Organisation

Microsoft

Microsoft helped establish software as a separately licensed commercial layer of personal computing, beginning with Altair BASIC and expanding through operating systems, development tools and application ecosystems.

Type
company or platform
Founded
1975
Location
Redmond, Washington, United States
Known for
Automated Classification and Content Moderation
Historical role

What the organisation contributed

Microsoft's PhotoDNA became a prominent system for identifying known child sexual abuse material by comparing image signatures rather than requiring repeated human inspection.

Why it mattered

Reduces the inability of finite human institutions to inspect and govern immense digital information flows.

Connected topics

Where this fits in ITEM

Evidence

Sources and further reading

  1. The History of Microsoft: 1975

    Microsoft · Microsoft Learn · 2009

    Open source ↗

  2. Altair BASIC Interpreter Source Tape

    Computer History Museum · Computer History Museum

    Open source ↗

  3. PhotoDNA

    Microsoft

    Open source ↗