Google sue US Government.

[bouncingwilf]

Looks like Google not happy bunnies

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11673625 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11673625)


any comments?

Bouncingwilf

[sydbat]

They have a point...and legal recourse.

Because government contracts in most countries are "open" competitions, a department within that government cannot make an arbitrary decision that excludes competitive bids. However, it happens all the time...so good for Google to bring it to the forefront.

Oh, and inb4lock...

[Spr0k3t]

I say good for Google... I hope they get what they are after. I wouldn't doubt that google offered bids way below what was accepted.

[whiskeylover]

Google storing government records on the cloud? I don't think they would agree to that. Although, they do have Google Apps for Government. But its still on the cloud, I think.

[sgosnell]

I'm not particularly surprised, since Microsoft's strength, indeed its only strength, is marketing. Since the President has professed an preference for open source software, perhaps there is a ray of hope for Google, although it's certainly not open source.

[cgroza]

The government should go open source. They would save those milions and use them for something else.

[Mr. Picklesworth]

I don't understand why people are surprised by the idea of somebody suing the US government. People sue the Canadian government all the time, generally with good reason. Is the concept really so foreign?
(And if so, I am even more worried for democracy…)

Anyway, I hope this expands beyond just Google. The result could be positive for Microsoft's other competition, too.

[Spr0k3t]

Personally speaking, the government should be using the best tool for the job, regardless of whether that tool is open source or not. On the other hand, I think the government should be giving out awards to the best build of specific open source applications which meet the needs of the tools being used. Along with that, the government should also award schools for teaching open source criteria as well as tools used for the course.

[KiwiNZ]

If the RFP was for suppliers to tender prices for the supply of the specified Microsoft Product and that was specified in the RFP then Google would have been prior aware that the RFP had that condition, therefore their case is mischievous.

Government RFP's can be contestable with specific supply criteria.

[koenn]

Google storing government records on the cloud? I don't think they would agree to that. Although, they do have Google Apps for Government. But its still on the cloud, I think.

The Microsoft bid, apparently, was also a cloud solution :
Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite-Federal

[handy]

I don't understand why people are surprised by the idea of somebody suing the US government. People sue the Canadian government all the time, generally with good reason. Is the concept really so foreign?
(And if so, I am even more worried for democracy…)
...

Just a point on democracy & the US:

The US is NOT a democracy. It is a constitutional republic. Which in reality is a vastly different & (in theory) vastly superior political system. Though in reality it is corrupt as hell over there these days.

[_outlawed_]

Though in reality it is corrupt as hell over there these days.

We Americans already know this.

[Dr. C]

If the RFP was for suppliers to tender prices for the supply of the specified Microsoft Product and that was specified in the RFP then Google would have been prior aware that the RFP had that condition, therefore their case is mischievous.

Government RFP's can be contestable with specific supply criteria.

We had a case here in Canada where the government of Quebec lost in a court of law just over this issue. http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/06/03/quebec-microsoft-lawsuit.html The trouble is that many government agencies assume that Microsoft is the only option when it comes to IT procurement and in the process run afoul of existing legislation.

[phrostbyte]

Good stuff. Although I rather our government develop it's own software (or use open source) whenever possible.

[Khakilang]

Over here we have a government related company that look into the IT needs for the government and it is base on open source software mostly for the server but the desktop is still Windows. Our government have save millions of ringgit ($) from IT investment. Hope they can put the money into good use.