Microsoft Feels the Kremlin Backlash

Following up on some coverage in CSM that Russia was planning to drop Microsoft Windows as the national operating system, Tai Adelaja has an in-depth report in Russia Profile on the software giant’s perplexing investment experience.  It’s difficult to imagine how a company can promise “tens of millions of dollars” of FDI into the Skolkovo Valley project, in addition to heaping praise upon the nanotechnology czars, and yet get this kind of treatment.  In addition to the clear imperative of using SORM-2 to collect and monitor private communications, it’s hard not to see the Kremlin’s self-defeating treatment of the company as related to their decision to issue open licenses to civil society NGOs after getting embarrassingly exposed by Clifford Levy of the New York Times.  But at the end of the day, who cares?  Microsoft can still look forward to about $1 billion a year out of Russia despite the open source plan.