● 09.04.11

●● Cablegate: Microsoft Attacks Free/Libre Software in Tunisia With a Ben Ali Deal, Conspiring to Also Spy on the Population

Posted in Africa, Free/Libre Software, Microsoft at 6:33 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Summary: Gory details (given the revolution that came later) leak out through Wikileaks, which helps show how Microsoft does politics to impose user-hostile software on entire nations, defying their policies in the process

Found via the post “Microsoft et Ben Ali : Wikileaks confirme les soupçons d’une aide pour la surveillance des citoyens Tunisiens” was this very interesting diplomatic cable which sheds light on collaboration between two thugs, Steve Ballmer and Ben Ali. It not only shows Microsoft driving over Free software policies but it also shows Microsoft assisting the government’s attack on the population, which later overthrew Ben Ali. Those who insist that software is not political can bury their heads in the sand or alternatively read the following Cablegate cable. We emphasise some bits of interest in it:

↺ “Microsoft et Ben Ali : Wikileaks confirme les soupçons d’une aide pour la surveillance des citoyens Tunisiens”

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VZCZCXRO7019

PP RUEHTRO

DE RUEHTU #2424/01 2651044

ZNY CCCCC ZZH

P 221044Z SEP 06

FM AMEMBASSY TUNIS

TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1903

INFO RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI PRIORITY 0796

RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS PRIORITY 7294

RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 1182

RUEHNK/AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT PRIORITY 0784

RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 1635

RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT PRIORITY 8221

RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI PRIORITY 0395

RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA PRIORITY 3995

RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TUNIS 002424

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/MAG (HARRIS) AND EB/CIP

STATE PASS USTR (BELL), USPTO (ADLIN AND ADAMS), USAID

(MCCLOUD)

USDOC FOR ITA/MAC/ONE (ROTH), ADVOCACY CTR (JAMES), AND

CLDP (TEJTEL)

CASABLANCA FOR FCS (ORTIZ)

LONDON AND PARIS FOR NEA WATCHER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/22/2016

TAGS: ECON TINT KIPR ECPS TS

SUBJECT: MICROSOFT INKS AGREEMENT WITH GOT

¶1. (SBU) Summary: During the Microsoft Government Leaders

Forum in South Africa July 11-12, the GOT and the Microsoft

Corporation signed a partnership agreement that provides for

Microsoft investment in training, research, and development,

but also commits the GOT to using licensed Microsoft

software. According to Microsoft Tunisia Director General

Salwa Smaoui, the agreement is a win-win for both Microsoft

and the GOT. The negotiation process and the brokered deal

itself are illustrative of GOT priorities and the cost of

doing business in Tunisia. End Summary.

¶2. (SBU) The agreement between Microsoft and the GOT was

signed in July during the Microsoft Government Leaders Forum

in South Africa. Although signed in July, information about

the agreement has not been forthcoming from either the GOT or

Microsoft and, despite repeated requests, Microsoft has yet

to provide post with a copy of the final agreement. In a

September meeting with EconOffs, Microsoft Tunisia Director

General Salwa Smaoui provided an overview of the main points.

The final agreement outlines cooperation on GOT

e-governance, cyber security, intellectual property rights,

and capacity development for Tunisian information technology

programs. Microsoft will establish a Microsoft Innovation

Center in Tunisia for developing local software production

capacity by providing training and consulting services to

software developers. Expanding the Tunisian IT sector has

become a priority for the GOT as a way to absorb the growing

number of unemployed university graduates. According to

Smaoui, the GOT invests approximately one percent of GDP in

research and development in the IT sector. Microsoft has

also agreed to provide training to handicapped Tunisians to

enable them to seek employment in the IT sector by

telecommuting. (Note: President Ben Ali's wife Leila Ben Ali

runs a charity for handicapped Tunisians. End Note.)

