It’s safe to say we were all surprised when Microsoft accidentally leaked a prototype to a social media site, Tulalip, last week. Was this their answer to Google+, or was it another social network site to compete with Facebook? Or was it simply, as Microsoft contends, "an internal design project from a team in Microsoft Research which was mistakenly published to the web"?
(MORE: Microsoft Leaks Social Search Service, Swears It’s Nothing)
Whatever the case, it has received at least one review already from the Tulalip Tribes, reports Heraldnet. The Native American tribes from the Washington State area have reacted negatively to Microsoft referring to whatever was published and then removed last week as "Tulalip."
A spokesperson for the Tulalip Tribes, George White, told Heraldnet that “tribal officials are talking to people at Microsoft to determine the facts.” What’s more, John Echohawk, the executive director of the Native American Rights Fund condemned Microsoft, saying, “It’s really a matter of common courtesy, not to say anything of the legalities.”
After displaying their social media site, Microsoft swiftly removed it, replacing it with the following message: “Thanks for stopping by. Socl.com is an internal design project from a team in Microsoft Research which was mistakenly published to the web. We didn’t mean to, honest.”