What is America's Most Evil Company?

Xevious

CAGiversary!
My friends were discussing this the other day. Here are a few names that we tossed up: Haliburton, Exxon, Abercrombie & Fitch, Starbucks, KFC, Microsoft...


What do you think is America's most Evil company?
 
Most evil? LOL, no, this isn't a slanted topic.

Popular consensus without anyone having to go through the replies is Halliburton.

Who do I think is the most evil? Sun Microsystems and Netscape. Since they can't compete with Microsoft head to head they call in the government under specious monopoly rules and try to break up America's most successful worldwide company.

They're like the little kid that can't make the baseball team and has his mom call and bitch out the coach until he does.
 
[quote name='Xevious'][quote name='jmcc']Virtucon Industries.[/quote]

Never heard of them...what do they do?[/quote]

They used to be in volitile chemicals, but changed over to communications. Also, they have a steel mill in Cleveland, do shipping in Texas, oil refineries in Seattle, a factory in Chicago that makes miniature models of factories, and they own the Franklin mint, which makes decorative hand-painted theme plates for collectors.
 
Vitrucon...

DR. EVIL
For thirty years, Number Two has run
Virtucon, the legitimate face of my
evil empire.

He hits a button. The conference table slowly rotates to
reveal a large, illuminated map of the United States dotted
by various miniature models.

NUMBER TWO
Over the last thirty years, Virtucon
has grown by leaps and bounds. About
fifteen years ago, we changed from
volatile chemicals to the
communication industry. We own cable
companies in thirty-eight states.

The thirty-eight states illuminate on the map.

NUMBER TWO
In addition to our cable holdings,
we own a steel mill in Cleveland.

A steel mill miniature illuminates in Cleveland.

NUMBER TWO
Shipping in Texas.

A ship off the coast of Texas illuminates.

NUMBER TWO
Oil refineries in Seattle.

An oil refinery illuminates in Seattle.

NUMBER TWO
And a factory in Chicago that makes
miniature models of factories.

The miniature model factory lights up in Chicago.

NUMBER TWO
We also own the Franklin mint, which
makes decorative hand-painted theme
plates for collectors.
(holds up plate)
Some plates, like the Gone With The
Wind series, have gone up in value
as much as two-hundred and forty
percent, but, as with any investment,
there is some risk involved.
 
[quote name='hutno']Microsoft[/quote]

Oh, Microsoft. How'd "M$" come out of your keyboard, then? That's a heck of a typo.
 
virtucon1.gif
 
My vote would be for myself

mrburns-laugh.gif


Well, that's odd.... I've just robbed a man of his livelihood, and yet I feel strangely empty. Tell you what, Smithers, - have him beaten to a pulp."

"I could crush him like an ant. But it would be too easy. No, revenge is a dish best served cold. I'll bide my time until.... Oh, what the hell. I'll just crush him like an ant."

"I should be able to run over as many kids as I want."

"Ha-ha! Smithers, this reminds me of that fat man I used to ride to work!"


"What good is money if it can't inspire terror in your fellow man?"
 
[quote name='jmcc'][quote name='hutno']Microsoft[/quote]

Oh, Microsoft. How'd "M$" come out of your keyboard, then? That's a heck of a typo.[/quote]

This was adopted a little while back as an acceptable abbreviation of Microsoft.
 
I'd say Enron. Halliburton and Walmart are also up there. But how can KFC be considered evil? All they do is offer me delicious fried chicken at an affordable price. And if you spout any of that urban legend animal 13/spider-chicken crap, I will smack you.
 
They are who you go to if you need a factory that specializes in making models of factories
 
[quote name='ZForce915'][quote name='jmcc'][quote name='hutno']Microsoft[/quote]

Oh, Microsoft. How'd "M$" come out of your keyboard, then? That's a heck of a typo.[/quote]

This was adopted a little while back as an acceptable abbreviation of Microsoft.[/quote]

Seems like just plain old MS would be better. You don't have to move so far off the home row of the keyboard to get it. Who made it acceptable, anyway? Doesn't sound like a OED decision.
 
[quote name='PittsburghAfterDark']They're like the little kid that can't make the baseball team and has his mom call and bitch out the coach until he does.[/quote]

More like the little kid that can't even try out for the baseball team because the best player on the team won't let them.

Now I'm far from one of those "LOL M$ LOL" people but having one corporation be so big that it can just use this bigness rather than the merits of their product to succeed in the marketplace is a bad thing.
 
