Summary: Quick updates on situations that make important precedence at a national level

Switzerland: Open-source firms win partial victory over Microsoft in Switzerland

The Swiss News Agency (SDA) reported on Thursday, 28 May, that the Swiss Federal Administrative Court had issued an immediately enforceable ruling ("Superprovisorische Verfügung") that stops the award of a large federal government order to Microsoft. The Swiss Federal Office for Construction and Logistics (BBL) had previously awarded an order to Microsoft for the extension of licences, maintenance and support worth 42 million Swiss francs, without putting it out to public tender. Many open-source firms – including the Linux suppliers Red Hat, Univention and Collax and the groupware specialists Zarafa and Open-Xchange – objected to this award procedure.

Previous reports on the subject in:

1. Microsoft Sued Over Its Corruption in Switzerland, Microsoft Debt Revisited
2. Can the United Kingdom and Hungary Still be Sued for Excluding Free Software?
3. 3 New Counts of Antitrust Violation by Microsoft?
4. Is Microsoft Breaking the Law in Switzerland Too?
5. Microsoft Uses Lobbyists to Attack Holland's Migration to Free Software and Sort of Bribes South African Teachers Who Use Windows
6. ZDNet/eWeek Ruins Peter Judge's Good Article by Attacking Red Hat When Microsoft Does the Crime
7. Week of Microsoft Government Affairs: a Look Back, a Look Ahead
8. Lawsuit Against Microsoft/Switzerland Succeeds So Far, More Countries/Companies Should Follow Suit

New Zealand: Open Source Society appeals to Auditor-General

The New Zealand Open Source Society is calling on Auditor-General to scrutinise government procurement of Microsoft software after the collapse of negotiations for a new three-year all-of-government software licensing deal.

Don Christie, NZOSS president, is asking for the reviews on the grounds that agencies are negotiating with a single supplier "in a situation where ordinary market disciplines do not operate", he says in a letter to Auditor-General Kevin Brady.

Previous reports on the subject in:

1. New Zealand's Freedom Fighters Defeat Microsoft's Latest 'Colonisations Directive'
2. Week of Microsoft Government Affairs: a Look Back, a Look Ahead
3. Microsoft Land Grab Still on in the Far East
4. Head of Microsoft Philippines Ditches the Company, More Layoffs Revealed (But Microsoft Withholds Details)