Chilean Indians take on Microsoft

The Scotsman ^ | November 24, 2006 | GIDEON LONG

[Mercat]

follow the money, follow the power. These "tribal leaders" want to control the information that gets to their people. The Wycliff foundation understood this concept. Their policy is to take the oral language of an indiginous people, turn it into a written language and then translate the Bible. Very powerful and very radical.

[Glenn]

Aucan Huilcaman

English Translation: Al Sharpton

[Onelifetogive]

""We feel like Microsoft and the Chilean education ministry have overlooked us by deciding to set up a committee [to study the issue] without our consent, our participation and without the slightest consultation," said Aucan Huilcaman.

Strange, he only mentions 1) consent, 2) participation and 3) consultation, but I really suspect that 4) cash, may be what he is really looking for...

[Wuli]

I am, by far, not a Microsoft fan.

This is one of those cases where in a good and honest legal sense the complainant does not have a very good case, and I don't believe any but a very activist court would disagree.

On non-legal, philosophical grounds however, you would think that if you say you are doing something for purely altruistic reasons, then wouldn't the people you claim to be helping be more involved in the process, than it seems Microsoft permitted.

Many a charitble project has gone badly astray because of the arrogance of those running the project.

You would think that would not be the case if the indigenous group in Chile had been brought into participation on the project, in the first place, no matter the final product.

[chinche]

This has been going on for a while, but taking the thing to court is from two weeks ago. From El Mercurio of 13 November:

Mapuches se oponen a Windows: Comunidades indígenas presentaron un recurso de protección para detener el empleo del idioma mapuzungun en Windows, que fue lanzado recientemente. Representantes del Consejo de Todas las Tierras y la Red Indígena Popular señalaron que no fueron considerados en la creación del programa y que Microsoft "sólo pretende lucrar" con la cultura indígena.

The average Chilean doesn't pay much attention to this type of BS, but those who do know that these whiners are just con artist using lefty blah-blah to whip up support among usually poor and vulnerable people and, of course, among comfortable lefty-wannabes in Santiago. So in doing something "nice" Microsoft gave these leeches a sick opportunity to get their names in the paper. Gates probably doesn't give a fig about the judicial outcome, except to prevent absurd precedents, but it would be a shame to let the whiners get away with this nonsense.

[RetiredArmy]

YES HE IS REAL!!! IT IS ABOUT M-O-N-E-Y!!! HOW MUCH MONEY CAN WE GET OUT OF MICROSOFT!!! THAT IS WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT.

[MadIvan]

That's what I think is particularly stupid about this case - you would think that a minority language group would want to be included in a major software company's development. This hurts them far more than it does Microsoft.

I hate Windows with a passion, but Microsoft is in the right on this case.

Regards, Ivan

[Cacique]

The Mapuche are one of the more obstinate tribes to have survived the Spanish conquest. While the Araucan and Tewhelche tribes were almost wiped out in the 19th century, the Mapuche survived mainly due to their isolation. Though based mostly in Chile there is a sizeable number of them in Patagonia in Argentina. Their Caciques are one of the few original tribal leaderleft in the continent who can trace their lineage to pre-colonial times.

Given their obstinacy and rather sophisticated appreciation of world public opinion and publicity I don't see this issue as going away. Especially as you will see the European and other leftists taking up their cause as just another arrow to fling at those "evil" capitalist corporations.