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Tech World Gives Millions To Help South Asia

$3.5M From Amazon Users, $3M From Bill & Melinda Gates

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation - whose watchword is "We believe that the world's toughest problems can be solved - if we work together" - is giving $3M to help those struck by the natural disaster that's wreaked such havoc in South Asia. Amazon.com has helped channel even more, $3.5M so far, as the wider Internet community joins the emergency fund-raising effort.

According to company spokesman Craig Berman, by last night, there had already been 60,000 online donations via Amazon.com, and Microsoft's company offices in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and India are already working with relief organizations, a spokeswoman said.

Microsoft is encouraging its employees to contribute too. Under an existing program, Microsoft matches charitable donations by its US staff.

More Stories By Jeremy Geelan

Jeremy Geelan is Sr. Vice-President of SYS-CON Media & Events. He is Conference Chair of the all-new International Cloud Computing Conference & Expo series, of the International Virtualization Conference & Expo series, of AJAXWorld RIA Conference & Expo series, and of the long-running SOAWorld Conference & Expo series. He's founder of Cloud Computing Journal, Web 2.0 Journal, AJAX & RIA Journal and other leading SYS-CON titles. From 2000-6, as first editorial director and then group publisher of SYS-CON Media, he was responsible for the development of all new titles and i-Technology portals for the firm, and regularly represents SYS-CON at conferences and trade shows, speaking to technology audiences both in North America and overseas. He is executive producer and presenter of "Power Panels with Jeremy Geelan" on SYS-CON.TV.

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Most Recent Comments
DoTheMath! 01/12/05 11:38:25 AM EST

Assuming the average person has 50K in the bank or available to them, to equal the generous contribution of the "Gates" Foundation would be like giving $10.00, or roughly .0002% of 15 billion (which is an old Gates net worth figure). Yeah how incredibly generous - right!

Follow The Money 12/31/04 07:01:29 AM EST

With all these millions pouring in, some companies must be making a *lot* of money right now. It's funny that ordinary people are asked to give, but those organisations with the necessary goods won't part with them unless they get this money.

shame on ellison 12/30/04 01:52:08 PM EST

Let's see how much Lartry Ellison gives, and scott mcnealy

Bill gates is way way ahead of them on this kind of issue...

Just In Time 12/30/04 12:14:19 PM EST

How fitting if at last the tech world started redistributing the wealth it has garnered over the past few decades...once this tsunami damage is dealt with, however many years that takesm perhaps we as a community can move on to other intractable problems that need $$$$ - landmines, for example. Dysentry. Poverty. Come on, let's make this the Turning Point.