Google Wins Argument Over US Favoring Microsoft
Linked by robojerk on Thu 6th Jan 2011 23:15 UTC
Legal Google sued the U.S. Interior Department late last year and a judge has sided with Google. The WSJ reports that the judge of the case ruled the USID violated the Competition in Contracting Act by requiring all bids to include Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite. No word if the USID will appeal the ruling.
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I'm not sure that I agree...
by brewmastre on Fri 7th Jan 2011 16:22 UTC
brewmastre
Member since:
2006-08-01

I understand that there needs to be a balance in life and that all people and companies deserve a fair shake but I'm not certain that I agree with this ruling. Perhaps the gov't has already looked at their options and have decided on a product they like the best; why should another company be able to come in and sue them and potentially "force" them into a product they don't want. Wouldn't that be like putting out a bid to HP, Dell, and Lenovo to buy all gov't PC's just to then be sued by Apple for not including them?

Reply Score: 2

jimmy1971 Member since:
2009-08-27

I'm all for the government being as transparent as possible to the public. And as much as I hate to admit it, the business community is an extension of the public. (An extension of -- not greater than -- the public.)

If the government just goes and handpicks a select few vendors (or just Micro$oft) to be included in the tender, then they're not serving the best interests of the taxpayers nor the business community. The government and the "chosen one(s)" thus comprise an oligarchy.

Nothing is lost by allowing more players to step up to the plate.

I'd rather have a potentially longer and more drawn out process that is marked by fairness, openness and true competition than further reinforcement of certain monopolies.

Reply Parent Score: 2

brewmastre Member since:
2006-08-01

Yeah, actually I agree with you. From a taxpayer's perspective I suppose it's technically better to have many fairly assessed options to choose from. I guess that raised more questions though, such as:1) do they need to readjust their bidding options for every company that comes along and offers their service/product? and 2) How many bids do you draw the line at? If I remember my Air Force days correctly, they required three bids. Our government is already slow enough, I can't imagine adding any more complexity to the bid process unless the plan is to always stay 2-3 software generations behind ;)

Reply Parent Score: 2

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