[quote name='hutno']M$, Not at the top of my lists but they deffinitely rank in the top 20[/quote]

They standardized the operating system.

Those evil bastards!

They make superior products so they can dominate the market!

I am glad the US gov is making them take out stuff like windows media player and the java player. If you can't just start up your computer and start using it (and have to spend hours downloading stuff) people will start buying Macintosh computers even though they are disgustingly high priced and MacOS is not compatible with most video game software.

I hope the whole "Personal affordable computer" industry goes down the toilet.

That was sarcasm.

If Bill Gates was smart Microsoft would be in Japan now, but he keeps manufacturing in the US to make more jobs.


I hate jackasses who jump on the "I hate Microsoft" bandwagon for no reason at all.
 
No I just hate the constant barage of trojans and viruses and the need for constant updates just to make sure my computer will still be up and running tomarrow. Windows has so many loop holes in their PC software that hackers can exploit that there is almost a daily need to update antivirus software.
 
[quote name='hutno']No I just hate the constant barage of trojans and viruses and the need for constant updates just to make sure my computer will still be up and running tomarrow. Windows has so many loop holes in their PC software that hackers can exploit that there is almost a daily need to update virus software.[/quote]

Yes.
But.
That's like blaming Saturn or Honda for making a car that's popular for owners and car thieves.
"2003's most-stolen automobile was the 1995 Saturn SL...that car was closely followed by the 1998 Acura Integra and the 1994 Saturn SL."

Is Microsoft perfect? By no means.
Is their software perfect? No.
I'm actually surprised it works as well as it does, with so many different versions and user levels. I can create an Excel report, create a presentation about it in Powerpoint, and send it via Outlook to thousands of people who will all see the exact same thing.
Plus....if you get a virus or a trojan, you're doing something wrong. If I leave the keys in my car in a bad part of town, I don't blame BMW when I get back and it's gone.
 
SCO GROUP INC (NasdaqSC:SCOX)

A Lindon, Utah based racketeering operation with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Once a vendor of Unix, now their only reason for staying open is trying to get companies to believe they own portions of the Linux operating system and any company using Linux should pay them $699 (or whatever) per server.

They're currently involved in at least four lawsuits, involving IBM, Red Hat, Novell, Autozone, and Daimler-Chrysler. They have no chance of winning any of them.

At different times they have been known to claim you don't have a right to distribute your own software for free because it's anticonstitutional, claim they have proof IBM misappropriated their code while telling the courts they need many more months and IBM's cooperation to find such proof, and that they own source code later found to be in the public domain.

On a positive note, their stock's down more than 7% today, and it's at its 52 week low, losing more than 80% over its high point.

More at http://www.groklaw.net/ .
 
My dear lord I want to track down the OP as well as many of the posters in this thread and just beat them down. Ok, listen closely people...

MAKING MONEY DOES NOT MAKE YOU EVIL

We live it a Capitilist economy, they have every right to make money, in fact I applaud them for doing it. Halliburton is NOT evil, MS is NOT evil, Bill Gates is not Satan.. in fact you should look up to him as a capitilist hero. Goddamn hippy uneducated socialists piss me the fuck off.

If you don't like capitalism, move to China you pantywaist "non-conformist" hippy communists.
 
If you google evil companies the number one site has NESTLE as #1. followed by,
2 Coca-Cola
3 McDonalds
4 Proctor and Gamble
5 Unilever
6 Wal-Mart
7 Glaxo Smithkline
8 Bacardi
9 Shell
10 Balfour Beatty

semi interesting read-- Cornfedwb you'll be happy cause it seems that they are making their 'evil' rankings not based upon making money (although I didn't read them all)
 
[quote name='dtcarson'][quote name='hutno']No I just hate the constant barage of trojans and viruses and the need for constant updates just to make sure my computer will still be up and running tomarrow. Windows has so many loop holes in their PC software that hackers can exploit that there is almost a daily need to update virus software.[/quote]

Yes.
But.
That's like blaming Saturn or Honda for making a car that's popular for owners and car thieves.
"2003's most-stolen automobile was the 1995 Saturn SL...that car was closely followed by the 1998 Acura Integra and the 1994 Saturn SL."