¶3. (U) As part of the agreement, Microsoft will help the GOT

to upgrade and modernize its computers and networking

capabilities. In turn, the GOT agreed to purchase twelve

thousand licenses to update government computers with

official Microsoft software, rather than the pirated versions

that have been commonly used, according to one Microsoft

employee. Since 2001, the GOT adopted an open software

policy, using only free software programs. Additionally,

future GOT tenders for IT equipment will specify that the

equipment must be Microsoft compatible, which is currently

prohibited by the Tunisian open software policy.

¶4. (SBU) The agreement also touches on internet security.

Through a program on cyber criminality, Microsoft will train

government officials in the Ministries of Justice and

Interior on how to use computers and the internet to fight

crime. As part of this program, Microsoft will provide the

GOT with original source codes for its programs. When asked

by EconOff whether Microsoft had any concerns about releasing

its source codes, Smaoui replied that the source codes would

only be available to a small number of officials.

Nevertheless, the agreement contains language stating the

Microsoft and the GOT will work jointly on intellectual

property rights. This agreement also provides for a separate

agreement to be signed creating a security cooperation

program that will provide more general internet security

training to the public.

¶5. (C) According to Smaoui, the agreement is the culmination

of a five-year negotiation process. Smaoui was named

Microsoft's Director General for Tunisia about one year ago

and, although currently hesitant to fully disclose the final

details, provided frequent updates to Post on the progress of

the negotiations. She reported that at times the GOT's

suspicion of Microsoft because of its "American-ness" seemed

to outweigh its technical evaluation of the proposal. She

said that she had been asked several times by GOT ministers

why, as a Tunisian, she was "working for the Americans," and

often felt suspicion bordering on hostility during the

negotiations. Smaoui also noted that the GOT wanted a

TUNIS 00002424 002 OF 002

"tailor-made" agreement, rather than a prepackaged program

that would be "imposed" on Tunisia. This attitude towards

the negotiation process required Microsoft to focus just as

carefully on the presentation as the substance.

¶6. (C) In a call on DCM a few days before the South Africa

Forum, Smaoui worried that she was going to the Forum without

a signed agreement in hand and could not confirm that the

GOT's representative would even show up. She fretted that

she might have to confess to Bill Gates that she had no

reason to be at the Forum. In the event, Khedija Ghariani,

Secretary of State for Computers, Internet, and Free

SIPDIS

Software, attended and signed the agreement on behalf of the

GOT. Despite the drawn-out negotiations, Smaoui stated that

reaching an agreement was "vital" for Microsoft. The fact

that the government relied on open source software

drastically limited business in Tunisia and prevented

Microsoft from participating in GOT tenders. Additionally,

the agreement reinforces an objective both Microsoft and the

GOT share -- establishing a knowledge society. Smaoui stated

that even though Microsoft will be investing in Tunisia, the

sum of investment will be lower than the cost of GOT

purchases.

¶7. (C) Comment: Although the agreement has been hailed as a

triumph for intellectual property rights, the negotiations

and the brokered deal itself reveal a more complicated

reality. Microsoft was able to broker the final agreement by

appealing to GOT unemployment sensitivities as well as by

adapting to the realities of doing business in Tunisia. Even

as the goal of expanding employment opportunities for

handicapped Tunisians is worthy, the program's affiliation

with Leila Ben Ali's charity is indicative of the backroom

maneuvering sometimes required to finalize a deal.

Microsoft's reticence to fully disclose the details of the

agreement further highlights the GOT emphasis on secrecy over

transparency. In theory, increasing GOT law enforcement

capability through IT training is positive, but given

heavy-handed GOT interference in the internet, Post questions

whether this will expand GOT capacity to monitor its own

citizens. Ultimately, for Microsoft the benefits outweigh

the costs. End Comment.

BALLARD

Citizens of Tunisia ought to sue Microsoft, which has “blood in its hands”. Watch how they keep this secret from the public which pays for it. When they say fight “crime” they may actually mean fight dissent, too (which from the government’s perspective is often a crime). Tunisia overthrew Ali. Now it needs to overthrow his ally, Microsoft. █

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