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Nick Christenson wrote:<br>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid200307121919.h6CJJ3q2094917@discovery.gangofone.com">
<pre wrap="">I find this one much more problematic.</pre>
</blockquote>
I surmise it may have been more problematic for the author.<br>
<br>
(By the way, I would hardly expect everyone to agree with everything that
I said; by stating a perspective, I would hope to elicit, from others, their
perspectives, and thus proceed to a rational conclusion by means of a discourse
between equals, with, hopefully, everyone leaving the meeting of minds with
as much as they can absorb, of an educational nature, from the experience.)<br>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid200307121919.h6CJJ3q2094917@discovery.gangofone.com">
<pre wrap=""><!---->This has all the hallmarks of an urban legend.</pre>
</blockquote>
The post seems to contain a lot of detail, and many supporting URLs.<br>
<br>
Here's what I found, just Googling:<br>
<br>
"Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, is one of the leading proponents of a national
ID card system. Oracle, the world’s largest database vendor, owes
its very existence to a Central Intelligence Agency contract awarded
it in the 1970s. In September 2001, Ellison told San Francisco television
station KPIX, “We need a national ID card with our photograph and
thumbprint digitized and embedded in the ID card.” Ellison even
agreed to provide the U.S. government the software to run such a
system free of charge. However, Ellison’s offer is less altruistic
than it appears. If the U.S. government bases a national ID system
on his database product, every hardware and software vendor who
would interface with the system would be required to license his
software, which would become a de facto industry standard. Ellison
stands to make billions of dollars if such a system is adopted."<br>
<br>
(<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://multinationalmonitor.org/mm2002/02march/march02corp3.html">http://multinationalmonitor.org/mm2002/02march/march02corp3.html</a>)<br>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid200307121919.h6CJJ3q2094917@discovery.gangofone.com">
<pre wrap=""><!---->Well, if it's true, I'm glad it is public.</pre>
</blockquote>
I think there's a lot of rot in Silicon Valley; don't kid yourself. Rot and
perception management go hand in hand. One can't paint over a rotten step
and expect it to go unnoticed, for example.<br>
<br>
Under instructions from my immediate management, I was emptying a room at
a dot-com whom shall remain nameless, and placing the contents in a dumpster,
preparatory to our moving into a smaller space. I had already harvested a
t-shirt or two; a hat or two; a few buttons. I was surprised to find the
following book:<br>
<br>
Duties and Responsibilities of Directors and Officers<br>
Professor Robert Baxt<br>
<br>
It has chapters addressing one's duties to act honestly and to avoid conflicts
of interest, as well as duties to act with care and due diligence. It was
a year or so out of date. And it was published by the Australian Institute
of Company Directors. Apparently the closest source of these sorts of educational
materials was, say, 8,000 miles away.<br>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid200307121919.h6CJJ3q2094917@discovery.gangofone.com">
<pre wrap="">I think folks can have fair differences
on whether Oracle has been "aggressive" or "unethical" or somewhere
in between in its business practices, but I'd like to see the truth
win out.</pre>
</blockquote>
In order for this to occur one must give both groups equal time. If the events,
as described in the posting, are accurate, then it would be fair to say that
Oracle has no interest in seeing the truth win out.<br>
<br>
(For instance, did you notice the bit about the Oracle Legal Department legal
professional who sued Oracle because, she alleged, they had required her
to do something unethical ... whose lawsuit was sealed against public scrutiny?
I happen to personally know that is true, and can personally support the
authenticity of that story.)<br>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid200307121919.h6CJJ3q2094917@discovery.gangofone.com">
<pre wrap="">This includes the PeopleSoft bid. It's certainly aggressive, arguably it's unethical. I can believe that the point of it is as much to disrupt PeopleSoft as it is to acquire the assets of the company. Oracle is certainly not above such things.</pre>
</blockquote>
'Nuff sed. But business is war, according to Leroy, and there are no neutral
parties.<br>
<br>
By the way, the description, by another person, of how Cisco's sales force
aggressively started calling not just him but everyone around him, calling
into question his judgement for wanting to evaluate other vendors' products,
is eerily similar to the tactics described in the posting (which I assume
you have not yet read). I see no reason to assume that this phenomenon, if
true, has confined itself to a single company.<br>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid200307121919.h6CJJ3q2094917@discovery.gangofone.com">
<pre wrap=""><!---->No, it hasn't disappeared.</pre>
</blockquote>
The parties concerned have been silent.<br>
<br>
There has been a lot of commentary from newscasters whom have to fill their
time with something; they repeat whatever has happened recently until something
bigger happens, and make 'analyses' in the meantime, marking time until the
next new development occurs. That's not news.<br>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid200307121919.h6CJJ3q2094917@discovery.gangofone.com">
<blockquote type="cite">
<pre wrap="">Yours for a workplace free of coercion, fraud, and racism ...
</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre wrap=""><!---->
These are laudable goals. Any interest in adding "hyperbole" to this
list?</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
Maybe. I'm not sure I've exaggerated anything; I've reported on the existence
of a story whose truth (or lack thereof) is of interest to everyone in Silicon
Valley, especially those holding Oracle stock.<br>
<br>
<br>
-- richard<br>
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