on the greer firing

scary quotes from the @stake CTO firing

As an example of the kind of behind-the-scenes influence that large vendors have, Geer cited his efforts to find an academic security expert or two to sign on to the paper on software diversity. After contacting nine people and striking out each time, he gave up.

“All of them said it was too hot for their position,” Geer said. “They enjoy the free speech benefits of tenure but not necessarily those of funding.”

So academics can't say the truth because they won't get funding….. very problematic…

“I think there should be a huge outcry over his firing. It is that kind of intimidation against scientists speaking their minds that can be extremely dangerous to our society,” Rubin said.

intimidation doesn't have to be direct, it can be atmospheric, encompassing, so when microsoft says they did nothing, that does not mean that their presence did not have influence in other ways.

but i'm not particulary conspiracy minded on this, i just thing the problems it points out with funding vs scientific investigation are places for investigation.