Is Microsoft perfect? By no means.
Is their software perfect? No.
I'm actually surprised it works as well as it does, with so many different versions and user levels. I can create an Excel report, create a presentation about it in Powerpoint, and send it via Outlook to thousands of people who will all see the exact same thing.
Plus....if you get a virus or a trojan, you're doing something wrong. If I leave the keys in my car in a bad part of town, I don't blame BMW when I get back and it's gone.[/quote]

No, Ithink its more like a company making a car with faulty locks and not telling the customer about it until your car has been stolen
 
[quote name='hutno']No I just hate the constant barage of trojans and viruses and the need for constant updates just to make sure my computer will still be up and running tomarrow. Windows has so many loop holes in their PC software that hackers can exploit that there is almost a daily need to update antivirus software.[/quote]

The people I was complaining about are the same people who write those viruses and worms.

My antivirus subscriprion expired last year and funnily enough my computer runs fine, and nothing so far has penetrated my firewall.

I am runing XP SP1 and Norton antivirus (2001). I have had no need to update either in a long, long time.

I did get one virus, though. But it was an old one so Norton caught it. I was glad I didn't pay for the renewal.
 
[quote name='Quackzilla'][quote name='hutno']No I just hate the constant barage of trojans and viruses and the need for constant updates just to make sure my computer will still be up and running tomarrow. Windows has so many loop holes in their PC software that hackers can exploit that there is almost a daily need to update antivirus software.[/quote]

The people I was complaining about are the same people who write those viruses and worms.

My antivirus subscriprion expired last year and funnily enough my computer runs fine, and nothing so far has penetrated my firewall.

I am runing XP SP1 and Norton antivirus (2001). I have had no need to update either in a long, long time.

I did get one virus, though. But it was an old one so Norton caught it. I was glad I didn't pay for the renewal.[/quote]

evil note to self... be sure to attack quackzilla's computer... :)
 
Honestly guys I don't think microsoft is the worst but I deal with computers daily and there nothing more frustrating then seeing all the loopholes. I couldn't live without my xbox and its deffinitely proff that microsoft can make a high quality product the first time. I can't blame them for wanting more money for new versions of windows, but is it wrong to want a quality product for my PC when i first buy it?

EDIT: changed from stream of thought to english
 
[quote name='Tromack']M$
http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2002-07-22&res=l[/quote]

Assuming this wasn't sarcastic, did you read Tycho's news update for that strip?

"It's often assumed that you can assume a computing enthusiast hates Microsoft, and I think that's why people pepper mails to us with it - I'd imagine people just automatically think we'd agree with the sentiment. It simply isn't true. We do love virtue and detest bullshit. But I think Microsoft has had - thus far - a Net Positive Effect.

It's rare that you see one of our number - geeks and gamers, all - say anything positive about Microsoft, because MS is the veritable embodiment of The Man. They are like the Avatar of The Man here on Earth. And you can't throw in your lot with him if you want to maintain your underground credentials. Well, if we ever had those, here they go. When I say that I think Microsoft has had a Net Positive Effect, I'm not just trying to flaunt my iconoclasm. My experience with x86 personal computers has gotten more sensible with every Microsoft operating system I've installed. Admittedly, I never installed ME. But I didn't need to. 98 was fine until it was time to graduate to 2k, and despite the computing apocalypse that Windows XP's Product Activation features were supposed to ignite, I've never had the first problem with it, and it's not like I don't upgrade shit. I like using their programs. I like going into a store and having so Goddamn many things available for my operating system that I can't decide and just go home. "

Other than that, SCO GROUP INC does sound pretty bad.
I agree with Cornfedwb. No company is perfect, and many things a company [or a person] does can be interpreted in positive or negative ways, or have some positive and some negative effects, but:
* There's nothing wrong with making money.
* You can make money while still being 'moral/ethical.'
* There's no such thing as a product that's perfect.

I would like to know how many people who think of Microsoft or KFC or whatever as 'evil', would think the same if *you* were that top man. Is it evil, or is it jealousy/envy?

As far as I know, no companies nowadays really rely on slavery, or molest children or run over dogs or defile churches. [The closest I can think of is the companies who used sweatshops and child labor, which is certainly wrong.]

And a company's job is to make money. If it doesn't make money, people lose jobs, stockholders lose investments, usually the CEO bails out with a golden parachute, and isn't *that* more evil than anything mentioned here so far? To make a promise, to fail miserably, then to bail out without making amends.
 
[quote name='dtcarson'] If I leave the keys in my car in a bad part of town, I don't blame BMW when I get back and it's gone.[/quote]
BMW's are the best. Microsoft rules, too. Most people are too stupid to understand, unfourtunately.
 
