Controversies
Controversies tied to this brand in public sources. A listing is not a finding of fault.
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2020
USITC to investigate Neodron patent allegations against technology companies
Investigation
The US International Trade Commission said it would investigate whether touchscreen devices made by Apple, Amazon and other companies involved alleged patent infringement. Neodron had alleged that the companies infringed four patents it owned; the source reports the investigation was to follow Neodron's February lawsuit.
Source excerpt
其他被告公司也包括亞馬遜、華碩 (2357-TW)、LG、微軟 (MSFT-US)、索尼、以及三星。
美國國際貿易委員會 (ITC) 表示，將針對蘋果 (AAPL-US)、亞馬遜 (AMZN-US) 等製造的觸控螢幕設備是否涉及專利侵權行為進行調查。
該公司聲稱蘋果等公司侵犯了 Neodron 擁有的電容式鍵盤和傳感器相關的四項專利
2020
Azure Knowledge Corporation sues Microsoft over Azure trademark
Lawsuit filed
Azure Knowledge Corporation sued Microsoft Corporation and Microsoft India in Ahmedabad, alleging infringement of its Azure trademark. The suit was filed the previous month; the source reports no court determination.
Source excerpt
The suit was filed last month in the city civil court in Ahmedabad, with judge DV Shah issuing notices to the defendants on February 10.
Ahmedabad-based Information Technology (IT) company Azure Knowledge Corporation has sued software major Microsoft Corporation and its Indian arm Microsoft India for infringement of its trademark Azure.
2020
Microsoft discloses exposure of customer support records
Issue disclosure
Microsoft acknowledged that a misconfiguration left an internal customer support database exposed without a password from December 5 through 31, 2019. The database contained nearly 250 million customer service and support records. Microsoft said its investigation found no malicious use of the data and that it had begun notifying affected customers.
Company response
Apology — Microsoft
We want to sincerely apologize and reassure our customers that we are taking it seriously and working diligently to learn and take action to prevent any future reoccurrence.
Investigation — Microsoft
Microsoft says its investigation into the security breach has “found no malicious use” of the data
Remediation — Microsoft
we were able to quickly fix this misconfiguration
Ongoing disclosure — Microsoft
it has begun to notify customers whose data was present in the unsecured database.
Source excerpt
According to researcher Bob Diachenko, who discovered the database was accessible to anyone capable of running a web browser, the nearly 250 million Customer Service and Support (CSS) records, contained logs of conversations between Microsoft’s support team and customers around the world.
Microsoft has admitted that between December 5th-31st 2019, a misconfiguration of the security rules for (what should have been) an internal customer support database left it exposed for anyone to access – no password required.
Microsoft says its investigation into the security breach has “found no malicious use” of the data, but that it has begun to notify customers whose data was present in the unsecured database.
2020
Microsoft discloses exploitation of Internet Explorer zero-day vulnerability
Issue disclosure
Microsoft published a security advisory stating that an Internet Explorer zero-day vulnerability was being exploited in limited targeted attacks and that no patch was yet available; it provided mitigation measures and said it was working on a solution.
Source excerpt
1 月 17 日，微软发布安全公告( ADV200001 )称，一个 IE 0day ( CVE-2020-0674 ) 已遭利用，而且暂无补丁，仅有应变措施和缓解措施。
微软表示正在推出解决方案，将在后续发布。
2019
Microsoft acknowledges Windows setup bug affecting local-account creation
Issue disclosure
Microsoft acknowledged a Windows 10 setup issue in which using certain language input methods during the initial setup process could prevent users from creating a local account. According to the report, Microsoft was developing a fix for the problem and described a temporary workaround. The acknowledgment concerned the local-account creation step of initial setup and the effect of certain language input methods on that step. No further details on the cause, scope, or resolution timeline were provided in the source.
Microsoft acknowledged that using certain language input methods during Windows 10's initial setup could prevent users from creating a local account. The article says Microsoft was developing a fix and described a temporary workaround.
