It isn’t the company’s massive revenue generator, the Office productivity suite, that has been leaked, but a pair of training videos for Microsoft’s in-house usage created by Ricky Gervais, who developed “The Office” TV series.
The videos were never intended for public distribution, but now that they have been online for a few days, Microsoft may as well have posted them with a “Come grab these!” banner on the Internet.
Few topics are left unaddressed as Gervais and Merchant spoof their way through the workday at Microsoft. Even the company’s ultra-wealthy founder, Bill Gates, gets poked by the duo.
Reuters cited a Microsoft spokesperson who confirmed the videos were made for the company in 2004. The videos feature Gervais in his “David Brent” persona, and “The Office” series co-writer Stephen Merchant.
Whoever chose to share these videos should know that vengeance is coming from Microsoft:
“We are actively working to investigate how and why they have appeared now,” the spokeswoman said.
She refused to say why the company opposed the airing of the clips on the video-sharing sites.
Gervais is reportedly very unhappy about the release. A CNet UK article on the now-playing-online videos claimed that part of the agreement with Microsoft included a provision that the videos not be made public.
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David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
