As much as people like to think that Microsoft is a behemoth driven only by profit, the simple fact is that it does have an ethical position, and is driven by morals very fundamentally.

The reason for this is that MS is nothing more than the sum of its employees, being an Intellectual Property company.

The reason we all take jobs and the reason we all do anything at all is because of ethics. Its about duty, honour and responsibility.

The ethics of the MS employees will be expressed by the company as a whole at an emergent level.

I would hazard as follows: It is perfectly ok to spread FUD, to embrace and extend one's competitors, because that is what one's competitors would do to you. However, the GPL is an Ethical step too far, even for MS. Despite the fact that the GPL is itself designed to embrace and extend, MS is not about to start using GPL'ed code, not just because it is legally shady, but because it is wrong.

I have studied many organisations, commercial and otherwise, and what I say is true, as far as I can ascertain. Ethics is the driving force of any company, and though those ethicvs may leave much to be desired, they are still present.

Stealing the GPL is too much for MS.