Fear, uncertainty, and doubt
Fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) is a manipulative propaganda tactic used in technology sales, marketing, public relations, politics, polling, and cults. FUD is generally a strategy to influence perception by disseminating negative and dubious or false information and is a manifestation of the appeal to fear.
Origin
[edit]The phrase "fear, uncertainty, and doubt" was used in the 1920s.[1][2] A similiar phrase "fear, uncertainty, and disinformation" is also used.[3]
By 1975, "FUD" was appearing in contexts of marketing, sales,[4] and in public relations:[5]
One of the messages dealt with is FUD—the fear, uncertainty and doubt on the part of customer and sales person alike that stifles the approach and greeting.[4]
FUD was used with its common current technology-related meaning by Gene Amdahl in 1975, after he left IBM to found Amdahl Corporation[6]
FUD is the fear, uncertainty and doubt that IBM sales people instill in the minds of potential customers who might be considering Amdahl products.[6]
Examples
[edit]Software producers
[edit]Microsoft
[edit]In the 1990s, the term became most often associated with Microsoft. It has been said that Microsoft took the concept from IBM and used it as a primary tool in the 1980s.[7][better source needed]
In 1996, Caldera, Inc. accused Microsoft of several anti-competitive practices, including issuing vaporware announcements, creating FUD, and excluding competitors from participating in beta-test programs to destroy competition in the DOS market.[8][9] In 2000, Microsoft settled the lawsuit out-of-court for an undisclosed sum, which in 2009 was revealed to be $280 million.[10][11][12][13]
SCO v. IBM
[edit]The SCO Group's 2003 lawsuit against IBM, funded by Microsoft, claiming $5 billion in intellectual property infringements by the free software community, is an example of FUD, according to IBM, which argued in its counterclaim that SCO was spreading "fear, uncertainty, and doubt".[14]
Apple
[edit]Apple's claim that iPhone jailbreaking could potentially allow hackers to crash cell phone towers was described by Fred von Lohmann, a representative of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), as a "kind of theoretical threat...more FUD than truth".[15]
Technical support scams
[edit]FUD has also been described as a part of technical support scams.[16]
Caltex
[edit]The FUD tactic was used by Caltex Australia in 2003. According to an internal memo, which was subsequently leaked, they wished to use FUD to destabilize franchisee confidence, and thus get a better deal for Caltex. This memo was used as an example of unconscionable behaviour in a Senate inquiry. Senior management claimed that it was contrary to and did not reflect company principles.[17][18][19]
References
[edit]- ^ Yarbrough, Caesar Augustus (1920-05-22). "Chapter: Letters from Association Answering Objections - Laymen's Repies to Criticism with the Author's Comments - Association Not Formed for Evangelical Purposes". The Roman Catholic Church Challenged in the Discussion of Thirty-two Questions with the Catholic Laymen's Association of Georgia. Macon, Georgia, USA: The Patriotic Societies of Macon. p. 75. LCCN 20009417. OCLC 1084527008. Cl. A570137. ark:/13960/t26982v0c.
[…] Suspicion has no place in our interchanges; it is a shield for ignorance, a sign of fear, uncertainty, and doubt. […]
[1] [2] Archived 2024-09-06 at the Wayback Machine (NB. In there, Yarbrough is citing a 1917-09-21 letter by J. J. Farrell, Augusta, Georgia, USA, which contains the quotation.) - ^ Gardner, Monica Mary (1926). Dent, Joseph Malaby (ed.). The Patriot Novelist of Poland, Henryk Sienkiewicz. London, England: E. P. Dutton & Co. p. 71.
[…] Again he was caught in a tempest of fear, uncertainty, and doubt. […]
(See also: Henryk Sienkiewicz) - ^ Jansen, Erin (2002). Netlingo. Ojai: NetLingo. p. 179. ISBN 0-9706396-7-8.
- ^ a b "The search for self". Clothes. 10 (14–24). New York, NY, USA: PRADS, Inc.: 19 1975-10-01. Archived from the original on 2024-09-06. Retrieved 2011-06-10.
[…] One of the messages dealt with is FUD—the fear, uncertainty and doubt on the part of customer and sales person alike that stifles the approach and greeting. […]
- ^ Harris, Rhonda (1998). The Complete Sales Letter Book. Armonk: Sharpe Professional. ISBN 0-7656-0083-8.
- ^ a b Raymond, Eric Steven, ed. (2003-12-29). "FUD". The Jargon File. Version 4.4.7. Archived from the original on 2019-09-01. Retrieved 2004-03-19.
- ^ Irwin, Roger (1998). "What is FUD?". Archived from the original on 2019-01-14. Retrieved 2006-12-30.
