Scoble's Link Blog - Microsoft's principles for public policy engagement Other Issues Now that we have that gay issue out of the way I know there are some other public statements we have made recently that need our attention is this crazy new blog world we live in. With more than half the company now spending their days taking pot-shots at their employer (me) either openly or anonymously there is almost no "right" way for us to come down on any issue. Take for example Bill's recently statements on immigration, public education and so on. We are setting Bill up with his own internal blog where he can express such, um, insightful ideas, in the future. In the mean time, so as not to offend anyone we are coming down squarely on both sides of every issue we can from now on. We will be dividing the campus into quadrants with employment practices as follows: The west-most building will be our gay-friendly zone, and the east will be the more traditional "family values" area. The northern parts of the campus will hire mostly H1B visa holders while the south will take an America First point of view with respect to hiring decisions. The lower floors of each building will continue to favor hiring guys and the upper floors will hire mostly female workers, as we don't want any criticisms about a glass ceiling. Bill will be moved downstairs as we know he doesn't deal with female authority figures very well. We will have to subdivide the campus further as other social issues arise, or as Bill or I shoot off our mouths prematurely in the future. At some point the low-rise architecture we have chosen will probably have to give way to something more flexible. To me, this situation underscoresthe importance of having clearly-defined principles on which we base ouractions. We will do everything we can to avoid taking a firm position on anything, so that we can be true to our one core principal, which is that software should cost consumers a whole heck of a lot more than it costs us to produce it. Steve