Governments Cannot Say That They Require Microsoft

Summary: A look at the degree of distortion in tenders (if any exist) when software for government is procured as part of multi-bllion-dollar (grossly overpriced) deals behind taxpayers' backs

Carlo Piana, the excellent lawyer who represented Samba and hates software patents, makes this important observation, confirming what many of us already knew or at least suspected based on plenty of evidence and even court cases. As Will Hill put it:

Carlo Piana says EU procurement favors Microsoft, OFE report on public procurement: practice of naming companies/products persists. Guess who's most named?

https://plus.google.com/u/0/115445134403759043734/posts/1c4UDDePJ4b

This is government they are talking about using your tax money to force you to use non free software. The report has 17% of tender notices containing brand names and trademarks instead of real specifications. Practices vary by country but Microsoft get's the lions share of the corruption, mentioned in more than half of notices that use trademarks. The study admits to under reporting and the impact of this goes far beyond 17% by network effect. When the government only accepts Microsoft junk, it forces regulated industry to use the same. This kind of subversion is how Microsoft became a monopoly. It's good to see the proportion of tainted tenders is down slightly, but sane government would only use free software in the first place.

http://www.openforumeurope.org/openprocurement/openprocurement/open-procurement-library/Report_2013_1stSnapshot%20final3.pdf

This is corruption. It is corruption because there is no equal opportunity, just the blind handover of taxpayers' money (or money derived from the public through national debt) to corrupt, ultra-wealthy executives at Microsoft, which we know uses bribery to get governments to sign deals. It's not just about fair competition anymore; a lot of the time it's about holding criminals accountable (on both sides, the giving and the receiving). We previously covered a lot more evidence and stories which are relevant to this. Open Forum Europe (OFE) adds fuel to the fire, which isn't just smoke anymore. ⬆