Company response
Remediation — Microsoft
微软表示，它目前正在开发修复程序
Investigation — 微软
微软表示已经收到了反馈。在一个社区帖子中，微软也证实他们正在调查这些报告。
Source excerpt
微软表示，它目前正在开发修复程序
微软在支持文档中承认了在初次设置（OOBE）过程中，使用某些语言将会阻止用户创建本地账户。
今年早些时候，微软开始推出强制的Windows更新 "KB4559309"，这一更新被广泛地推送到所有用户的设备上，主要变化是用基于Chromium的新浏览器替换旧的Edge浏览器。但是，问题不在于Chromium Edge，据报道，Windows 10 KB4559309更新过程中的一些未知内容阻碍了设备的性能，特别是计算机的启动时间。
2019
Microsoft sues alleged Thallium operators
Lawsuit filed
Microsoft filed suit against defendants it alleged operated the Thallium cyber-theft operation and compromised customer accounts and networks to steal sensitive information.
Source excerpt
According to the complaint, Thallium allowed defendants to break “into the Microsoft accounts and computer networks of Microsoft’s customers and [steal] highly sensitive information
On December 18, Microsoft filed a suit against defendants that have “established an Internet-based cyber-theft operation referred to as ‘Thallium.’”
2019
Throop sues Microsoft over HoloLens patents
Lawsuit filed
Throop LLC filed a patent-infringement complaint against Microsoft, alleging that Microsoft’s wearable-device services, including HoloLens, infringe two patents.
Source excerpt
On December 16, plaintiff Throop LLC filed a complaint against defendant Microsoft ( Throop, LLC v. Microsoft Corporation 2:19-cv-10604) for patent infringement.
The complaint alleged that Microsoft “manufactures, provides, uses, sells, offers for sale, imports and/or distributes infringing services for wearable devices, including, for example, Microsoft HoloLens.”
ValueLicensing also argues that Microsoft abused its dominant position in the global desktop business to effectively kill off the market for resellable perpetual licenses by using heavily discounted subscription offers to entice B2B users to switch to SaaS.
2019
Cobalt-mining child labor lawsuit names five technology companies
Lawsuit filed
A lawsuit filed on behalf of 14 families from the Democratic Republic of the Congo accused Tesla, Apple, Alphabet, Dell Technologies and Microsoft of complicity in child labor connected to cobalt mining, including deaths and serious injuries. The allegations are reported as claims in the complaint, not as established findings.
Source excerpt
Six of the 14 children died in tunnel collapses, and the others suffered life-altering injuries, including paralysis, according to the lawsuit.
Tesla, Apple, Google’s parent company Alphabet, Dell Technologies and Microsoft are implicated as being aware of “the forced labor system that has brought grave harm to the Congolese minors,” according to the original legal complaint.
The legal complaint on behalf of 14 families from the Democratic Republic of Congo was filed on Dec. 15 by International Rights Advocates, a U.S.-based human-rights nonprofit, Fortune reported.
2016
Microsoft apologizes over dancers at Xbox party
Company response
After criticism over dancers hired for an official Game Developers Conference after-party, Microsoft said hiring them was “unequivocally wrong”; Xbox chief Phil Spencer acknowledged that the event disappointed many people and pledged to do better.
Company response
Apology — Microsoft
Microsoft says it was "unequivocally wrong" to hire scantily dressed dancers to perform at an official Game Developers Conference after-party in San Francisco.
Source excerpt
Microsoft says it was "unequivocally wrong" to hire scantily dressed dancers to perform at an official Game Developers Conference after-party in San Francisco.
In a statement, Xbox chief Phil Spencer acknowledged the event "disappointed many people" and pledged to "do better in the future."
2004
European Commission antitrust enforcement
European authorities found Microsoft had abused its dominant position and imposed remedies concerning media-player distribution and disclosure of interoperability information, followed by additional compliance disputes.
2002
Be Incorporated files antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft
Lawsuit filed
Be Incorporated filed a lawsuit against Microsoft alleging that Microsoft used anticompetitive business practices to exclude BeOS from the market and damage Be's business.
Source excerpt
Be Incorporated today filed suit against Microsoft for "the destruction of Be's business resulting from the anticompetitive business practices of Microsoft."
1998
United States v. Microsoft antitrust case
The U.S. Department of Justice and states challenged Microsoft’s use of Windows market power and its conduct involving Internet Explorer and PC distribution. The litigation became one of the defining antitrust cases in the software industry.