Saturday, March 26, 2022

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Whistleblower says Microsoft spent millions on bribes abroad

Posted: 25 Mar 2022 05:24 PM PDT

In an essay published Friday on the whistleblower platform Lioness, former Microsoft manager Yasser Elabd alleged that Microsoft fired him after he alerted leadership to a workplace where employees, subcontractors and government operators regularly engaged in bribery. He further alleges that attempts to escalate his concerns resulted in retaliation within Microsoft by managers, and eventual termination from his role.

Elabd claims in his essay that he worked for Microsoft between 1998 and 2018, and had oversight into a "business investment fund " — essentially a slush fund to "cement longer-term deals" in the Mid-East and Africa. But he grew suspicious of unusual payments to seemingly unqualified partners. After examining several independent audits, he discovered what he believes is a common practice: After setting up a large sale to entities in the region, a "discount" would be baked in, only for the difference between the full-freight cost and discounted fee to be skimmed off and divided between the deal-makers.

"This decision maker on the customer side would send an email to Microsoft requesting a discount, which would be granted, but the end customer would pay the full fee anyway. The amount of the discount would then be distributed among the parties in cahoots: the Microsoft employee(s) involved in the scheme, the partner, and the decision maker at the purchasing entity—often a government official," Elabd alleged.

The former Microsoft manager gave several examples of suspicious transactions and red flags he witnessed over his two decades working for the company abroad. In one audit, Microsoft gave the Saudi Ministry of the Interior a $13.6 million discount which never reached the agency's doors. In 2015, a Nigerian official complained that the government paid $5.5 million for licenses "for hardware they did not possess."

In another example, Qatar's Ministry of Education paid $9.5 million, over a period of seven years, for Microsoft Office and Windows licenses that went unused. Auditors later discovered that employees at that agency didn't even have access to computers.

"We are committed to doing business in a responsible way and always encourage anyone to report anything they see that may violate the law, our policies, or our ethical standards," Becky Lenaburg, a VP at Microsoft and deputy general counsel for compliance and ethics, wrote in a statement to The Verge. "We believe we've previously investigated these allegations, which are many years old, and addressed them. We cooperated with government agencies to resolve any concerns."

Elabd claims his attempts to alert managers resulted in his being shouted at by one manager, iced out of certain deals and told by an executive that he had effectively set himself up to be let go after attempting to involve CEO Satya Nadella. After being terminated, Elabd wrote that he brought his documentation before the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice. He claims the DoJ refused to take up his case. According to Protocol, the SEC dropped the case earlier this month due to a lack of resources.

"As I alleged in my complaint to the SEC, Microsoft is violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and continues to do so brazenly. And why wouldn't they?" wrote Elabd. "By declining to investigate these allegations and the evidence I've given them, the SEC and DOJ have given Microsoft the green light."

Twitter will host 'Halo' watch parties starting March 28th

Posted: 25 Mar 2022 01:42 PM PDT

Paramount+ is kicking off its Twitter watch parties with one of the service's more important shows. Twitter and Paramount+ are kicking off a series of watch parties for the Halo TV series that will give fans chances to discuss episodes in shared moments. The run begins today (March 25th) at 6PM Eastern with a 'pre-show' through the official account, with executive producer Kiki Wolfkill and stars Olive Gray and Kate Kennedy meeting online to discuss the series and offer a behind-the-scenes look.

From then on, you can expect nine regular "after-show" parties. The first takes place March 28th at 4PM Eastern, but you can expect a weekly cadence of parties starting April 1st at a similar time. The virtual festivities end on May 20th. The streams will include celebrity Halo enthusiasts, fan segments and other reasons to tune in.

Twitter and Paramount+ aren't shy about the rationale behind the get-togethers. They're hoping to recreate the "water cooler effect" of conventional TV, where you rush to share your opinions and speculation about an episode. This probably won't turn Halo into a Game of Thrones-style blockbuster that has everyone talking, but it might provide a sense of community that keeps you invested. If nothing else, it shows what you can expect from future parties.

Spotify is testing a new car mode focused on voice commands

Posted: 25 Mar 2022 01:17 PM PDT

Spotify is trying out a new "Car Mode" on a handful of users, the streaming service confirmed to TechCrunch. Last year the company retired its old Car View mode, explaining that it needed to pave the way for "new innovations". The new in-car interface, called "Car Mode" appears to be more focused on voice controls than the older version. The jury is still out on whether hands-free voice recognition actually makes driving safer (some studies suggest drivers who use voice controls are more distracted). But the new revamp does offer less visual distractions and a cleaner interface.

According to screenshots of the Android version of Spotify Car Mode posted by 9to5Google, users can use voice controls to search for artists, browse albums, play or pause, fast forward and "like" a song. The new in-car mode appears to be far less busy than the older version, with simplified "Player View" and a "Library" tab that allows you to quickly access music or podcasts you've recently listened to.

Tech companies like Google and Amazon have pushed automakers to build more voice recognition features in future models of cars. As TechCrunchnotes, voice controls will also be an essential feature in autonomous vehicles. Spotify is no doubt trying to stay ahead of this trend. Last month, Spotify officially launched Car Thing, an in-car player with voice controls, after an extended test period (we reviewed it here). But for those who don't want to pay extra for a hands-free in-car listening experience, Spotify's new mode will be a welcome option.

Ukraine is selling NFTs to support its military

Posted: 25 Mar 2022 12:45 PM PDT

Ukraine's Ministry for Digital Transformation has launched an NFT collection to help fund its military. The project was first announced in early March, but the NFT collection, called " Meta History Museum of War," is now live. The collection is meant to be an "NFT museum" documenting the history of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The collection is currently comprised of 54 NFTs documenting the events of the first three days of the war. The illustrations were done by Ukrainian and international artists, and each one references a tweet documenting some aspect of the invasion and the world's response to it.

"The formula of each NFT is clear and simple: each token is a real news piece from an official source and an illustration from artists, both Ukrainian and international," Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation writes on its Meta History Museum of War website. "The NFT's will be created in chronological order, according to the events so the true history will be saved and cherished."

The NFT Project is the latest way Ukraine has turned to digital assets to fund its defense. The country has collected more than $100 million in cryptocurrency donations since the start of the war, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently signed a bill officially legalizing the crypto industry.
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