"I'm a big believer that as much as possible ...freedom of migration is
a good thing," Gates said. "We're hopeful that we'll see some
immigration reform...Hopefully it will be something that provides
predictability and as much freedom as migration as possible."
BG



Juan Fidel Larrañaga : [HRTNM-L]

Gates Loses Virtual Soccer Match to Mexican Star
By: Lisa J. Adams
For: Associated Press
Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates met his technological match Tuesday,
losing a video game simulation of a penalty shootout to star Mexican
soccer player Rafael Marquez 2-1 as hundreds of Microsoft Mexico
employees and other invited guests cheered on the two.

"I wouldn't bet all of my money on it," the richest man in the world
quipped when Marquez asked him if he really dared take on the challenge
before they hunkered down in two opposing chairs and launched a live
competition displayed on three giant screens hung above a large stage.

Gates was in Mexico to commemorate his company's 20th anniversary here,
sign accords with Mexico City and federal officials aimed at using
technology to increase efficiency in business and government and improve
health care and education.

"Certainly, there's a lot of things going on in Mexico that are
absolutely world-class" in information technology, Gates told reporters
after a seminar to promote the new Windows Vista and Microsoft Office
2007 software.

"The place where there is an opportunity to do more," he said, is in
health care and public education, digitalizing services to make them
more efficient and making Internet more available to schools throughout
the country.

The personal computer "is so wonderful that we should want every child
to have the same opportunity to use it and connect up to the world's
information over the Internet," Gates said during a morning appearance
with Mexican President Felipe Calderon at the presidential residence,
Los Pinos.

Gates also spoke in favor of a U.S. immigration reform, reiterating
comments he had recently made in the the United States.

"I'm a big believer that as much as possible ...freedom of migration is
a good thing," Gates said. "We're hopeful that we'll see some
immigration reform...Hopefully it will be something that provides
predictability and as much freedom as migration as possible."

Gates said he spoke with government officials about how to increase the
currently low technology use in small Mexican businesses in order to
make them more competitive.

Calderon presented Gates with Mexico's highest medal of honor to a
foreign citizen for his generosity to Mexico, in particular a recent $30
million hardware and $10 million software donation to a program that is
connecting 2,700 public libraries to the Internet. Gates said he
expected to see all of the libraries connected by the end of the year.

Microsoft also is involved in establishing a digitalized "school of the
future" in the western state of Sonora and a hospital with totally
digitalized records in the western state of Jalisco, Gates said.

On the purely business side, Gates said he met privately with fellow
billionaire and Mexican telecom magnate Carlos Slim to discuss ways of
increasing online advertising and broadband penetration in Mexico. The
companies have a business partnership through Microsoft and Slim's
telecommunications company, Telmex.

Gates also met with the presidents of Mexico's two dominant television
networks, Televisa and Azteca, according to a news release from
Microsoft Mexico.

Showing he was not a sore loser following his competition with Barcelona
defender Marquez, Gates signed and gave the Xbox video game console to
the soccer star, who presented him with a signed professional soccer
T-shirt.