’être 
why XBox was created in the first place was as a tightly-controlled 
platform that would only run software (mainly games) that Microsoft 
permitted it to run. Whereas Windows was a more laissez-faire playground, 
where users could run pretty much what they wanted, whether it was game or 
not.

But XBox is not holding its own against the competition (from Sony, 
Nintendo etc) as well as it once was. And the deficiencies of Windows as a 
gaming platform are starkly highlighted by the Steam Deck, which is 
popularizing a new way of gaming that Windows is simply unsuited for.

So what’s Microsoft’s answer? Combine the two losers into one 
Frankenproduct, in the hope that their individual weaknesses will somehow 
shore each other up, instead of bringing each other down. It’s an act of 
desperation, with no clear strategy behind it. A swan song for XBox? Does 
seem like it.

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#18328 — Re: Mentally ill Microsoft fans suffer Linux envy, again

On 2025-04-07 10:47 p.m., Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
> Seems like Microsoft has given up trying with its Windows “handheld mode”
> idea to compete with the Linux-based Steam Deck. Instead, rumours are now
> spreading that it is going to come up with some kind of combination
> Windows+XBox product, maybe later this year.

The other rumours are that the Xbox will allow for people to sync their 
Steam libraries onto the Xbox. For me, that would be awesome. It would 
kill the requirement to use Windows to play the games.

> This sounds to me like such a pointless product. The whole raison d’être
> why XBox was created in the first place was as a tightly-controlled
> platform that would only run software (mainly games) that Microsoft
> permitted it to run. Whereas Windows was a more laissez-faire playground,
> where users could run pretty much what they wanted, whether it was game or
> not.
> 
> But XBox is not holding its own against the competition (from Sony,
> Nintendo etc) as well as it once was. And the deficiencies of Windows as a
> gaming platform are starkly highlighted by the Steam Deck, which is
> popularizing a new way of gaming that Windows is simply unsuited for.
> 
> So what’s Microsoft’s answer? Combine the two losers into one
> Frankenproduct, in the hope that their individual weaknesses will somehow
> shore each other up, instead of bringing each other down. It’s an act of
> desperation, with no clear strategy behind it. A swan song for XBox? Does
> seem like it.

The Xbox 360 was Microsoft's best chance to take over the gaming market, 
but the unit's unreliability killed the momentum. The Xbox One not being 
more powerful than the PS4 destroyed whatever hope holdouts had that the 
Xbox would become #1. I'm an Xbox guy myself, if only because I 
recognize that Microsoft was the innovator in what I most appreciate in 
gaming: achievements. The Xbox One never died on me and the Xbox Series 
S is still going strong. The fact that it is in a distant third place 
doesn't bother me one bit. However, giving us access to Steam within the 
Xbox will make things a lot more competitive.


-- 
God be with you,

CrudeSausage
John 14:6

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#18342 — Re: Mentally ill Microsoft fans suffer Linux envy, again

On Tue, 8 Apr 2025 08:38:16 -0400, CrudeSausage wrote:

> The other rumours are that the Xbox will allow for people to sync their
> Steam libraries onto the Xbox. For me, that would be awesome. It would
> kill the requirement to use Windows to play the games.

How do you think that would work? How would Steam games work without a 
full functioning Windows API, à la WINE/Proton?

> However, giving us access to Steam within the Xbox will make things a
> lot more competitive.

Competitive with what? Those games were not written for the console 
market, they were written for the PC market. The whole point with having 
consoles is so user don’t have to mess with PCs to run the games. And the 
whole point with having PC games is for those who don’t want to put up 
with the strictures of consoles.

What does combining the two achieve? There is a marketing term called 
“synergy” that should apply here. But it doesn’t.

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