From: "Rich Gauszka" 

Beale didn't misinterpret the bribe as he's selling the laptop on EBay and
donating the proceeds to the EFF

http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20061230/tc_cmp/196800075

Microsoft and Advanced Micro Devices sent expensive laptops as gifts to
select bloggers who review technology as part of an effort to solicit
"valuable feedback" from the influential writers in the
blogosphere, not to encourage favorable coverage, Microsoft says.

The giveaway, which started last week, has sparked a debate among tech
bloggers as to the motive for handing out the top-of-the-line Acer Ferrari
laptops, valued at more than $2,200. While some called it a bribe, others
believed it was OK to receive the expensive gift, as long as the blogger
disclosed receiving it.

Microsoft said in a statement e-mailed late Thursday that the recipients
were told they could keep the computers, give them away, or send them back.
They were also encouraged to disclose receiving the gifts, which were
pre-loaded with Windows Vista and were powered by an AMD Turion 64-bit
processor. Vista, a major upgrade of Microsoft's operating system, is
scheduled to ship to consumers late next month.

"Microsoft sent out machines loaded with Windows Vista to bloggers to
encourage them to experience the product and to solicit their valuable
feedback, offering full disclosure that no editorial commentary was
expected as a condition of acceptance," the company said.

Microsoft chose recipients based on their level of influence within the
blogosphere, a company spokeswoman said Friday. Some of the bloggers
receiving the laptops wrote on technology related to specific areas that
were a focus of Vista, such as online video or photography.

Blogger Marshall Kirkpatrick, director of content at pre-launch startup
SplashCast, reported Thursday that Microsoft and AMD were asking recipients
to send back the laptops following the negative publicity. The Microsoft
spokeswoman, however, said that wasn't the case, explaining that an e-mail
sent to recipients from a company employee had been misinterpreted.

The giveaway was first reported by Microsoft blogger Long Zheng. The report
was later posted on the popular technology Web site Slashdot under the
headline, "Microsoft Bribing Bloggers With Laptops."

Because of the controversy, San Francisco blogger Scott Beale said he would
sell the laptop on eBay and donate the proceeds to the Electronic Frontier
Foundation, a nonprofit group focusing on privacy and free speech on the
Internet.

"I'm not really the right person to do a proper review of Windows
Vista, and at this point, it is still unclear why I was even selected to
receive it," Beale said in his blog.

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