The Firing Of Dan Geer

from the okay,-okay dept

I originally didn't have anything to say on this story, but since it keeps getting submitted, and the more I read the outrage associated with it, the more I think the firing of Dan Geer may work out for the best. If you haven't seen this anywhere else (what, Techdirt is your only source for news?), one of the main authors of a report (warning: pdf format) that criticizes the government for running almost exclusively on Microsoft was almost immediately fired from his job working at security firm @Stake - a company who does a lot of work for Microsoft. It's pretty obvious why he was fired, as the company stated: "The values and opinions of the report are not in line with @stake's views." While it is a bit depressing to hear you might get fired for your professional views - especially when you're trying to help, I'll leave off the "look at how Microsoft stifles debate" anger for every other technology site. The thing I noticed is that the firing of Geer is getting a lot more publicity than the initial release of the report did. In other words, while it does suck for Geer, this may actually be the best PR the report could have hoped for. Hopefully, with Geer's name recognition and reputation, he'll be able to easily find a new job somewhere else - that won't try to shut him up when he sees something that he feels is a real security concern. In the meantime, let's look at the silver lining and realize that this report is now getting a lot more attention.