wasn't this the biggest storm in a teacup?  Honestly what a total over-reaction.  Microsoft, keen that influential bloggers get to review our new technology decided that to make it easy, send bloggers an already configured machine so they can have a play with it and maybe choose to write about it.  No strings.  When you are done, keep it, give it away, we don't care.

The kinds of bloggers picked were not all the super geeks who love tinkering with PCs so a pre-built machine takes the hastle out of it. 

Was there any agreement that the recipient would write about it? no.  Even if they did, would they be bound to write nice things?  no.  Do the blogosphere really think Microsoft is that niiave about bloggers?  We do have about 3000 bloggers at Microsoft ourselves afterall.  Rather I think Microsoft should be applauded for having the balls to put their stuff in front of their toughest critics, relying on the strength of the products to justify a good review and it is recognition of the important contribution bloggers make to the debate.

I can't see any ethical issues with this unless you are saying that bloggers are that easily influenced?  What interested me was seeing how the dilema really troubled some bloggers and the usual virtriolic abuse that some unjustifiably recieved.  I couldn't help thinking that professional journalists know where they stand on all this and would not have a dilema, making some of the blogger response look a little amateurish as they thought about it for the first time. 

If you have a policy of not accepting gifts, just write a review and send it back  - or give it to charity.  Or don't write a review at all and just send it back.  Either way is it really such a big drama?  I noticed that some bloggers put it out to their readers as a vote, too scared to make ethical decisions for themselves seemingly.  For others, this was the catalyst to start declaring gifts and paid work on their posts with new disclosure taglines.  I think this is just professional journalism practice which you do see on most of the big blogs.