By the way, I'm not trying to convince you because I know you don't want to be convinced. Like a good defense lawyer, you are more concerned with technicalities than truth. My points are aimed at lurkers who don't have an axe to grind. I'm not trying a case here, but you act like you are.
Thanks for nothing. Your subjective assessment is worth zippo to anyone but you.
I've been involved in Internet debates for almost two decades now. If you want to believe that subjective assessments can't be persuasive, you go right ahead and believe that. But before you do, I'd spend a little time reading some of the other threads on Free Republic. Again, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Nobody here has the evidence to prove that Microsoft either is or is not acting entirely ethically. In the absence of such evidence, people make a best guess. My best guess is based on past behavior and a lack of repentence, the same sort of assessment that we use to judge everything from criminals seeking parole to politicians. Your best guess is based on what, exactly? Do you really default to trusting people unless you have concrete evidence that they shouldn't be trusted?