- ^ Susman, Stephen Daily; Eskridge III, Charles R.; Southwick, James T.; Susman, Harry P.; Folse III, Parker C.; Palumbo, Ralph H.; Harris, Matthew R.; McCune, Philip S.; Engel, Lynn M.; Hill, Stephen J.; Tibbitts, Ryan E. (April 1999). "In the United States District Court - District of Utah, Central Division - Caldera, Inc. vs. Microsoft Corporation - Consolidated statement of facts in support of its responses to motions for summary judgement by Microsoft Corporation - Case No. 2:96CV 0645B" (Court document). Caldera, Inc. Archived from the original on 2018-08-05. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
- ^ Susman, Stephen Daily; Eskridge III, Charles R.; Susman, Harry P.; Southwick, James T.; Folse III, Parker C.; Borchers, Timothy K.; Palumbo, Ralph H.; Harris, Matthew R.; Engel, Lynn M.; McCune, Philip S.; Locker, Lawrence C.; Wheeler, Max D.; Hill, Stephen J.; Tibbitts, Ryan E. (May 1999). "In the United States District Court - District of Utah, Central Division - Caldera, Inc. vs. Microsoft Corporation - Case No. 2:96CV 0645B - Caldera, Inc.'s Memorandum in opposition to defendant's motion for partial Summary Judgment on plaintiff's "Technological Tying" claim" (Court document). Caldera, Inc. Archived from the original on 2018-08-05. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
- ^ Jones, Pamela (2009-11-23). "Exhibits to Microsoft's Cross Motion for Summary Judgment in Novell WordPerfect Case". Groklaw. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ Burt, Thomas W.; Sparks, Bryan Wayne (2000-01-07). "Settlement agreement - Microsoft Corporation and Caldera, Inc. reach agreement to settle antitrust lawsuit" (PDF) (Court document). Case 1:05-cv-01087-JFM, Document 104-8, Filed 2009-11-13; NOV00107061-NOV00107071; LT2288-LT2298; Lan12S311263739.1; Exhibit A. Archived from the original on 2017-07-04. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
[…] Microsoft will pay to Caldera, by wire transfer in accordance with written instructions provided by Caldera, the amount of two hundred eighty million dollars ($280,000,000), as full settlement of all claims or potential claims covered by this agreement […]
(NB. This document of the Caldera v. Microsoft case was an exhibit in the later Comes v. Microsoft case.) - ^ Wallis, Richard J.; Aeschbacher, Steven J.; Bettilyon, Mark M.; Webb, Jr., G. Stewar; Tulchin, David B.; Holley, Steven L. (2009-11-13). "Microsoft's memorandum in opposition to Novell's renewed motion for summary judgement on Microsoft's affirmative defenses and in support of Microsoft's cross-motion for summary judgement" (PDF) (Court document). United States District Court, District of Maryland. p. 16. Novell, Inc. v. Microsoft Corporation, Civil Action No. JFM-05-1087. Archived from the original on 2019-05-24. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
[…] Microsoft paid $280 million to Caldera to settle the case […]
- ^ Gomes, Lee (2000-01-11). "Microsoft Will Pay $275 Million To Settle Lawsuit From Caldera". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2016-12-31. Retrieved 2019-11-24.
Microsoft Corp. agreed to pay an estimated $275 million to settle an antitrust lawsuit by Caldera Inc., heading off a trial that was likely to air nasty allegations from a decade ago. […] Microsoft and Caldera, a small Salt Lake City software company that brought the suit in 1996, didn't disclose terms of the settlement. Microsoft, though, said it would take a charge of three cents a share for the agreement in the fiscal third quarter ending March 31 […] the company has roughly 5.5 billion shares outstanding […]
- ^ The SCO Group v IBM – answer to amended complaint and counterclaims (Undecided, U.S. District Court – Utah, Kimball J., filed 2004-08-06) Section E, paragraph 22, groklaw.net
- ^ Kravets, David (2009-07-28). "iPhone Jailbreaking Could Crash Cellphone Towers, Apple Claims". Wired. Archived from the original on 2014-02-10. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
- ^ "Beware of tech support scams". UNC Health and UNC School of Medicine. Archived from the original on 2020-03-24. Retrieved 2020-03-07.
- ^ Lilienthal, Hayden (2004-04-28). "New deal helps to heal Caltex wounds". EnergyNewsPremium. Archived from the original on 2014-12-09. Retrieved 2014-12-05.
- ^ "Caltex 'bully' memo breached policy". ABC. 2004-04-23. Archived from the original on 2016-10-27. Retrieved 2014-12-05.
- ^ Benns, Matthew (2004-01-04). "Caltex in court over Woolies deal". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 2021-03-20. Retrieved 2014-12-05.
Further reading
[edit]- Fernandez, Rebecca (2000-04-19). "Don't let FUD kill your business goals". opensource.com. Red Hat.
- Lindner, Mirko (2007-04-15). "Microsoft: Mit Patenten gegen Open Source". Pro-Linux (in German).
- Samet, Jonathan Michael; Woodward, Alistair (2018-04-26) [2018-02-16]. "National Government Denial of Climate Change and State and Local Public Health Action in a Federalist System". American Journal of Public Health. 108 (S2): S112–. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2018.304395. PMC 5922214. PMID 29698096.
External links
[edit]- Wechner, Michael (2005). "FUD - Fear Uncertainty Doubt". wyona pictures (documentary film).
This article is based in part on the Jargon File, which is in the public domain.
