From our Bureau of Naughty Technology Giants
In an unexpected move, the U.S. government has slapped Microsoft’s hand for ignoring sanctions against Cuba and four of its closest allies.
The amount of the fine is ridiculously small for tech giant Microsoft, so don’t expect any wailing and gnashing of teeth e at corporate headquarters.
But it’s good to know that someone in Washington D.C. is paying attention to sanctions. Small fines like this are intended more as a warning than a real punishment. Microsoft and other corporations will have to think twice before dealing with rogue states in the future.
Loosely translated from Periódico Cubano
The technology company Microsoft must pay a fine of three million dollars after acknowledging that it failed to comply with US regulations towards Cuba, Syria, Russia and Iran, according to a statement from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) belonging to the Department of the Treasury of USA.
The violations of the US policy towards these four countries occurred continuously during the years 2012 and 2019, where the company founded by Bill Gates incurred 1,300 violations of the sanctions program stipulated by OFAC. However, the amount of the economic sanction is derisory compared to the capital that the company has. It was the transgressors themselves who exposed their faults voluntarily before the authorities.
Microsoft and its subsidiaries exported their products and services from the US to entities or individuals sanctioned, blocked or located in territories such as Cuba, Iran, Syria, Russia and Crimea. In addition, they collected a total value of more than $12 million in transactions that are also prohibited under Treasury Department laws.
The company used a complex sales process that involved subsidiaries and intermediaries or resellers, who then provided the products and services to sanctioned parties or parties located in blocked jurisdictions. However, the company argued that it did not have accurate information about the end users of its products once they were traded by intermediaries.
Continue reading HERE in Spanish