First off, I do not have all the facts, I have some facts that were presented, most people are not discussing this publicly, others are doing it only under conditions of anonymity. I am not blaming anyone for not speaking about this, or hiding themselves when they do speak, but saying that without all the facts I cannot make a good judgement call on this..

The timing certainly suggests that he was terminated over this, however was that termination Geer or @Stake? One anonymous associate said he was fired, no one else (that I have seen) will confirm this. If he was fired for what he did on his own time, providing his contract does not bar him from doing stuff on his own time that are somewhat related to work (such as security reviews while working at a security company) then I think he may have a wrongful termination case. Bad news for @stake.

People are quick to blame microsoft, and so far there is not any indication that they are to blame. I have worked in environments that MS didnt even know existed, yet the people there were so pro microsoft that to speak against them in any fashion (even when you have specific facts) was taboo, and could cost you promotions, or lead to termination.

It is highly coincidental that MS was stated to be upset, and that @Stake made a formal apology (even though the document stated that the views are those of the authors and not the companies they work for) but that alone is not proof they did anything wrong. @Stake may have done this (or not) as a preventative measure, so that no relationships are bruised between them and MS, or MS may have requested it, or the contact at MS may have requested it without corporate approval or ... There are so many things to be done, jumping to conclusions with little or no proof on either side is somewhat dangerous.

Yes its fun to poke at MS, they make it so easy, but @Stake clearly did something wrong if they fired Geer over this, and there is no indication that MS had any knowledge that he would be fired, or requested it. Until someone comes out with that evidence I will reserve judgement on this issue.

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Link to this comment: http://www.securityfocus.com/comments/articles/7069/22565#22565