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Microsoft details principles that guide its facial recognition work
In July, Microsoft President Brad Smith published a blog post discussing some of the challenges and risks surrounding facial recognition technology and how his company plans to address them. He said Microsoft was working on developing a set of guiding principles to direct the development of its own technology and this week, he shared what those principles are. In a new blog post, Smith described six principles that he says will govern Microsoft's work while it continues to advocate for legislation that will more concretely guide this technology as a whole.
Microsoft calls on Congress to regulate facial recognition
In a blog post today, Microsoft President Brad Smith called for Congress to begin considering regulation of facial recognition technology, calling it "the technology of the moment" and noting its "broad societal ramifications and potential for abuse." Throughout the post, Smith discusses the potential pros and cons of facial recognition while also highlighting its current limitations, and he ultimately questions, "What role do we want this type of technology to play in everyday society?"
Microsoft asks for exceptions process in Trump's immigration ban
Trump's immigration (read: Muslim) ban has already negatively impacted America's tech industry. Microsoft alone has 76 employees, along with their 41 dependents, who are subject to the president's executive order. And while the rest of the industry has slowly begun rumbling in opposition, Microsoft is taking the lead. The company has not only thrown its support behind Washington State's lawsuit against the federal government. On Thursday, Brad Smith, Microsoft's President and Chief Legal Officer, called on the State Department and HHS for specific exemptions to the immigration ban.
Microsoft: law enforcement faces 'bleak future' if US doesn't scale back its spying
It's patently clear by now that Microsoft is no fan of the US government's surveillance strategy, but the company's general counsel, Brad Smith, just took the war of words to a new level. He tells those at the Brookings Institution that the US' aggressive data collection is only going to make things worse over time. According to the legal leader, concerns about spying will be "more important, not less" as seemingly every device goes online. He contends that the government needs to scale back its efforts and follow the spirit of the law -- if it can't, law enforcement (and by extension, the public) faces a "bleak future."
ATD: Gates, Ballmer and Sean Parker join Zuckerberg's FWD.us lobby group
Mark Zuckerberg showed he's more than just a social butterfly earlier this month, forming the tech-focused political lobby group FWD.us alongside some other big names in the industry. Now, according to AllThingsD, a few more heavy-hitters have signed up to offer their expertise, including Sean Parker (Napster co-founder) and Microsoft's Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer and Brad Smith. Not a bad crew to have on your side when technology issues are up for discussion, especially Ballmer -- he's notoriously good at getting his point across. Update: This post has been corrected to reflect that the Brad Smith involved is General Counsel and EVP at Microsoft, and not Intuit CEO Brad Smith.
Microsoft lodges antitrust complaint against Google with European Commission, ignores irony
So Microsoft doesn't like anticompetitive behavior, huh? Since when? Brad Smith, General Counsel for the Redmond rabblerousers, has posted a lengthy blog post outlining Microsoft's concerns with "a pattern of actions that Google has taken to entrench its dominance" in online search and ads, which he claims is detrimental to European consumers. Funnily enough, half the post is about Google's legal issues in the US, but we'll set that aside for now. What this boils down to is that Microsoft is finally taking the gloves off -- Google accused it of pushing other companies to do its dirty work -- and is now adding its name to the list of objectors to Mountain View's stranglehold on search in Europe. The European Commission is already taking a regulatory looksee at Google's tactics, so this isn't sparking off a new investigation, but it does add the glamor of two big names locking legal horns yet again. Hit the source link for Brad's exposition of Google's villainous wrongdoings.
Microsoft responds to Russian crackdown by extending software licenses to NGOs
Put yourself in Microsoft's shoes for a second: how would you feel if the Russian government used your product as a pretext for shutting down opposition groups? As you know, that's exactly what happened in January when an NGO known as Baikal Environmental Wave had its computers confiscated under the pretext of searching for pirated Microsoft software. The group, it seems, is spearheading opposition to the reopening of a paper factory with a history of polluting Lake Baikal -- much to the chagrin of a certain Prime Minister Putin. In an attempt to keep this sort of thing from happening in the future (and to clean up its tarnished image), Microsoft has announced that it will provide a unilateral NGO Software License that automatically covers NGOs and media outlets in Russia and other, as yet unspecified, countries, and which will extend until at least 2012. "We want to be clear," said VP and general counsel Brad Smith. "We unequivocally abhor any attempt to leverage intellectual property rights to stifle political advocacy or pursue improper personal gain."