[quote name='dtcarson']if you get a virus or a trojan, you're doing something wrong. If I leave the keys in my car in a bad part of town, I don't blame BMW when I get back and it's gone.[/quote]

What a horrible analogy.

A car is a physical object; of course there are ways to defeat any kind of physical security.

Software is a logical entity; if it is flawless, an attacker will never be able to compromise it. Attackers can only hope that there are exploitable flaws in it.

It's terrible (and incidentally, microsoft's fault) that people are so used to computers malfunctioning, they don't even consider the fact they shouldn't be that way.
 
[quote name='hutno']
No, Ithink its more like a company making a car with faulty locks and not telling the customer about it until your car has been stolen[/quote]

Hmm...Perhaps. But this somewhat falls into the 'caveat emptor' realm. Who uses a computer, and *doesn't* know that there are some basic risks/instability to that? And MS does offer those free updates, where they try to counter these attacks.
I took my car into the shop this week to have a taillight bulb replaced. As I was there, they said 'Oh there was a recall on your tailgate, we'll go ahead and do that too.' I had no idea.
So this situation does happen for cars as well.
Regarding your comment "but is it wrong to want a quality product for my PC?"
Not at all. What did you buy? Did you buy a computer with Windows/Microsoft programs? Then the fault is partially yours--if it sells, they'll sell it. You could buy a Mac, you could run Linux or Unix or whatever else there is.
Please don't think I'm attacking you--it's just that you're about the only person who's not just listed a name of an 'evil company' : )
 
[quote name='eldad9'][quote name='dtcarson']if you get a virus or a trojan, you're doing something wrong. If I leave the keys in my car in a bad part of town, I don't blame BMW when I get back and it's gone.[/quote]

What a horrible analogy.

A car is a physical object; of course there are ways to defeat any kind of physical security.

Software is a logical entity; if it is flawless, an attacker will never be able to compromise it. Attackers can only hope that there are exploitable flaws in it.

It's terrible (and incidentally, microsoft's fault) that people are so used to computers malfunctioning, they don't even consider the fact they shouldn't be that way.[/quote]

Nothing is flawless.
It's not microsoft's fault, it's the public's for buying 'malfunctioning' software and computers. If people didn't buy it, or if they *demanded* 'flawless' software, it would happen. And by 'demand' I mean buy alternatives, hit them inthe evil wallet, rather than just whine on the internet and make cutesy M$'s. It's not McDonald's 'fault' people are obese. It is their fault for frying fries in fattening oil. If the consumer demanded otherwise, it would change.
 
Well, you couldn't run Unix, because then you'd be doing business with the SCO group (see above). Linux and the various *BSDs are an acceptable alternative though.
 
[quote name='Quackzilla']I find it hilarius how people say Linux/Unix/MacOS are perfect.

It just shows how naive they are.[/quote]

Assuming that's directed at me--I didn't say they were perfect. As I said above, nothing is flawless. I haven't used a Mac since college.
My point was simply that, if Microsoft is so bad and evil and make such crappy products, buy something else. Why should Microsoft or any company work on improving products, if what they have sells great?
 
Someone was asking about KFC. Here two articles about them:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/07/21/financial1134EDT0117.DTL

Here is another article about KFC promoting themselves as diet food:

KFC claims fried chicken is an Atkins-friendly food

By Maxine Frith, Social Affairs Correspondent

29 October 2003

The fast food giant KFC has become the latest - and most unlikely - company to exploit the huge popularity of the Atkins Diet.

The fried chicken brand launched an advertising campaign to persuade consumers that eating its meals can help them slim. The campaign, airing in the US this week, boasts that KFC's secret recipe for chicken is the perfect low-carbohydrate, high-protein choice for Atkins slimmers. Advertisements feature two men who bump into each other, with one exclaiming: "Man, you look fantastic!" Asked for the secret of his great look, the other reveals: "Eatin' chicken." A voiceover explains: "If you're going low-carb, high-protein, go KFC."

The Atkins Diet, now a global dieting brand, advocates cutting out carbohydrates and eating more protein such as meat in order to slim.

Only the small print of the advertisement admits that fried chicken is "not a low-fat, low-sodium, low-cholesterol food".

The "Atkins effect" has boosted sales of steak, fish and cheese in the UK, while bakers and potato merchants have reported falling profits.
 
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